2022 Annual Conference of Major Cities of Europe

FROM CHAOS TO COSMOS – Innovative Communities, Places, and Cities

The Major Cities of Europe conference will be hosted by the Larissa Municipality from November 2 to 4, 2022 at the Municipal Art Gallery. The conference is in person only. The conference language is English – simultaneous translation into Greek will be provided at the plenary sessions. To enjoy an initial overview of the city of Larissa and the unique sea, mountains, small towns, and cities of the Region of Thessaly, please refer to this video.

What makes the annual conference different:

The most recent annual conferences were hosted by different European cities: Venice, Leipzig, Zagreb, Florence, Hamburg, Zurich, Ljubljana, Vienna, Prato and Berlin. Up to four hundred delegates from Europe and further afield join each year with significant participation from the hosting country. All conferences received unanimous excellent feedback from the delegates about the quality of the speakers and the relevance of the topics discussed during round tables and world café sessions, but more importantly it was highly appreciated that not only successes are discussed openly, but also about issues: the delegates like to hear the truth not the spin.

Policy Cloud at MCE2022

Policy Cloud will join the MajorCitiesEurope 2022 conference with:

• Plenary presentation about its pilot project Urban policy making through analysis of crowdsourced data in the city of Sofia
• An innovation workshop with potential adopters of the Policy Cloud solution
• An exhibition booth

Conference overview:

• Unforeseen changes and pressures determine new thrusts and accelerations towards the transformation of cities. The sudden conjunction of external threats such as the pandemic, climate change, energy crisis, war, immigration, refugees, inflation, economic slowdown have created an unexpected situation.
• Fulfilling Local Governments’ response in facing the new challenges, in leading the change and in responding to citizens’ expectations is a priority. How to react quickly with policies, strategies, and investments to manage the situation? How to be prepared for such responsibilities? What are the key elements to succeed? Can digital technologies be the enablers and drivers of transformations in managing citizens’ services, in establishing climate and environmental policies and action plans, in guaranteeing security and resilience towards present and new emergency situations and risks? How to communicate with, involve and include citizens in transforming the city? Are the skills and culture of public servants fit to make the transformations happen?

“From Chaos to Cosmos – Innovative Communities, Places and Cities” is the golden thread of the 2022 conference. Different sessions are planned to answer to the multiple questions above with testimonials, case studies, workshops, and open debates.

• The main topics in the programme are:
• Building from the learnings of Covid
• Becoming digital by design
• Platforms and data for cities
• Empowering citizens and civil servants
• Creating Smart Places for Smart Living and Tourism
• 100 Climate Neutral Cities, EU Mission
• Breaking barriers between health and social care
• Becoming resilient and secure in the real and cyber worlds
• Special sessions will be dedicated to MCE communities focused on Cybersecurity and European projects
• Participation is open to local government managers, experts, and practitioners and in general those involved in innovation in Local Governments are welcome. The programme specifically targets, Local Government CIOs, Smart city managers, environment managers, security, resilience, and cybersecurity managers.

Why participate?

The independent and non-commercial environment of this pan-European event represents a unique opportunity for participants to engage together with their peers in innovation in Local Government. Due to the friendly and open atmosphere, the Major Cities of Europe conference will offer an excellent opportunity for the participants to engage in informal discussions during the conference breaks, lunches, and dinners, in order to share ideas, initiatives, experiences and learn from each other. Moreover, all delegates will benefit from both the Q&As and the roundtables.

Agenda - Policy Cloud sessions

2 November 

15:20 - 15:35 - Plenary presentation with Panayiotis Michael - Urban policy making in Sofia, through analysis of crowdsourced data

Panayiotis Michael, the technical coordinator of PolicyCloudEU, will share insights about urban policy making in Sofia, through analysis of crowdsourced data

3 November

Innovation workshop “Policy Cloud data-driven policies. A reality for your city” - 12:20 - 13:50

• 12.20-12.30: Introduction - Marialetizia Mari (Trust-IT)
• 12.30-12.40: Policy Cloud for evidence-based policymaking in European Cities - Vrettos Moulos (ICCS)
• 12.40-13.20: What the Policy Cloud for data-driven policymaking can do for European Cities? Examples from three major European cities and regions 
  • Metodiyka Tarlyovska (Sofia Municipality)
  • Samuele Baroni (Maggioli spa) 
  • Javier Sancho (SARGA)
  • Jose Maria Subero (SDA - Head of Digital Service of Aragon)
  • Antonio Calvo de la Prida (Head of Information Security Unit of the regional government of Aragon)
• 13.20-13.40: How to make data-driven policies a reality in your city? Interactive discussion with participants
• 13.40-13.50 Conclusions and Wrap-up

Don’t miss this unique event and book your agenda! 

Visit the event website

About Major Cities of Europe

For more than 35 years, Major Cities of Europe has been engaged in promoting the exchange of experiences among cities about their digital transformation and innovation initiatives. Major Cities of Europe is a non-profit and independent organisation of CIO’s, IT Managers, Smart City leaders, Heads of Departments and Policy Makers of Local Governments. It also includes Universities and other public organisations. More information at MCE value proposition.