Press Invitation: The city of Rotterdam is getting ready for Urban Future 2024.

INVITATION TO THE #UF24 KICK-OFF

September 26, 2023 | 15.00–17.00 h

De Rotterdam, 22nd floor, Wilhelminakade 179, 3002 AN Rotterdam

Dutch ‘CityChangers’ are joining forces to host Europe’s most inspiring event for sustainable cities that is coming to Rotterdam on June 5-7, 2024. Chantal Zeegers, Vice Mayor of Rotterdam and Gerald Babel-Sutter, CEO of Urban Future cordially invite you to join Rotterdam’s most active and innovative organisations within the field of urban sustainability at the Kick-off for #UF24.

INTERVIEW OPTIONS:

Take this opportunity to talk to passionate and powerful local, national and international CityChangers. They will be sharing the kind of stories that Urban Future is all about:

• Antonio Miguel Castro, Director of urban planning, social housing and city regeneration at the City of Vila nova de Gaia - Insights about how he made regional collaboration work in Portugal.
• Barbara Luns, Director, AIR – Architectuur Instituut Rotterdam – Organising the public and professional conversation about the design of the city.
• Oscar van Veen, Director of Innovation, Port of Rotterdam – Netherlands largest employer taking on their environmental footprint with ambitious, innovative thinking.
• Sabine Biesheuvel, Co-founder & Director of BlueCity – One of Europe’s most innovative hubs for circularity, that is accelerating the transition from the linear to the circular economy through entrepreneurship.

Please sign up via e-mail to media@urban-future.org and let us know if you are interested in an interview slot with one of the above speakers or Urban Future Co-Founder and CEO Gerald Babel-Sutter.

To enter the building, we would kindly ask you to bring along a photo ID (driver’s license, ID card or passport).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Time to get involved!

"We have set ambitious goals for Rotterdam when it comes to creating a future-proof and sustainable city. The scale of the challenges and the speed at which we want to address the energy transition and sustainability in Rotterdam require innovative thinking. The congress is the ideal way to connect major global developments with local issues and solutions. Together with local partners, the congress actively seeks ways to engage with the city's residents and address the specific issues that concern them. Finally, we can demonstrate that our city is a leading player in the aforementioned areas," says Chantal Zeegers, Vice Mayor of Rotterdam.

This will be Netherlands' first time hosting such an electrifying gathering after it was held successfully in other cities like Stuttgart, Helsingborg, Oslo since its inception in 2014. Rotterdam is the place to be for all CityChangers from June 5-7, 2024.

The #UF24 core themes include Climate Adaptation, Building Sustainable Cities, Social Aspects of Transformation plus Personal Growth. The overall goal of the event is to accelerate the transformation to sustainable cities by connecting relevant stakeholders, regardless if they are representing municipalities, start-ups, NGOs or business industry leaders. To get a first flavour of the conference, the main tracks will be published in October, 2023.

Gerald Babel-Sutter, Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Future invites Dutch urban change makers to make use of this opportunity and join forces: “Anyone with a passion for making their city a better place simply cannot miss this event as an attendee in June. But the time to get involved in the programme is now! We are eager to showcase all the exceptional work that people and organisations in and around Rotterdam are doing to make the city a better place to live. If you are one of them, get in touch and get involved!”