BREAKOUT SESSIONS

GCoM, the largest global alliance of cities fighting climate change, will showcase success stories of climate action worldwide, including smart mobility in Shimla (India), floating infrastructure for sea-level rise in Belize City, and waste-to-biogas projects in Basse and Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana). It will also launch its 2025 Impact Report highlighting implementation progress.

In this session we will explain what the Barcelona Innova Lab Mobility consists of, which arises from the collaboration between the Barcelona City Council, Fira de Barcelona, and BITHabitat, with the recent addition of new partners. In this regard, the current portfolio of projects will be presented, as well as the theme of the new mobility challenge that will be launched to the public.

Climate change challenges urban mobility, and the EIT Urban Mobility report Costs & Benefits of the Urban Mobility Transition highlights public transport as the most cost-effective way to cut emissions. The panel, moderated by EIT Urban Mobility , will explore how innovation in public transport can accelerate progress toward the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality goal, featuring experts from CARRIS-Lisbon PTO, Tranvías de Zaragoza, Freenow and GOOGLE.

Launched in March 2025, MICAD is an EU-funded project supporting inclusive metropolitan planning for climate and digital transitions. This session will present its goals, approach, and main outputs—including toolkits and Roadmaps—and invite participants to share feedback to help refine and adapt the project.

Many transport innovations are coming our way. We don't know which ones will stay and which ones will be next, but we do know that the majority will be rolled out on city streets. How can cities smartly choose those innovations that will help them reach their policy goals, but also discourage those that don’t bring added value? What does it take for private-sector innovations to support rather than disrupt what local authorities want to achieve? How can we come to policy-responsive innovation that is a win for both the public and private sectors? Cities and regions from the POLIS network will share their experiences on how to govern innovation but also innovate their governance systems.

Alliance of European Mayors and Better Politics Foundation co-produced a documentary on innovation in European cities, spotlighted mayors and cities that are pioneering new approaches to democratic resilience, digital transformation, and citizen engagement. Outstanding mayors from cities such as Stockholm, Bologna and Lisbon participates in this powerful story of how local leadership is reshaping democracy from the ground up.

DRT proves to be an effective solution in contexts such as low-density areas or late-night services. But scaling remains complex - profitability, regulation, and public-private contracting all pose challenges. Could autonomous vehicles help unlock the full potential of DRT, or do they add new layers of complexity to this model?

This stage session reveals how standard municipal operations across Europe—from cybersecurity protocols to smart city infrastructure management—actively safeguard digital rights, often without being framed in rights-based language. This session will start with a key-note from the EU Commission on the latest report of the Digital Decade 2030

This session explores how cities can manage tourism sustainably, using a resilience-based approach to balance the influx of visitors and their economic benefits with the affordability and livability of their residents. Barcelona, Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro will present initiatives towards this purpose. Moreover, UN-Habitat and UN-Tourism will present a new global effort to help cities and territories assess tourism-related risks and their positive and undesirable impacts on the urban system.

The event will highlight specific city challenges - in France, Grenoble and Germany, Jena and in Tokyo Japan. Projects established to address key issues related to Climate and social change will be presented from the points of view of several stakeholders with a focus on the challenges, results and their potential for tackling similar issues in other urban regions.

Road traffic deaths are the most common cause of accidental death at the workplace, with an alarming, estimated number of 400,000 per year: a third of the 1.19 million people that die each year as a result of road traffic crashes occurs in someone’s value chain. The FIA developed the Road Safety Index, a program that help organizations to assess the safety impact of their operations, identify gaps, and implement long-term improvements.

Smart cities are becoming a major frontier for investment, from climate tech and mobility to housing and digital infrastructure. This panel will explore how venture capital, corporate VC, and private equity are navigating shifting markets, regulation, and technology—and where capital is heading by 2030 across AI, green construction, and other scalable urban solutions

As climate risk grows, housing investors are backing retrofits, renewables, and net-zero solutions. This session dives into how blended finance and policy tools are turning climate resilience in housing into investable opportunities for cities and private capital.

Three cutting-edge startups take the stage to pitch their innovative solutions for digitalizing cities and utilities. Each startup will present their vision, technology, and impact potential to our distinguished jury of venture capitalists and industry leaders including Schréder, Via Verde, Connexin, BNP Paribas Solar Impulse, EIT Urban Mobility, Bloomhaus Ventures, Demeter, and Plug and Play. Following the pitches, the jury will engage in a live Q&A session, diving deep into each startup's business model, scalability, and market opportunity.

Legal foundation in place, LDT CitiVERSE EDIC takes its first steps. Its mission to create a harmonized ecosystem around Digital Twins has already officially started with the establishment of the legal entity and with the recently launched BUILD project as a driving force for the setting up With 14 members states on board the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC becomes a reality as the foundation for intelligent, sustainable and human-centric urban environments.

Session 2 showcases three additional startups revolutionizing the way cities and utilities operate. These innovators will present their groundbreaking technologies to our expert jury panel, competing for the chance to secure non-dilutive funding, strategic partnerships, and investment interest. Following each pitch, our jury of industry leaders and top-tier VCs will challenge, question, and explore the potential of each solution.

This session will explore how diverse data-driven approaches can be used to enhance road safety, particularly for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. By bringing together practical examples from EIT Urban Mobility's innovation program and broader European project collaborations, the session aims to demonstrate how mobility data can inform smarter infrastructure and enhance traffic safety for all road users.

UK Cities today are grappling with a perfect storm of infrastructure challenges: aging buildings, increased flooding, and rising temperatures are straining systems that were never designed for today’s climate extremes. Failing infrastructure leads to cascading impacts on people and transport systems. But how can digital infrastructure, such as data sharing infrastructure, help to tackle the environmental and social problems cities face?

A panel exploring how cultural, geographical, and policy diversity shapes Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) in smart cities. Featuring transport planners, policymakers, and CCAM developers, the discussion shares practical examples from Europe.

Dive into the dynamic world of Urban Shark Tank, where visionary companies pitch real-world solutions to a panel of city leaders determined to accelerate climate neutrality. This interactive session blends entrepreneurial spirit, creative storytelling, and urban innovation—offering a fast-paced stage for ideas ready to scale across smart, sustainable cities.

This session explores how Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) can be a powerful tool to address youth exclusion and gender inequalities in a connected society. PLATFORMA, with the involvement of local authorities, CSOs, and youth actors, will showcase solutions for inclusive digital spaces and empower local action against online violence, discrimination, and democratic disengagement.

Explore Austria’s pioneering autonomous bus project in Carinthia, led by AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and SURAAA-Smart Urban Region Austria Alps Adriatic and discover smart city solutions by: Commend: Real-Time Multilingual Communication; Designa: Smart Parking & Charging; Infrared City: Climate-Informed Urban Planning; Lixtec: Sensor Street Lighting; Rubicon: Digital Lost & Found; Skidata: Integrated Access; Tridonic: Smart Lighting

A truly intelligent city is a well-designed one—where every space, infrastructure, and function is optimized with a focus on resource efficiency and resilience. This conference aims to broaden the Smart City paradigm by embracing complementary approaches, combining high-tech and low-tech innovations, leveraging local stakeholders and existing strengths, promoting responsible resource use, and making the most of the existing urban fabric.

Join to explore how (and why!) inclusive innovation can drive positive change. From the EU’s vision and funding impact to specific insights from those supporting innovation on connectivity, circularity, mobility, or to improve resilience, the debate connects policy to practice with contributions spanning public institutions, cities and the private sector.

Join representatives from CIVITAS, Driving Urban Transitions, Smart Cities Marketplace, and EIT Urban Mobility for a discussion on mobility and urban sustainability. Discover inspiring European practices, see how research, policy, and innovation combine to drive systemic change, and explore how collaboration can accelerate more connected, accessible, and sustainable cities.

Showcasing how European cities can align sustainability efforts for cohesive, transformative change. This session explores how integrated planning and smart urban technologies drive systemic shifts — linking energy, water, mobility, housing, and public space. With Benidorm as a case study and insights from EU initiatives, we highlight scalable, cross-sector strategies for greener, more liveable cities.