On April 21st , 2022, the fourth “Eureka Meets the Atlantic” took place in the United States of America, in the busy city of Boston, Massachusetts.
Organized by the Portuguese Chairmanship of the Eureka, and supported by the MIT Portugal Program, the event will address urban innovation and the path to more sustainable and healthy cities, at both local and global scales.
Occurrences such as sea level rise or extreme weather events affect coastal cities directly, highlighting the importance of considering climate change when planning city layouts. Innovation has the power to bring great benefits to public, urban spaces, modernizing cities and preparing them for the various effects of climate change, while also allowing them to become more prosperous and sustainable. As the influence of coastal cities spreads out to surrounding areas, positive changes through science and technology, with adaptations to climate change in mind, will result in an overall net positive for everyone, hence the need for more dynamism in city planning and design.
There are, however, obstacles in the path of transitioning to eco-cities. Even though information and communication technologies have been proven to be invaluable assets, we are yet to unleash the full potential of big data and AI to optimize the efficiency of cities. Nevertheless, if public bodies articulate with society as a whole, the mitigation and adaptation to natural hazards can be achieved through appropriate planning and
management.
It is crucial that we learn from the past to prepare for a better future. And thus, the goal is to analyze how cities and urban regions were designed, planned, and developed previously, while discussing and proposing potential trajectories for smarter and more sustainable cities in the coming years.
Eureka is the world’s biggest public network for international cooperation in R&D and innovation, present in over 45 countries. Since 1985, it has funded and supported the R&D and innovation of thousands of ground-breaking commercialized products, processes or services that have positively impacted economic growth and people’s lives. Eureka gives you the freedom to create your ideal consortium and decide the technological focus of your international R&D projects. The programmes are flexible and open to startups, SMEs, large companies, research organizations and universities.
REGISTRATION
Please register here
AGENDA
Note: Time displayed in local timezone, Boston USA (GMT-4)
Programme Facilitators:
– Emir Sirage NPC Chair of Eureka Network and COO AIR Centre
– Pedro Arezes National Director of MIT Portugal Program and President of School of Engineering at University of Minho
April 21st
09:00
Welcome Remarks
– Ana Neves (Portuguese Deputy Chairwoman of Eureka Network)
– John Hansman (Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program at MIT)
– Francisco Almeida (Portuguese Embassy in the USA)
09:30
Keynote Address
– Christoph Reinhart (MIT Portugal Program Lead Faculty of Sustainable Cities and Head of Sustainable Design Lab at MIT)
– Paulo Ferrão (IST/IN+, Program Governing Committee MIT Portugal Program, Portuguese High-Level Representative at Eureka)
10:20
Eureka Funding Mechanisms and Globalstars
– Jorge Liz (Director of Operations at Eureka Secretariat)
10:45
Coffe Break
11:15
Design and Create the Coastal Cities of the Future
Panel of City Representatives
Moderator: João Mendes Borga (Administrator at the Portuguese National Innovation Agency)
– Susanne Rasmussen (Director of Environmental and Transportation Planning, City of Cambridge)
– Miguel Pinto Luz (Vice-President of Cascais City Hall)
– Ana Cristina Saltarin Jimenez (Barranquilla, Colombia)
– Sara Medina (ENRICH in the USA, Sociedade de Inovação – SPI)
– Sebastien Torre (ENRICH Programmes and Platforms Senior Consultant)
12:15
Lunch
13:30
Cutting-Edge Research is Contributing to Sustainable and Resilient Coastal Cities Solutions
Moderator: Joana Mendonça (President of the Portuguese National Innovation Agency)
– Paulo Ferrão (IST/IN+, Program Governing Committee MIT Portugal Program, Portuguese High-Level Representative at Eureka)
– Brent Minchew (MIT)
– Catarina Selada (CEiiA)
– Travis Sheehan (Lead for City Solutions at Shell)
– Nour Salmen (City Solutions Manager, Renewables and Energy Solutions at Shell)
14:45
Sustainable Cities Public Policy Challenges
Moderator: Ines Marinkovic (European and International Programmes, FFG Austria)
– Ana Célia Castro (Advanced Studies, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, National Institute for Science and Technology – Public Policies, Strategies and Development)
– Luiz Paulo Assad (IGEO-UFRJ/LAMCE/AIR Centre)
– John Cleveland (Executive Director at the Boston Green Ribbon Commission and President of the Innovation Network for Communities)
15:30
Coffee Break
15:45
Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Cities
Moderator: Pedro Rocha Vieira (Co-founder & Global CEO at Beta-i)
– Ray Schmitt (President & Co-Founder at Salient Predictions)
– Laurent Canneva (Chairman and Co-founder of Spare-it)
– Michael Lake (President & CEO at Leading Cities)
– Donald Grant (Executive Director at Ocean Start Up Project)
17:00
Concluding Panel – Way Forward to Create a Network of Smart Sustainable Coastal Cities
Moderator: John Hansman (Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program at MIT)
– Joana Mendonça (President of the Portuguese National Innovation Agency)
– Christoph Reinhart (MIT Portugal Program Lead Faculty of Sustainable Cities and Head of Sustainable Design Lab at MIT)
– Manuel Heitor (IST/IN+, Former Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education in Portugal)
18:00
Networking
