On 18-19 June, the City of Porto (Portugal) hosted the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) Implementation Lab conference at Palacio da Bolsa. The event brought together 298 participants, including around 60 ICC core cities as well as 8 ICC mentor cities, with a strong presence of ICLEI Members Aalborg (Denmark), Aarhus (Denmark), Lisbon (Portugal), and Mannheim (Germany), but also representatives of the business community.

The event had a twofold objective: First, the ICLEI team delivered training and coaching sessions to consolidate the participants’ understanding of the Local Green Deal (LGD) approach, and to equip city representatives with the tools needed to ensure 175 deals can be signed by the end of the project duration in Spring 2025. Secondly, the event provided an opportunity for political and business leaders to sit down together in a Mayor-Business Forum, and explore opportunities and challenges for city-business collaboration to advance cleantech innovation and competitiveness as an enabler for cities’ climate neutrality roadmaps and sustainable economic growth.

The Forum highlighted the joint goal of mayors and business leaders to reignite local sustainable competitiveness in view of regenerating local economies and creating new opportunities for European businesses and citizens within the framework of the green and digital transitions. This vision has been consolidated into key political commitments endorsed by the ICC community, which have been captured in the ICC Mayors Business Forum Conclusions.

The ICC is an initiative of the European Commission, dedicated to advancing LGDs across 65 participating European cities. Learn more here.