The world’s leading event for urban innovation, the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) in Barcelona, once again brought together the global smart city community, with over 27,000 participants from 143 countries. Among them, oPEN Lab joined forces with other European projects to shape the dialogue on inclusive, sustainable, and climate-neutral urban transformation.
Powering up your neighbourhood!
On 5 November, oPEN Lab hosted an interactive booth session titled “Powering Up Your Neighbourhood!”, co-organised with partners Maarten De Groote (VITO), Annika Urbas (Tartu City Council), and Luis Cardonas (ah asociados). The session showcased how local communities can lead the way in energy transition, by co-designing neighbourhood-scale solutions that combine energy efficiency, renewables, and citizen engagement.
Main take aways of our speakers:
- Annika Urbas (Tartu City Council) for Tartu: Demystify technology – Invest in tech education so everyone feels confident and included.
- Maarten De Groote (VITO) for Genk: Know your citizens- Archetypes before action! Real impact begins with understanding people, not just designing for them.
- Luis Cardonas (ah asociados) for Pamplona: Learning by Doing – Municipalities can be powerful drivers of change. Pamplona shows what’s possible when you learn by doing.
Visitors explored how oPEN Lab’s pilot sites in Genk (Belgium), Pamplona (Spain), and Tartu (Estonia) are implementing innovative technologies and collaborative models to create replicable Positive Energy Neighbourhoods across Europe.
Future-proofing cities through collaboration
Later the same day, oPEN Lab joined the panel discussion “Future-Proofing Cities: Sustainable Innovations for Liveable Urban Spaces”, held at the Stage Infrastructure & Building. The session brought together leading EU projects, including ASCEND, NEUTRALPATH, ARV, IURC, and RESPONSE, to discuss how European cities can integrate sustainable infrastructure, circular principles, and citizen-centred design to build liveable, future-proof urban spaces. Main takeaway: “Real urban transformation takes commitment from the top, courage to experiment, and bridge-builders who turn collaboration into momentum. That’s where innovation and resilience truly come to life”, said our speaker, Maarten De Groote (VITO).
The discussion underscored the importance of cross-project collaboration and knowledge exchange to accelerate the journey towards climate-neutrality by 2030, in line with the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities.
Driving impact beyond the Expo
Beyond the sessions, oPEN Lab engaged with city representatives, researchers, innovators, and policy-makers, strengthening collaborations and sharing insights on how Positive Energy Neighbourhoods can become the backbone of Europe’s green and digital transition.
The oPEN Lab consortium extends its thanks to all partners, visitors, and fellow EU projects who joined us at SCEWC, proving once again that sustainable change starts at neighbourhood level.
