What is Smart City Expo World Congress?

Smart City Expo World Congress (Barcelona, November 7-9) is the leading international event for the smart city sector, a key meeting point for experts and leaders of the world’s most innovative cities, companies, research centers and international organizations. Over 24,000 professionals are expected from more than 800 cities and over 600 international speakers that will share their vision on how to build a more sustainable and livable urban future.

This year’s event will focus on eight main tracks touching the most pressing issues facing cities: Enabling Technologies, Energy & Environment, Mobility, Governance, Living & Inclusion, Economy, Infrastructure & Building and Safety & Security. 

After last years’ success, the event will blend the physical venue with the digital space, allowing us to reach a wider audience while giving everybody the opportunity to experience the event in full. 

Join us on 8th November for 2 sessions: 

1. "Matching needs with solutions: cities, businesses and investors together to accelerate climate action" 

Time: 10:00 - 12:00 - Hall 1 Booth C51 

Europe is currently on its way to become climate neutral by 2050 and reduce its emission by 55% by 2030. Great progress has been made in the last years, but a quicker implementation is needed to avoid reaching a tipping point and make catastrophic consequences of climate change irreversible. Cleaner and more sustainable mobility is but one of the major challenges of our time and to really boost the roll out of climate action and protect people from the tragic effects of its change, cities must rely on new technologies and complementary partnerships with businesses and investors which, with their human, technical, and economic resources provide or strengthen the pieces that may be missing to create a robust response to climate change. 

The urgency and the magnitude of climate change calls for effective measures to remove obstacles that slow down the market uptake of innovative zero emission technologies and services. Innovative solutions have a strong need for visibility, industrial viability and users’ acceptance and at the same time innovative solutions face harsh competition with traditional, existing solutions due to the inertia of the market and lacking critical mass. 

Access to financing opportunities is another bottleneck, with a large overall financing gap and sub-optimal access-to-finance conditions and lowering the risk in acquisition of innovative products and services is a crucial condition for their wider market uptake. 

This is key for the Covenant of Mayors - Europe, the Smart Cities Marketplace, the Covenant of Companies for Climate and Energy, the CIVITAS Initiative, the ENTRANCE project and the European City Facility. They all aim to encourage and support replicable, and sustainable action at the speed and scale the world needs and cities demand for innovative transport and mobility solutions.
 

2.  "Creating Irresistible Climate-Neutral Cities"

Time: 16:30 - 17:30 - Hall 2 Congress Room: Green

In transition times, cities have a strategic advantage for improving quality of life and exploring new work approaches. Despite facing barriers, cities lead in climate action. This session focuses on overcoming obstacles and showcasing sustainable urban solutions, from engaging citizens to setting up new financing schemes. It discusses inclusive, cross-cutting approaches beyond technical enhancements, making climate neutrality irresistible for all stakeholders, unlocking benefits and ensuring accessibility. 

Find more information about this session and the speakers here!