Recap of Day 3 - SCEWC22

On our third and last day of #SCEWC22, we look at innovation and ways in which we can actually turn words into action!

Dialogue with Eduard Xatruch

What does creative cuisine have to do with a city like Barcelona? Could gastronomy be part of a city's identity? Then, Eduard Xatruch, Owner and Chef of Restaurant Disfrutar Barcelona, could very well be one of the most responsible individuals in charge of that in Barcelona. We discover how as he is interviewed by journalist Pipo Serrano .

How can the values of the creative culinary process can be applied in cities?

"We look for emotions so ask for words of what Disfrutar means to our guests. Then the team comes up with their own words and compares. If they are similar we are on the right track."

Could that same trick be used in our city? What words do you come up with for Barcelona?

"Culture, gastronomy, Mediterranean, friendship, diversity."

These could be the things that make Barcelona meaningful to people who visit the city. What would be the ingredients that define Barcelona and how do you bring ingredients without changing that?

"For us, creativity is bringing different concepts. All restaurants are in a place, and we have our culture and it's important to have a personality."

"We start a dish, the first thing we think about is a product. Then we think we are part of the world and there are so many wonderful ingredients. Likewise, if we look at the recipes of traditional cuisine in old age we find they have nothing to do with today's ingredients. So we must be open-minded because things are not so what is connected to the city is not always so obvious."

"we must be open-minded because things are not so what is connected to the city is not always so obvious."

"When thinking about cities we think about our neighbors and then the world. When I cook I have a passion that I want to share. So the first whom I think about is my neighbors. Then there are all people from all over the world who visit us they know what they want to try and there is much to choose from, so we need our identity. We try connecting the restaurant with the city."

May we use these ideas when trying to use technology to further inclusion?

When Technology Becomes A Push for Inclusion

We continue our morning with some more creativity and innovative ideas. This time to make our cities more inclusive.

We discussed during our panel chaired by Pipo Serrano , Journalist, Jeff Merritt , Head of Urban Transformation, World Economic Forum , Nuria Oliver, PhD , Director and Co-founder ELLIS Alicante Foundation , Jeanne Holm , Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Carlo Ratti , Architect, and Director MIT Senseable City Lab , Nerea L. , Artificial Intelligence Lead, T3chFest .

"During the pandemic, we brought even more services online. We held committee meetings periodically to find out who were the groups of people that were being displaced and give them support. We also used air quality detectors to advise people of where it was safe or not to go," said Jeanne Holm .

How can we make tech more inclusive?

"Tech by default creates inequality," said Jeff Merritt . "You have to purchase it and it's expensive. So really only people and organizations with resources can do so. So we must push tech to individuals who might not have the resources."

"It takes a lot of effort to make sure technologists are equitable are inclusive."

The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, is it leaving people behind?

"We need to find ways to ease the transition for companies in supply chains. Find the funds to help those companies, but also find the companies that can help them," says Jeff Merritt . "When we are looking at the system for the most vulnerable, we don't look just for individuals, we also think about small companies."

"There's a need to work with different profiles in different backgrounds. During the pandemic we were remote. What if you had an AI that told you are not allowed?" said Nuria Oliver, PhD . "To avoid that you need mixed methods. You have to realize the limitation of data. Sometimes situations might be invisible. You have to find different sources of data."

"Another problem is biases," continued Nuria Oliver, PhD . Models being used might be leaving people out. How can we make sure there's fairness in the algorithm that we use? We are also looking at preserving privacy. How can we distribute data without ever accessing it? People also need ownership and power over their own data."

"Under-representation is important," said Nerea L. "When you have your algorithm ready there's a moment when you put it into production. There will be data issues that appear when they leave the lab environment. Some problems will only become apparent in real-life use."

"It is very important to be transparent. We are not aware of all issues. So if the process is transparent we can get feedback. People, People, and People are the most important ingredient," said Carlo Ratti .

The Energy Crisis – A Chance For Change?

In this Tomorrow.Mobility high-level roundtable co-organized by EIT Urban Mobility we discuss how the energy crisis is changing urban mobility.

Chaired by Rob van Gijzel , EIT Urban Mobility Former Mayor of Eindhoven, Karen Vancluysen , Secretary General POLIS Network , Mariana Mirabile , Economist and Policy Analyst OECD - OCDE , Meital Lehavi , Deputy Mayor for Transportation of Tel Aviv Yafo Municipality, and Sylvain Haon , Senior Director Strategy UITP .

How is the energy crisis a change accelerator?

"I hope it helps us speed change in how we use urban space to make other mobility options the most attractive. Those that use less energy, reduce costs and emissions," says Mariana Mirabile .

"The scarcity created by the crisis might help us think differently about energy and how we use it," said Meital Lehavi . When asked if there was some subsidy for helping?low-income groups of people she said there was no compensation yet.

"It depends in what direction," answered Sylvain Haon , explaining it could accelerate it negatively or positively. "We could shrink supply services and increase inequalities or expand sustainable transport. It will depend on leadership. The trend is here so we must build a more resilient system."

When do we look for alternatives? When our mode of transport becomes too expensive.

How can we make sure we leave no one behind? When inflation is making their standard of living go down, sustainability is not a concern.

"Our regulations are putting vulnerable people first," said Meital Lehavi .

"There are gaps that public services will not be able to cover. Suburbia will need private-public partnerships. The future is multimodal. We must show that is cheaper to users, said Karen Vancluysen .

How about free public transport?

"It doesn't bring more people to the public transport and it costs more. The solution is a fair price, not subsidizing," says Sylvain Haon .

"What we need is to improve the services instead, so people want to use them," says Meital Lehavi .

And can bicycles help?

"I'm a great believer in the e-Bike which can help long-distance commuters," said Karen Vancluysen .

"Public Transport can greatly benefit from connecting underserved places with bikes systems," said Sylvian

"But bike lanes are difficult to build and always come at the cost of something," said Meital Lehavi .

Why was John Lennon in bed with a bicycle?

We are very intrigued by the title of by Professor Marco Te Br?mmelstroet 's talk, which takes us on a journey about language and symbols, and how they shape our minds.

This keynote was part of the Tomorrow.Mobility program and co-organized by EIT Urban Mobility .

"We use language to simplify reality. But when we do that we make a choice and see reality in a certain way. But another thing that happens is that language shapes reality."

The way we talk about travel has been borrowed from engineers' ideas of optimization, speed, and non-conflict. In this way, streets have become dehumanized.

So engineers tried to change and find ways to optimize the bike. Helmets, isolation, high-speed bike lanes, and that wouldn't work.

"We have to radically change the way we think"

This was the meaning of the white bike John Lennon and Yoko Ono received. That we should resist the status quo way of thinking and that our world could be different if we could only change the way we think. The gift was part of Provo’s White Bike Plan. The 'Witte Fiets’ is probably the oldest bike-sharing initiative in the world.

If we stopped thinking of how to get from A to B in an optimized, speedy, and non-conflict way, we may give ourselves space for happy casual interactions and make our streets places where people meet and learn how to trust each other.

Hugely inspirational talk, Marco! We need to radically change the way we think to change our world!

Beyond Pixels, Towards the Radical Atoms

In the afternoon we move on to the opposite spectrum. We are moving to a parallel world, the metaverse. What will that look like?

Hiroshi Ishii , Professor of Media Arts and Sciences MIT Media Lab , takes us through a journey of the possible realities that technology is allowing.

How will we use digital twins, what are the limitations of the metaverse?

We discover what Radical Atoms are, and how they are enabling our senses in the digital world.

Transforming cities: towards greener, innovative and fairer urban futures

In our last session of #SCEWC22 we talk about how cities are transforming to become more sustainable with two cities, Barcelona and Bologna. During the session, the cities announced they were collaborating to bring about their sustainability goals.

Chaired by Montse Guardia Guell , Mobile World Capital Barcelona , with Michael Donaldson CTO & CIO, Commissioner for Digital Innovation Ajuntament de Barcelona and Anna Lisa Boni , Deputy Mayor of Bologna.

Changing the city is not work to be done by the city council alone. It needs the participation of all stakeholders. What the city council needs to do is to foster and lay the proper ground for innovation to happen, on this both city officials agreed.

"Whoever you are, it is important in a city to create a space to imagine the future and then translate that into something that is meaningful," said Anna Lisa Boni .

"We need to create trust between citizens and the public administration. Create the conditions to foster an ecosystem" said Michael Donaldson .

And that's all from the Congress Auditorium at #SCEWC22 and #TMWC22. We hope you were truly inspired and had breakthrough moments with great takeaways for your work and sharing with your communities.

See you next year at #SCEWC23 & #TMWC23, 7-9 November in Barcelona!