Member of the European Parliament (ECR group) Dace Melbārde in partnership with the EUNIC-cultural Institutes in Latvia, an  NGO "Art Cēsis" and NGO "Culturelab" is kindly inviting you to participate in the online webinar "METHODS OF URBAN PLANNING: towards a smarter and more sustainable society." In cooperation with the Goethe Institut and Nordic Council of Ministers   we will cover 2 major topics and 3 distinctive speakers will be presented in webinar:

I Urban Design Thinking – the HOW of Coming to Future Creative Cities
We often discuss, what is needed for the future of cities and experts know a broad range of what to do, but often the question of how to develop this city is not dealt with. This presentation deals with the method of urban design thinking, developed at Technical University of Berlin. The method is taken from the production of goods, but people living in cities are not just consumers, and cities are no enterprises. Urban design thinking reflects the needs of people and stakeholders, establishes creative terms of cooperation and comes up with prototypes and testing phases. Examples of urban design thinking in research and municipal development will be presented.

1.Prof Dr. Elke Pahl-Weber, Professor at the Technical University of Berlin, a German architect, city planner and lecturer. Her focus lies on mega cities, energy-efficient urban structures as well as sustainable city development, besides she also researches and counsels local councils on the subject of Smart Cities.

II Agenda 2030 – Action now with United Future Lab Norway
United Future Lab Norway is an initiative within the municipality of Aalesund with the main objective to accelerate the development of smart and sustainable cities and communities, and contribute to achieving the UN’s sustainability goals by 2030. The lab facilitates a closer collaboration between public actors, businesses and academia through projects with a focus on smart and sustainable development.

2.Marielle Furnes Mannseth, CEO of United Future Lab Norway, M.Sc. in Informatics with executive education in innovation and sustainable business models. Having worked with global businesses for 20+ years, her broad background and international experience is crucial as she is leading and guiding organizations and businesses towards more sustainable business models, new possibilities and innovations through partnerships.

3.Dr. Anne-Lise Sagen Major, Strategic futurist Ålesund municipality/ United Future Lab Norway,
has 20 years of experience in research and innovation with a focus on service design and digitalization. She helps the municipal services and their partners to develop research and innovation projects and advises on national and international R&I programs.

This webinar will be open and available online for all participants from Latvian and abroad  who are interested in
local development,  cultural planning  and capacity building of local cultural sector.

Event will take place on May 11 at 14:00 EEST on Zoom platform. Seminar language-English.
Moderator: Mārtiņš Eņģelis, urban researcher, tourism critic and television host. Been involved in both creative industry, urban, art and tourism studies and practice for over 12 years. Still does not know how to knit.

This webinar is part of the webinar series "FUTURE CREATIVE CITIES" organized by MEP Dace Melbārde in partnership with NGO "Art Cēsis" and NGO "Culturelab" and now also EUNIC-cultural Institutes in Latvia. Webinars are financially supported by the European Parliament’s European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group).

Please fill in the application by May 11!