Ljubljana Forum 2013 Explored How to Build Intelligent Cities of the Future--organized by the Se Europe Node of the Millennium Project and the Municipality of Ljubljana
(PRWEB) October 22, 2013 -- Over 50 speakers from the European Union, European investment bank, governments, municipalities, businesses, NGOs, futurists and consultants presented their views, experiences, projects and future visions about urban development in Europe at the recent Ljubljana Forum 2013 on Managing Water & Transport in the Danube Region. The over 130 participants had the opportunity to exchange their knowledge, experience and project ideas and to establish new ways of cooperation among themselves as well as with potential investors.
The President of GFS Institute - the Millennium Project Node for South-East Europe and chairman of Ljubljana Forum on Future of Cities, Mr. Blaž Golob stressed the importance of building such cooperation among various stakeholders in order to create future development models for cities to enable them to pursue the goals of Europe 2020 and beyond.
”Ljubljana Forum has again matched its expectations in terms of bringing together different cultures and business models, all of them beneficial to the development of European cities,” highlighted Ms Ute Hélène von Reibnitz, President of Scenarios+Vision and member of the French Node of The Millennium Project. The conference has also opened up to other issues such as corporate solutions for the smart city and NGOs participation.
Mr. Ibon Zugasti, chiar of the Millennium Project Node in Spain and the President of the European Regional Foresight College highlighted the benefits of territorial foresight when addressing water and transportation issues by local and regional authorities. The activities of the College, that merged with the European Millennium Project Initiative in 2012, have “Contributed to identify some of the best practices of territorial foresight cases through the report "Regional Foresight 2.0 Experiences: Gipuzkoa / Wallonia / Danube Region". ”Territorial foresight exercises raise awareness on major trends, allows reaching a consensus among stakeholders and are the first step before adopting a strategy of sustainable development,” stressed Mr. Ibon Zugasti at the Ljubljana Forum 2013.
One of the major issues of Ljubljana Forum 2013 was also how to address youth unemployment in Europe. Mihai Oprisa, President of the Prospering Arad (Romania) NGO and member of the Romania Node of The Millennium Project talked about his organization’s project that helps to match the needs of the local business community with the potential of the young workforce theoretically qualified but without practical experience. ”At this point, the project makes an assessment of the companies’ future skill requirements so that the educational system is adapted accordingly and in synchronization with the strategic urban and regional development,” explained Mr. Mihai Oprisa. Ms. Tanja Fajon, European Parliament member commended the project and said that it might be of larger interest, since many other European countries are facing the same problem.
The Ljugljana Forum is an annual event organized by the GoForeSight Institute, in Slovenia. GFS Institute is a think tank for geostrategic, legal and futures studies & consulting, chaired by Blaž Golob. For more information, video and .ppt presentations atLjubljana Forum 2013, please visit: http://www.ljubljanaforum.org/2013.
The Millennium Project] is a global participatory think tank that produces the annual "State of the Future" reports, the "Futures Research Methodology" series, Global Futures Intelligence System, and related software, and special studies. The Millennium Project has about 50 Nodes around the world that identify participants, translate questionnaires and reports, conduct interviews, initiate and conduct special research, workshops, symposiums, and advanced training. The Millennium Project’s mission is to improve thinking about the future and make it available through a variety of media for feedback to accumulate wisdom about the future for better decisions today.
Jerome Glenn, The Millenium Project, http://millennium-project.org, 202-686-5179, [email protected]
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