The room was full of warmth and energy during the Stockholm Spring School on April 24-26. This was appreciated by the participants, as the city did not show its most welcoming weather to the representatives from cities all over Europe. People from around 25 of the 112 mission cities in Europe were present at the NetZeroCities Spring School, organized by Politecnico di Milano (Polimi) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), in Stockholm. Previous editions of the Seasonal School have taken place in Spain, Italy and Hungary.
Spring School took place last week at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Viable Cities hosted the event and participants engaged in intensive learning around crucial topics to accelerate the transition in mission cities. The three-day program featured a mix of whole-group sessions and small-group workshops, as well as sharing of experiences, challenges and best-practices from cities. A diverse set of experts and advisors from the NetZeroCities consortium were also present.
Philippe Froissard, Head of Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, opened the conference together with Olga Kordas, Host and Programme Manager of Viable Cities, Thomas Osdoba, Programme Manager of NetZeroCities, and Julio Lumbreras, Programme Manager of CitiES2030. Philippe Froissard, who also attended the first European Viable Cities Day in December 2019, highlighted the important role of Viable Cities as a forerunner of the European Cities Mission.
It is great to be recognized for all the work done by 'our' 23 Swedish cities so far and the government agencies that support their work.
- Olga Kordas, Program Manager of Viable Cities
Transition teams in climate transition of cities, social innovation and stakeholder engagement, climate investment, portfolio design, transition methodologies and indicators were some of the topics touched upon in the Spring School. All with the aim of accelerating the climate transition in cities.
The first day of the Spring School ended with an informal mingle at the Viable Cities headquarters on the KTH Campus. The City of Stockholm's Climate General, Annika Jacobson, took the opportunity to present an overview of the city's work towards the mission of becoming a climate neutral city by 2030 and the importance of involving all stakeholders in the mobilization. Spring School also included an opportunity to visit Stockholm Royal Seaport, guided by the City of Stockholm. Stockholm Royal Seaport is Sweden's largest urban development area, with plans to build at least 12,000 new homes and 35,000 jobs. The district has won several international awards for sustainable urban development and is an important innovation hub in the City of Stockholm's work to become climate positive by 2040.
During the Spring School, participants had the opportunity to get to know each other and share experiences from Cork, Differdange' Dunkirk' Elbasan' Gabrovo' Groningen' Helsingborg' Ioánnina' Istanbul' İzmir' Kosice' Copenhagen, Łódź' Lund' Munich, Oslo' Prato' Reykjavík' Rome' Sofia' Stavanger' Trondheim' Umeå' Warsaw, Wrocław and Aarhus.
