In the week of Europe Day, the ENLIGHT EUROPEAN DIALOGUE brought together ENLIGHT partners and key experts from the nine ENLIGHT regions to connect them with other key stakeholders across Europe and reflect on novel approaches to the pressing challenges facing our European regions. The theme for the 2022 European Dialogue was Sustainable Urban Development.
The European Dialogue took place over two days, May 11-12, hosted by Uppsala University, Sweden.
European Dialogue 2022 - Programme
May 11
Sharing ideas on methodology for collaboration projects between universities and cities.
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Sessions are moderated by
- Dr. Martha Middlemiss Lé Mon, Phd Sociology of Religion, ENLIGHT WP2 Academic Coordinator, Uppsala University
- Mr. Tomás Ó Síocháin, CEO Western Development Commission
- Dr. Jenny Nordquist, Head at Innovation Partnership Office, Uppsala University
 
9.00 Welcome and official opening
Contributions by:
- Prof. Coco Norén, Pro-vice chancellor, Uppsala University.
- Mr. Erik Pelling, Mayor of the city of Uppsala
- Prof. Becky Whay, Vice President International, National University of Ireland Galway.
  
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9.20 'Smart Cities: Small is Beautiful'
Ambassador Kim Won-soo, Board Member of the Ban-Ki Moon Centre, Current Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Future Consensus Institute and former UN Under-secretary general, he served as an advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. A Korean diplomat, he has also served many different missions including as the Director General for Policy Planning and as Ambassador for Regional Cooperation at the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Watch on Youtube!
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9.50 'Sustainable Cities – the Importance of Collaboration'
Dr. Fedra Vanhuyse is Head of Division – Societies, Climate and Policy Support at Stockholm Environment Institute HQ, leading teams of sustainability researchers on the team cities, communities, and consumption; the team water, coasts and ocean; and the team environmental policy and strategy.
She is passionate about cities, food, and people, and tries to combine these topics in her research portfolio. Currently, she is investigating how cities can become climate neutral and what funding that would require in the Viable Cities’ Finance project, funded by Viable Cities. She also leads a project on circular cities, funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
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10.20 'The City of Uppsala: Strategic Cooperation Between Uppsala University and the City.'
Mr. Christian Dahlmann, City of Uppsala, & Mr. Olle Bergdahl, Uppsala University. See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
 
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Session 1: Universities and Communities - Creating Meaningful Stakeholder Solutions
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Gent University & the City of Gent
‘Tackling WREST issues at a slow pace: Master thesis Ateliers and Living Lab’
Lies Hens, Coordinator of the ‘Stadsacademie & Femke Lootens, Green office & Living Lab Coordinator.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
 
Comenius University & the City of Bratislava
‘Building a Living Lab to tackle future challenges’
Ing. Petra Dzurovcinova, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Bratislava & Mgr. Rastislav Igliar, R&D expert and Lead on University Cooperation, Slovak Technical University'
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
 
University of the Basque Country & and the Basque Regional Government
‘Neighbours collaboratively design and manage the renewal of their neighbourhoods and their social, environmental and economic actions’
Prof. Rufino Javier Hernández, Lecturer at the School of Architecture, PI of CAVIAR (Life Quality in Architecture) Research group, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) & Mr. Ignacio de la Puerta, Director of Territorial Planning & Urban Agenda, Basque Regional Government.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
 
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Session 2: Collaboratively Creating Sustainable Urban Environments through Community Engagement
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University of Tartu & Tartu City Government
‘Transforming living environment with smart and scientific solutions: results from SmartEnCity project in Tartu’
Mr. Jaanus Tamm, Project manager, Tartu City Government.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
University of Groningen & The Municipality of Groningen
'Energy transition as a societal challenge'
Prof. Dr. Christian Zuidema, University of Groningen & Drs. Steven Volker, Grunneger Power.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
National University of Ireland, Galway & Galway City Council
‘Community Conversations on Creative Space’
Mr. Brian Barrett, Head of Economic & Cultural Development, Galway City Council & Dr. Mark Justin Rainey, School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, NUI Galway.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
 
University of Bordeaux & The City of Bordeaux
‘Water & Biodiversity in an Urban Habitat: the Baitykool-Arkiturria Collaboration Challenge’
Dr. Myriame Ali-oualla, postdoctoral fellow, University of Bordeaux & Mr. Axel Rochaud, hydrobiologist, co-founder of Arkiturria.
See the slides. Watch on Youtube!
 
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May 12
AIMday ® – creative process to connect universities with external partners.
AIMday stands for Academic Industry Meeting day. AIMday is an exchange of knowledge and ideas focused on finding novel approaches to real-world challenges. It is simply the idea that a broad mix of academics can provide different perspectives and surprising new avenues to solving problems – and thereby create favourable conditions for continued cooperation between external organisations and academia.
What makes AIMday truly special is the format of the meeting. Specific questions have already been raised by external organisations which form the agenda. At registration academics can select their preferred questions to discuss during the day. The AIMday software then builds the optimal schedule to accommodate as many participants as possible. The outcome is a day filled with a series of ‘one question, one hour’ workshops where teams sit around a table to discuss each question in an open atmosphere.
Desired outcome for AIMday in the European Dialogue context:
- ideas for integrating community challenges into education units
- ideas for using community challenges as a basis for a research project
Results from discussions will be transferred to responsible units within ENLIGHT for follow up, development of courses and create further opportunities to continue discussions.
After the AIMday concludes an optional tour of the ongoing urban development project “Rosendal” in Uppsala will take place. Rosendal is characterized by an extensive focus on sustainability.
See the list of topics discussed.
