URBAN-EU-CHINASUSTAINABLE

URBANISATION DAYS

BEIJING 9 - 11 SEPTEMBER 2018

City of Guangzhou, China © Wang Yu, NTNU

ABOUT US

To create a robust, evidence-driven bottom-up approach to support EU-Chinacooperation on sustainable urbanisation.

THE VISION

Promote cross-cultural communication, understanding and collaboration betweenstakeholders from both continents  Aid European and Chinese partners in identifying common goals, priorities, andchallenges in implementing sustainable urban solutions Improve coordination and complementarity between European and Chinese cities Provide comparable samples of empirical and statistical data where applicable  Create efficient and accessible channels to consolidate and transfer outcomes ofactivities to and from others Provide European and Chinese stakeholders with the opportunity to learn first-handwhat sustainable urbanisation services and infrastructures require

THE MISSION

OUR PARTNERS

To design and coordinate a holistic package of measures to:

EUROCITIES, Belgium European Union Chamber of Commerce inChina (EUCCC), China China Academy of Urban Planning and Design(CAUPD), China China Center for Urban Development (CCUD),China Tongji University, China Intelligent UrbanisationCo-Creation Center For High-Density Regions(TJU-CIUC), China  The University of Nottingham Ningbo (UNNC),China

Norwegian University of Science andTechnology (NTNU), Norway  Istituto di Studi per l’integrazione dei sistemi(ISINNOVA), Italy Leibniz-Institut für ÖkologischeRaumentwicklung (IOER), Germany ÖsterreichischeForschungsförderungsgesellschaft (FFG),Austria CAP Digital, France Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria

ABOUT THE EVENT

11 SEPTEMBER

The Foresight Workshop will offer an opportunity for European and Chinese urbanstakeholders to discuss their experiences and visions on what EU and China couldachieve by cooperating on sustainable urbanisation. During the workshop, theparticipants will discuss transition pathways that could connect long-term visionswith the operational realities of Chinese and European cities, and define possibletargets, enablers, challenges, instruments and success criteria to be included in theframework of the EU-China Partnership on Sustainable Urbanisation. The target group for this Foresight Workshop consists of urban experts from publicand private sector with experience in cooperation between Europe and China. The workshop will be held in English but with possibility for some groups to discussin Chinese. In total we plan for 40 participants. The workshop will adopt theKnowledge Café methodology to engage the participants in creative andinspirational conversation leading to wiser and more collectively informed proposal.The participants will work in small, interactive groups where each of them will beasked to speak out and share their knowledge with the others.

Open to EU-China stakeholders from public and private sector Venue: Infinity Ballroom, 1/F, The Hilton Beijing,

1 Dong Fang Road, North Dong Sanhuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 

Morning session: FORESIGHT WORKSHOP

Evening: NETWORKING COCKTAIL

For more information or if you wish to be invited to these events, please contact: coordinator@urbaneuchina.eu

This  project  has  received  funding  from  theEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020 research andinnovation programme under grant agreementNo 733571

Venue: Terrace, 6/F, The Hilton Beijing

SHORT INTRO

PROGRAM

FORESIGHT WORKSHOP: A RESEARCH & INNOVATION AGENDA FOR EU-CHINA COOPERATION ON

SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION 2019-2029

11 September, 09:00 - 12:00

09:00 - 09:10

09:10 - 09:30

09:30 - 10:00

10:00 - 10:45

10:45 - 11:00

11:00 - 11:30

11:30 - 11:50

11:50 - 12:00

Urban foresight: aims and methods by Giovanna Giuffrè,ISINNOVA

Setting-the-Scene: EU-China R&I Agenda for 2019-2027 byAnnemie Wyckmans, Urban-EU-China Coordinator, NTNU

“What do you see as priorities for the EU which EU- ChinaPartnership Cooperation on Sustainable Urbanization fornext 5-10 years?” Interactive session

Round 1: What is the quest behind the question?   Working groups session

Coffee Break

Round 2: What is missing? Working group session

Presentation of the results and next steps Plenary session

Wrap-up and concluding remarks by Giovanna Giuffrè,ISINNOVA

FORESIGHTWORKSHOP

With an uncertain future on the horizon, many of us wonder how policy actions today might impact ourworld and cities in the short and long term. Can political choices really determine what will happen ten,twenty, or thirty years from now? Foresight is a way to understand policy options, and how the choiceswe make will impact our future. It is not forecast, showing us a definitive future, but a tool that allows toexplore a number of possible futures. It can help experts and policy makers to identify what will affectour lives over the next few decades and envisage potential changes in policies and strategies, creatingroadmaps what we need to do today to shape our tomorrow. Foresight activities are increasingly used to support the identification and prioritization of Research andInnovation priorities. Foresight has been taken up as an instrument of the “strategic approach” of guidingthe tri-annual adjustment Horizon 2020 and has been part of the preparation of EC FrameworkProgramme 9 .  In particular, the adoption of a medium – long time horizon allows experts and policy-makers to take into account when results of the research funded are expected to become available andsubsequently have an impact in society and economy. 

BACKGROUND INFO

WHAT IS THE FORESIGHT FOR?

WORKSHOP AIMSA key feature of UBAN EU CHINA  is to create a robust, evidence-driven bottom-up approach to supportEU-China cooperation on sustainable urbanisation.  In this framework, URBAN EU CHINA team hasorganised three foresight workshops to promote strategic thinking among policy-makers, urban expertsand practitioners and discuss uncertainties, challenges and opportunities related to possible urbanfutures. The first workshop, held in Brussels in October 2017, has used URBACHINA Scenarios  as background todiscuss urban trends evolutions as well as ways of monitoring them. The second workshop, held inBarcelona November 2017, has elicited experts’ opinions on targets for the “Optimal Urban Scenario” inorder to identify those urban issues for which uncertainty is higher, and research most needed. Against this background, the Beijing workshop goals are to identify priorities and themes for FutureResearch & Innovation Agenda for EU-CHINA Cooperation on Sustainable Urbanisation for next 5-10years and to provide a description of the issues that should be addressed by R&I policy and funding. Taking the long-term perspective is designed to help European and Chinese stakeholders to “thinkoutside the box” and to identify novel urban developments of relevance to R&I policy and cooperation.The workshop will address the following questions:   

What are the most important societal challenges for urbanisation in the future?   What are the emerging actions and practices that are considered marginal butcould shape our cities in the future? What are the most promising innovations related to technologies, policies, andbehavioural changes that will have the highest impact on our cities in the future?

The URBAN EU CHINA report on EU-China R&I Agenda for 2019-2027 will serve to frame the discussionand will include the workshop’s relevant results.

Background info continues

The workshop is based on a variant of the “World Café” , which is a methodology for creative andinspirational conversations. The “setting-the-scene” presentation will offer a framework of analysisand propose a preliminary list of critical issues for the R&I Agenda for EU-CHINA cooperation onsustainable urbanisation (2019-2029). Participants will have then the opportunity to put forwardadditional and novel EU-China R&I priorities (around projects – seed ideas- research practices -innovation opportunities).   

METHODOLOGY

In the working group session, each R&I priority proposed will be associated with a discussion tableand assigned to one moderator who will summarise the results of the discussion at the end of thesession. While the moderator will stay at the table, the other participants will rotate for two rounds.In the first round, participants will be asked to elaborate missions statement related with the R&Ipriority detailing possible target and actions.  In the second round, participants will be asked to look at the outcomes of the first round - writtendown on a poster by the table moderator - and to see what could be added or modified to completeor improve the R&I priority. At the end, the table discussions will be summarised and presented in a plenary session by the tablemoderators.

We expect to have around 40 experts, from a variety of urban-related fields and with experience incooperation between Europe and China. The workshop will be held in English but with possibilityfor some groups to discuss in Chinese.  The workshop will offer the participants the opportunity to:

THE PARTICIPANTS

This  project  has  received  funding  from  theEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020 research andinnovation programme under grant agreementNo 733571

For more information or if you wish to be invited to these events, please contact: coordinator@urbaneuchina.eu

Network with experts Be part of an innovative process for the formulation of R&I priorities Learn about sustainable urbanisation projects,  practices and technology Make concrete changes toward sustainable urbanisation

FORESIGHTWORKSHOP