Over the past three years, ten European cities including ICLEI Members Bologna (Italy) and Lisbon (Portugal) have worked with service providers and knowledge brokers to test and advance tools and approaches aimed at shaping sustainable, heritage-led urban futures.

From 27-30 October, these cities will publicly present the cutting-edge interventions they have implemented at the local level, share stories of change and discuss lessons learnt. The event will be virtually hosted by Bolgna, and will introduce participants to the city. Furthermore, the Open Knoweldge Week will demonstrate that cultural heritage is not just a part of our histories – it can also lead our (sustainable) urban futures.

In addition to presenting cities' experiences, the week will feature reflections from the European Commission, as well as keynote addresses from Prof. Giovanni Leoni from the Department of Architecture at the University of Bologna and Lia Ghilardi, Founder of Noema Consulting and City Mapping (UK), who will offer insights on the nexus between cultural heritage and urban transformation in times of crisis. 

Finally, thematic online seminars will bring together academic experts, city representatives and local stakeholders to discuss theoretical and practical approaches to ensure accessibility, sustainability and innovative partnerships in cultural heritage solutions.

There is a wealth of knowledge to be explored on cultural heritage and urban futures. Networking activities and an exhibition will enable participants to dig deeper and to discover the technological solutions developed by a variety of EU-funded cultural heritage projects.

The virtual conference, organised by the ROCK project, is free of charge. All sessions will be held in English, with international sign language interpretation provided live.

Click here to register now. The conference programme and additional information can be found on the event webpage. In case of questions, please contact conference@rockproject.eu.