Join us in Brussels 10-12 April 2024, as we bring together urban leaders, practitioners, researchers, investors, and visionaries at the forefront of sustainable urban transition. The Driving Urban Transitions (DUT), a European Partnership committed to supporting cities in their journey to become sustainable, resilient, and inclusive, invites you to be part of the journey!

With less than six years left to go until 2030, the DUT Conference 2024 will bring together a multitude of stakeholders for collaborative learning and action, fostering discussions on the essential next steps at the global, national, and local levels to strengthen the dynamics of the transition.

Join us in addressing the challenges and delivering on the promises of research and innovation in a mission-oriented context.

Three Days of Boosting Urban Transformations

• DUT’s biennial policy conference 2024: Driving Urban Transitions through Joint Action, with DUT Open Area and Festival.

• Agora Strategic Dialogue: Empowering Urban Futures: Bridging Policy, Innovation, and Local Action.

• DUT Call 2022 projects kick-off event (by invitation only).

Programme Highlights

• Discover the key instruments deployed by the DUT Partnership to amplify the impact of research and innovation.

• Learn from cities at the forefront of implementing the 15-minute City, Circular Urban Economies, and Positive Energy Districts strategies.

• Be inspired by Urban Doers and novel approaches in projects financed by DUT.

• Get new insights from expert panels on drivers behind change and new research areas in mission driven context.

• Celebrate the DUT projects funded in the first DUT call.

Register here

Thousands of mayors, councillors, regional ministers and top European and global decisionmakers will gather in Mons, in the Walloon Region of Belgium, in the heart of Europe, to debate the challenges an​d solutions for the future of Europe and beyond.

Organised by the European Committee of the Regions together with Walloon Region and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the 10th European Summit of Regions and Cities will bring a new perspective on topics at the heart of people's concerns, such as democracy, sustainable development, the future of the European Union and its enlargement, the need to ensure social, economic and territorial cohesion, and dealing with the consequences of the war against Ukraine. Global challenges will be addressed by bringing together different perspectives from across the world. The European Committee of the Regions is particularly proud that this occasion coincides with its 30th anniversary, and invites you to join the celebrations.

Find out more on the event and agenda here. 

Register here

The ‘Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival’ is organised by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) in cooperation with the Bioeconomy Youth Ambassadors, and will be accompanied by independent satellite events all over Europe.

The Festival aims to engage youth as drivers of the transformative change required in view of the multiple challenges that Europe faces today, and to unlock the potential of the bioeconomy to make the transformation happen. In addition, the Festival will help the European Commission to gather views on an update of the Bioeconomy Strategy and Action Plan.

It will take place between 11 and 17 of March 2024 in various locations across the EU, and will comprise of:

• a high-level event, organised by the European Commission, in Brussels, on 13-14/03/2024.

• more than 30 satellite events, organised by third party organisations all over Europe, to enable youth to take part in the festival.

The target audience of the high-level event of 13-14 March 2024 consists of bioeconomy stakeholders, regional, national and international policy makers and youth interested in the bioeconomy.

The satellite events will be organised in the 18 countries They will offer space for discussions, networking, and information on career opportunities. Field trips and interactive workshops are also planned and at some satellite events you can play bioeconomy games or enjoy art exhibitions.

Find out more information here

This international conference will bring together researchers, decision makers, specialists and other stakeholders interested in planetary health, sustainability and wellbeing.

Participation includes 3 days of transdisciplinary sessions, discussions, presentations and posters that spur transformative action through scientific knowledge.

The conference will focus on how human health and the health of the planet are closely connected and what can be done to protect and enhance both. In particular, the conference encourages finding solutions in complex systems and interlinked crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and the rise of noncommunicable diseases.

Science-informed knowledge and solutions for tackling challenges around planetary health are essential for transformative action. Planetary health requires supportive leadership and urban planning, sustainable healthcare, sustainable food systems, active mobility and improved understanding of the value of nature to our wellbeing, among other subjects. Furthermore, an emphasis is needed on finding effective intervention points and strategies while considering societal megatrends such as digitalization and aging population.

This conference follows on from the Helsinki Planetary Health Conference in 2019, People and Planet Conference in 2021, and will continue in the spirit of the Helsinki Declaration in emphasizing the urgency for action.

The conference is organized in connection to Nature Step to Health – Lahti Regional Health and Environment Programme 2022-2032, by Lahti University Campus together with City of Lahti, Wellbeing Services County of Päijät-Häme and other partners.

Find out more

As part of the Belgian Presidency of the European Council of Ministers for the Environment and Climate, Wallonia and the Climate Chance Association are organising a gathering of climate stakeholders, the Climate Chance Europe 2024 Summit. The main theme is « Adaptation to climate change, nature-based solutions and resilience ».

Adapting to climate disruption is a major challenge, at the heart of local climate action. The European Green Deal has placed ecological transition at the heart of all EU policy proposals.

In this context, the Climate Chance Europe 2024 Wallonia Summit will contribute to the European work led by the Belgian Presidency on climate change adaptation, nature-based solutions and resilience. This is the very first time that an international event has been devoted to this theme.

The event is intended to be broad-based and inclusive. Faced with the consequences of climate change, which Europe as a whole is having to deal with, we need to facilitate exchanges and collaboration between companies, associations, local authorities and citizen organizations across the European Union. This dialogue will focus on the adaptation solutions put in place by all parties in this local, regional, national and European multi-stakeholder context. So, for example, the resilient reconstruction of the Vesdre Valley following the dramatic floods of 2021 could be an inspiration for other European communities faced with similar meteorological phenomena. Conferences, workshops, field visits and discussions will enable participants to benefit from the experience and expertise of other European players.

The aim of this meeting will be to produce the “Liège Declaration“, an ambitious collective roadmap that will mark a decisive milestone in the work of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council. Key messages will be conveyed to the European institutions with a view to a renewed and strengthened European Green Deal after 2024.

Registrations open until 31/01/2024. 

Register here