Barcelona will host the largest edition of the Global Smart Cities Expo Congress (SCEWC) held to date, with 1,100 exhibitors from 850 cities and more than 600 international experts. The event, organized by the Fira de Barcelona, will take place from November 5 to 7 and is considered the world benchmark in terms of smart city refers, aims to approach sustainable and ethical urban development from different angles, this time under the motto Live better. Among the main new features is the space Innovation Playgrounddedicated to connection startupsinvestors, governments and research centers to promote R&D&I.
SCEWC 2024 will be structured around seven overarching themes, such as energy and environment; Mobility; Governance; Economy: enabling technologies; Life and inclusion; and Infrastructure and buildings. This edition’s speaker list includes experts such as Majora Carter, Ruha Benjamin, Stephanie Hare and Melati Wijsen, among others. The complete list of speakers of this edition of Smart City Expo World Congress It can be consulted on its website.
In the case of Majora Carter, her reflection will focus on urban revitalization and she will share with the public her experience of transformation of the South Bronx – the famous district of New York -, where green spaces have been promoted, thanks to equitable community participation and always with a concern for sustainable economic development. For her part, Ruha Benjamin will focus her analysis on inequalities of technological origin. It is not for nothing that this professor of African-American studies at Princeton University (United States) is known for her work where the concepts of race, society and technology converge.
Expert Stephanie Hare will address issues such as data privacy, surveillance and the ethical use of artificial intelligence, as her research focuses on the implications of emerging technologies in society and advocating for practices that protect the rights of individuals and promote social equity. As for Indonesian activist Melati Wijsen’s work, it started with her sister Isabel and focused on eliminating disposable plastic bags. He arrives at SCEWC after having participated in international meetings organized by National geographicthe World Economic Forum or the UN.
In addition to the topics covered in the various panels, SCEWC 2024 wishes to directly set an example of sustainability, through an initiative whose objective is to reduce the environmental impact of the event and evolve towards a congress of Zero Waste. Among the measures adopted by the organization, the recycling of materials, the elimination of single-use plastics and the use of renewable resources stand out. At the same time, the reusable furniture donation program will be developed, which will allow benches and flower pots used during the event to be donated to organizations in Barcelona. Likewise, the tissues of stands and a pilot project will be developed to use reusable cups instead of plastic ones.
These types of measures have a quantifiable effect. For example, during the last edition of the SCEWC, the waste of more than 2,100 kilos of plastic waste was avoided, 9,180 kilos of carpets were recycled and 203.97 tonnes of CO2 were offset, according to sources from the ‘organization. In addition, 14 tons of wood were recovered, all added to the planting of 886 trees thanks to the initiative founded by German environmentalist Felix Finkbeiner and called Trees for the planet (framed in the project Plants for the planet). In fact, in this edition Finkbeiner himself will offer a lecture on reforestation and climate change, focused on his work in the Doñana National Park.
The SCEWC as an experience bearer
Framed in the Smart City Expo World Congress and sharing its space at the Fira, four other related events will be held on the same dates. One of them is the Barcelona Deep Tech Summitwhich will celebrate its third edition, in this case it is a meeting focused on scientific and technological entrepreneurship and the potential of spin-off university students.
Likewise, directly linked to the SCEWC, the Global Smart Cities Awards and congresses Tomorrow.World Mobility Congress, Tomorrow.World Building Congress And Tomorrow. Blue economy. Regarding the prizes, which will be awarded on November 6, the organization highlighted the quality of the 429 applications received, from 64 countries, and which will compete for the 9 categories that make up the prizes with which it wants to reward urban transformation. and innovation projects. The three other complementary events are respectively focused on mobility, construction and the sustainable ocean economy.
Regarding the multidisciplinary nature of the meeting, Ugo Valenti, director of SCEWC, emphasized that “the objective is to establish a common urban innovation strategy that serves to improve well-being, create opportunities and promote a better relationship with our planet and our communities. .” In this sense, he clarified that “if we want to live better [aludiendo al lema de esta edición: Live Better]we need to change our habits, take advantage of technology, innovation and collaboration. To facilitate this work, we wish to offer a meeting point so that all actors involved in the concept of Smart city come together and create a roadmap for a better future.
