The city of Rotterdam is getting ready for Urban Future 2024

Dutch ‘CityChangers’ are joining forces to host Europe’s most inspiring event for sustainable cities in June 2024.

September 27, 2023 | Rotterdam, Netherlands – Rotterdam is the place to be for all CityChangers from June 5 to 7, 2024. Chantal Zeegers, Vice Mayor of Rotterdam and Gerald Babel-Sutter, CEO of Urban Future have invited active and innovative organisations within the area to get involved in Europe’s most inspiring event for sustainable cities – Urban Future 2024 (or #UF24).

Urban Future has become Europe’s most-attended and inspiring conference for city changemakers, drawing more than 2,000 attendees yearly. It is a series of events, field trips, sessions and workshops throughout the week where everything revolves around sustainable urban development. The main question is: How do we make our cities better?

A glimpse of what to expect.

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.

“Anyone with a passion for making their city a better place simply cannot miss this event as an attendee in June,” says Gerald Babel-Sutter, Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Future.

Rotterdam: time to get involved!

This will be Netherlands' first time hosting such an electrifying gathering after it was held successfully in cities such as Stuttgart, Helsingborg and Oslo, since its inception in 2014.

Rotterdam was selected to partner with Urban Future because of its energy reduction focus, circular economy practices, technological innovation, and its general focus on sustainability.

“We are seeing major shifts towards more sustainability in cities around the globe and Rotterdam is definitely one of frontrunners when it comes to adaptability and flexibility,” says Gerald Babel-Sutter.

"We have set ambitious goals for Rotterdam when it comes to creating a future-proof and sustainable city,” says Chantal Zeegers, Vice Mayor of Rotterdam. “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," continues Zeegers.

The Urban Future team has invited Dutch urban change makers to make use of this

opportunity and join forces. More than 60 organizations have accepted the call and more are welcome.

“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,” adds Gerald Babel-Sutter.

#UF24 Kick-Off event in Rotterdam.

At the Kick-off event on September 26^th, Antonio Miguel Castro, Director of urban planning, social housing and city regeneration at the City of Vila nova de Gaia, took us on a journey to Portugal to learn how regional cooperation works in Portugal. His main message: "To make collaboration work, you need to forget about your ego."

Local CityChangers also shared at the kick-off event exactly the kind of stories that Urban Future is looking for:

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.

The event moderated by Jop Spoelstra included more than 100 participants and was held at De Rotterdam on Wilhelminakade street in Rotterdam. The positive energy of the participants and the knowledge of the speakers was a glimpse into what to expect in June at #UF24.

International CityChangers exploring Rotterdam.

The Urban Future participants come from politics, business, industry, non-government organisations (NGOs) and associations. There are specialists from fields such as mobility, energy, real estate and construction, urban planning or resource management who meet at Urban Future at eye level – regardless of organisational form or hierarchy. They exchange ideas about how change succeeds or fails, visions, knowledge and concrete experiences and on how life in our cities can become more sustainable.

“Anyone with a passion for making their city a better place simply cannot miss this event as an attendee in June,” concludes Gerald Babel-Sutter.