As part of our third theme Sustainable Cities and Infrastructure we invite businesses of all sizes from all sectors and industries, as well as academics, that wish to explore:

Transportation and Future Mobility
Urban Planning and Sustainable Construction
Green Energy
Digital Infrastructure and Technology

Register for the event(s) via Eventbrite

Stage 1: Webinar
25th November – 9:30-11:00am

Audiences will have the opportunity to be inspired by a panel of high profile speakers (further details below) of industry and academic leaders who will provide insights about technologies, innovations and funding opportunities available in Greater Manchester. There will also be a Q&A and a networking event.

Stage 2: Virtual Innovation Lab

Part 1 – 8th `December, 9.30am to 12.00pm

Part 2 – 9th `December, 9.30am to 12.00pm

Through expert facilitation, the Virtual Innovation Lab will invite participants to co-create real-world innovative solutions to solve key challenges for a more sustainable future. This is an invite-only workshop.

The Virtual Innovation Lab is a full-day workshop which is split across two days to create a better experience.

Why Sustainable Cities and Infrastructure?
Half of humanity – roughly 3.5 billion people – live in cities today and 5 billion people are projected to live in cities by 2030. Our urban environment is faced with increased air pollution, poor infrastructure and services, and unplanned urban sprawl. Moreover, the current pandemic has significantly changed our lives and needs, making simple issues, such as having enough space for everyone, increasingly challenging. However, this has also resulted in significant reductions in pollution which has inspired a movement to approach things with a fresh eye and avoid just “going back to normal”.

Urbanisation poses unprecedented challenges to our health and the environment and as a result the United Nations has dedicated 1 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on cities. SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Infrastructure is set to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Our city region, Greater Manchester has been a world leader exploring the future of cities and has set an ambition to be the UK’s leading green and digital city-region. To achieve this, Greater Manchester has challenged itself to become carbon neutral by 2038, 12 years ahead of the national target and to be recognised as one of the best places in the world to live, work and invest.

Globally and locally the challenges are related to urban transportation and mobility, urban planning, and construction, energy management, water usage and waste management. Aligning these with Greater Manchester’s strategic objectives, our webinar will mainly focus the expert discussion on:

Transportation and future mobility

According to Deloitte in Greater Manchester 52% of journeys are taking place via private cars, 25% is done walking while only 18% is taking place via public transit and just 5% via a bicycle. We need to rethink how cycling, electric and autonomous vehicles as well as mobility hubs can help our region reduce our emissions and achieve the Clear Air agenda.
Urban planning and sustainable construction

For Greater Manchester region’s 2038 carbon neutral commitment to be achieve it will require for all new development to be net zero carbon by 2028. This will accelerate sustainable construction methods with the use of advanced materials and state of the art technologies as well as designing for and empowering a circular economy.
Green energy

Although the world’s cities occupy just 3% of the Earth’s land they account for 60%-80% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions. Greater Manchester has set an ambition to become carbon neutral by 2038.
Digital Infrastructure and Technology

Greater Manchester as a region is at the heart of global digital advancements. While technology is an enabling layer enhancing existing infrastructure systems it is also becoming a layer of infrastructure on its own (Smart Cities) impacting many areas of life in the region such as security, health, energy, waste, mobility.

We live in unprecedented times and we need to work together, both as citizens and as professionals, to redesign our cities. We have the knowledge and technologies to build better infrastructures, policies, and social and digital mechanisms to create more resilient, sustainable, affordable and liveable cities for everyone.

We hope our webinar will add a building block in this critical discussion. The event purpose is to inform and inspire change across all sectors as we hear from leading experts in these topics. The Innovate Manchester programme is also focused on facilitating the process to create feasible solutions, and following this webinar, we are inviting people to express an interest in our Innovation Lab workshop which will take place on December 8th and 9th.

If you are a large organisation, public body or non-profit we want to hear from you; come forward and bring the biggest challenge you have related to the theme. We are here to support you identify and shape solutions.

Check out a PDF which provides an overview of the Innovate Manchester programme for Large Organisations, and for SMEs, explains what a challenge is and what previous attendees said about our webinars.

Speakers
The event will be chaired by Manchester’s globally renowned entrepreneur Vikas Shah MBE.

Keynote

Professor Bamidele Adebisi – Professor In Intelligent Infrastructure Systems and Head of Smart Infrastructure and Industry Research (SIIR) Group, Manchester Metropolitan University

Panellists

Jane Healey-Brown – Director Planning, Policy and Economics at Arup and is leading the MHCLG Towns Fund Delivery Partnership in the North.

Jon Corner – Chief Digital Officer, City of Salford

Dr. Beenish Siddique – Founder and CEO, AEH Innovative Hydrogel Limited

Agenda
9.30 – FutureEverything – Intro to Innovate Manchester and Innovation Lab process

9:35 – Intro from the Chair

9.40 – Professor Bamidele Adebisi – Keynote presentation

9.55 – Thought Provocations

10.10 – Panel Discussion (40 min + 10 Q&A)

11.00 – Event ends

About Innovate Manchester
Innovate Manchester is an ambitious new events programme for Greater Manchester. The events are designed to bring together large organisations, SMEs, the public sector and academia to collaborate on new innovative ideas.

Through expert facilitation webinars and virtual Innovation labs, participants are invited to co-create innovative solutions towards a more sustainable future for all, responding to themes ranging from sustainability and industry 4.0 to data ethics and Human-Centric design.

Businesses looking to access specialist support can visit www.businessgrowthhub.com for more information about the organisation’s extensive range of services.

Innovate Manchester and other GC Business Growth Hub projects are part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the GM Business Growth Hub project designed to help ambitious SME businesses achieve growth and increase employment in Greater Manchester. The Hub is also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.

Innovate Manchester is initiated in partnership with MIDAS and curated by FutureEverything

 

Event Details

Location	Online
Start	Wednesday 25 Nov 2020 9:30am
Finish	Wednesday 25 Nov 2020 12:00pm
Organised by	FutureEverything
Booking	https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sustainable-cities-and-infrastructure-tickets-126385896619