INNOVATION MEETS CULTURAL HERITAGE IN CITIES
Unleashing Creativity and Sustainability in European Historic Urban Areas
HUB-IN International Conference
26 -27 November, 2024
Thank you for joining us in Lisbon to see how European cities can lead a sustainable, innovative urban regeneration!
In a world where cities are at the forefront of fighting climate change and promoting sustainability, this conference was a timely gathering of minds focused on the intersection of innovation, cultural heritage, and urban development in Europe’s historic urban areas. Anchored in the principles of the New European Bauhaus initiative, the event brought together leaders, scholars, urban planners, and professionals to explore how innovation hubs can drive sustainable, beautiful and inclusive historic urban areas.
As cities worldwide deal with the urgent need for sustainable solutions, the conference facilitated an in-depth, policy-oriented dialogue on how these innovation hubs can drive economic revitalization while addressing climate impacts, preserving cultural heritage, enhancing social inclusion, and fostering environmental stewardship. By sharing cutting-edge knowledge, best practices, and innovative strategies, we aimed to inspire pathways for cooperation that extend beyond individual projects, encouraging cities across Europe to take the lead in integrating sustainability into their urban planning and revitalization efforts.
At the core of this conference lies the HUB-IN project. This European pioneering initiative has been central in demonstrating how sustainable innovation can be successfully embedded in the unique context of historic urban areas. Throughout the conference, we shared and disseminate key findings and outcomes from HUB-IN, showcasing how cities can leverage innovation to breathe new life into their historic neighbourhoods while valorising their culture and heritage.
The conference marked the formal establishment of the HUB-IN Alliance - a significant milestone in extending the collaborative network initiated by the HUB-IN project. This alliance aims to deepen cooperation among European cities and key stakeholders, fostering a shared commitment to advancing sustainable urban regeneration. By uniting efforts across Europe, the HUB-IN Alliance not only builds on the successes of the HUB-IN project but also creates a lasting framework for innovation-driven, culturally sensitive urban development.
Let's foster urban regeneration in our European cities together!
Watch the recording of the event here and read how it went here.
Please contact Ms Filipa Sacadura at filipasacadura@lisboaenova.org.
26 November
Agenda
Venue - Lisbon Geographical Society
- 09:00 - 09:30 - Registration and Participant Reception
- 09:30 - 10:10: Official Opening and Welcome Remarks
Miguel Neto, President of Lisboa E-Nova
Sofia Sousa, European Commission representative
Joana Oliveira Costa, Innovation Councilor of Lisbon -
10:10 - 10:45 - New European Bauhaus Initiative: European Strategies and Priorities on Urban Regeneration
Margarida Oliveira, National Contact Point (ANI)
Brian Smith, Secretary General Heritage Europe (EAHTR)
Soléne Laeticia Gautron, European Commission, Joint Research Centre - 10:40 - 11:15 - Coffee Break
- 11:15 - 12:15 - Collaborative Dialogues: Building Hubs of Innovation across European Cities
- 12:15 - 13:45 - Lunch Break
- 13:45 - 14:15 - Urban Dynamics and Sustainable Development
João Seixas, Pro-rector at NOVA University of Lisbon for socio-territorial innovation
- 14:15 - 15:15 - Urban Regeneration LAB: Driving Change through Innovation
- 15:15 - 15:45 - Coffee Break
- 15:45 - 16:45 - Talk Show: Innovation Journeys and Testimonies across Europe
- 16:45 - 17:30 - Laying the Foundations for the Innovation and Heritage Alliance
- 17:30 - 18:00 - Closing session with live music by Adufe & Alguidar
- 18:00 -19:30 - Networking Cocktail
Opportunity for informal networking and discussion
27 November
Agenda
Venue - Lisbon Geographical Society
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09:00 - 09:15 - Welcome
- 09:15- 10.30 - HUB-IN Academy Hands-On: Learn how to create a Hub of Innovation Part I
- 10:30- 11.00 - Coffee Break
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11:00- 12.00 - HUB-IN Academy Hands-On: Learn how to create a Hub of Innovation Part II
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13:00 - 14:30 - Lunch Break
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14:30 - 16:00 - Immersive Journey at HUB-IN Lisboa - Colina do Castelo
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16:00 - 17:30 - Discover Historic Lisbon: Where Innovation meets Heritage
Guided tour through HUB-IN Lens
Speakers
Alexandru Belenyi
Alexandru is an architect, urban planner and educator. He defended his Phd. thesis in 2015. He studied at the TUDelft (The Netherlands) and Ion Mincu University. Previous to establishing his own architecture company he worked for Aecom Bucharest and Chora Architecture & Urbanism, London. He was involved in large scale planning and architecture projects such as the General Urban Plan for Bucharest.
Since 2015 Alexandru Belenyi has established his own practice. BAAB Architecture and Urban Planning is focused on experimental projects in architecture, research in urbanism and public space design. Together with his partner Irina Niculescu, Alexandru has developed numerous tactical urbanism projects for the improvement of public space.
Niels Bosma
Niels is full professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Director of Studies with Utrecht University School of Economics. Niels is particularly interested in individuals’ entre-preneurial and innovative behaviour aimed at social value creation, appreciating the regional and social contexts these individuals operate in. He has advised the Dutch national govern-ment and the European Commission on social entrepreneurship. Niels is also Member of the Board of Directors and Senior Research Advisor with the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the world’s foremost study on entrepreneurship. He has also been GEM's research director and has co-authored various GEM Global Reports from 2006 onwards.
Silvia Campailla
Silvia has been working at the Municipality of Genova since 2017, currently as the Officer for Innovation Projects, European Funds, and the UNESCO Office. She leads the design and coordination of EU and ministry-funded projects, including her role as project coordinator for the "CTE – Casa delle Tecnologie Emergenti" initiative. Silvia holds a degree in Mediterranean Politics and Economics and a Master’s in Innovation in Public Administration from the University of Genova, as well as a postgraduate certification in European Financing from the European College Foundation in Parma. Previously, she worked in Brussels (2014-2016) on EU planning and regional policy lobbying.
Rick Everts
Rick is a Senior Policy Advisor of the Arts and Culture Department of Utrecht's municipal government. Drawing on his background in cultural sociology, he works on (the challenges of) housing cultural initiatives in urban landscapes. He advocates for the sustainable development and preservation of creative hubs and cultural venues across Utrecht, collaborating closely with local organizations to strengthen the city’s cultural infrastructure.
Carla Fernandes
Carla is the Principal Investigator at FCSH - Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Director of the Lab “BlackBox Arts & Cognition” at FCSH-UNL. Coordinator of ICNOVA’s Research Group on Performance & Cognition. Awarded a European Research Council 6-year Grant for her interdisciplinary project "BlackBox - A collaborative platform to document performance composition”. Her research is focused on the intersection of Arts and Social Cognition, Multimodal Communication, Intangible Cultural Heritage and Performance Studies (from cognitive and ethnographic perspectives). Particular interests include human non-verbal behaviour in creativity settings, interactions between performing arts and society, and the creation of digital “archives of processes” as alternative ways to document the more ephemeral art forms.
Diana Henriques
Diana collaborated in the field of research with the Group of Analysis and Environmental Systems (FCT-UNL), Ydreams, the Portuguese Geographical Institute, worked in the NGO GEOTA, and developed internships at the Vrije Universiteit and at the company Geodan (Netherlands). Currently she is the coordinator of the area of Education for Sustainability at Lisboa E-Nova and the City Pilot Workpackage Leader for the Project HUB-IN. She hold a degree in Environmental Engineering from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of NOVA University and completed a Master's degree in Human Ecology and Contemporary Social Problems at FCSH-UNL.
Rita Lopes
Rita is an Assistant Professor at NOVA School of Science and Technology (NOVA-FCT), Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and a researcher at CENSE - Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research. An Environmental Engineer by train-ing, she holds a Ph.D. in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies (NOVA-FCT). Her work focuses on sustainability, mainly on ecological economics, socio-ecological systems, circular economy, low-carbon economies, where she has been developing different collabo-rative and co-creation approaches, with a special emphasis on participatory modelling to inform decision-making and policy support.
Ronald Kleverlaan
Ronald is the chairman of Stichting MKB Financiering, the alternative finance association in The Netherlands, and the director of the European Centre for Alternative Finance at Utrecht University. With over 15 years of experience, Ronald has led research, education, and advocacy on alternative finance, crowdfunding, and community ownership in Europe. He holds a master's degree in Business Information Systems from the University of Amsterdam, an International Master's degree of Asia-Europe Institute and has been honored for his contributions to the field. As the founder and senior partner of CrowdfundingHub and a senior advisor to the European Commission, Ronald is dedicated to advancing financial inclusion and innovation in the alternative finance ecosystem.
Mária
Mária is an entrepreneur and founder of the Comvidarte project, an innovative initiative that combines art and well-being to promote connections and social impact. With a career that combines experience in health and a humanised approach, she developed Comvidarte as a platform to inspire and transform lives through artistic expression.
Leea Mihailă
With a background in Project Management, Communication and Public Event Organization, Leea has been actively organizing community events and awareness-raising campaigns since 2002. Her focus has always been on promoting social responsibility and sustainable civic development. She is passionate about educating children on sustainable urban mobility, sufficiency and responsible behaviours, advocating for low-emission daily choices. Since November 2022, she has been leading the Agency of Brașov for the Management of Energy and Environment (ABMEE), where she coordinates initiatives that support the transition to clean energy and help build resilient, climate-adapted communities.
Gabrielle Muris
Gabrielle is an experienced leader in the redevelopment field, specifically that of industrial spaces and areas. From 2007 to 2014 she led the team that initiated the redevelopment of the former RDM Shipyard in Rotterdam. By transferring the acronym RDM to “Research, Design and Manufacturing” the shipyard was given a new future as a place for all levels of technical education and for innovative startups and for the maritime industry. In 2015 she started her own company Urban Impact. From 2016 onward she works in the town of Utrecht in the former industrial Werkspoor area. Next to the redevelopment of the Werkspoorkathedraal and the Werkspoorfabriek she teamed up with other entrepreneurs, the municipality and educational institutions to transform the area as a whole into a creative and circular hotspot. Beside this long term project she is working on several projects as a developer and consultant in the field of redevelopment of cultural heritage.
Susana Paulo
Susana has worked at Lisbon City Council for more than two decades and currently works in the Innovation and Strategic Sectors Department, where she collaborates on various projects aimed at improving the quality of life of those who live, work or visit Lisbon by promoting the implementation of innovative solutions. This includes working on the HUB-IN project and managing the smart open Lisboa programme.
With a degree in Territorial Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico, her main focus is on urban regeneration through collaborative processes and the creation of synergetic networks.
Ana Fernandes Pinto
Ana is Invited Assistant Professor Lisbon at NOVA-FCSH, and a researcher at CHAM – Centre for the Humanities/NOVA-FCSH. Expertise in historical and cultural communication, author of press articles and participant in television programs. Since 2018 has been conceiving and developing cultural tours for NOVA – Universidade Nova de Lisboa. In 2022 founded Culture in Translation, a company focused on creating value through History.
Rafael
Artist, entrepreneur and social mediator in underprivileged communities. Rafael unites art, entrepreneurship and the community in social work.
Kerrie Sweeney
Kerrie is the Chief Executive of Maritime Belfast Trust, bringing over 20 years of tourism experience. She joined in 2013 after working with Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board on the Titanic Signature Project. Since then, Kerrie has led major successes, including a £5 million Heritage Lottery grant to transform the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices into a boutique hotel, acquiring the SS Nomadic, and relocating the Great Light. Her current focus is developing the Maritime Mile, an award-winning initiative to create a vibrant, connected waterfront experience in Belfast.
Chris Taylor
Chris is Lead Economist in the Impact Assessment team at Connected Places Catapult (CPC). His role is to help small-scale innovators and larger scale innovation programmes to understand their impact across key sustainability dimensions: economic, environmental and social. CPC is “the UK's innovation accelerator for cities, transport and place leadership”, so this experience has ranged across digital twins on climate, smart construction using blockchain, housing retrofit for energy poverty, autonomous vehicles and more. On HUB-IN, his role is assisting cities with a framework for monitoring and evaluating results, to understand the potential for longer-term impacts from shorter-term, neighbourhood-scale pilots.
Helen Toxopeus
Helen is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht School of Economics, board member of the Sustainable Finance Lab and co-lead of the Transforming Cities community at Utrecht University. She completed her PHD at Erasmus University Rotterdam on finance for sustainable innovation and co-authored a management book on circular business models for VNO-NCW. Her expertise and interest lies in the field of finance and business models for sustainability transitions, with a focus on nature-based solutions. She is involved in several large research projects like HUB-IN, Naturescapes and ReGeNL. Before moving into academia, Helen worked in the banking sector as an innovation manager.
Dafydd Hall Williams
Dafydd is the CEO and founder of HoloEdge Digital, a company at the forefront of blending technology with cultural experiences. A dynamic cultural entrepreneur, he has made significant strides in the fields of theatre, digital media, and opera. Dafydd spearheaded the development of the Yardmen Trail AR Stories app, an innovative project that brings history to life through augmented reality. He is also credited with creating the world’s first volumetrically captured opera app, setting a new benchmark for immersive digital performances. His work continues to push the boundaries of how audiences engage with heritage and the arts in the digital age.
Special Guests
Solène Gautron
Solène is a Policy Officer for the New European Bauhaus at the European Commission's Joint Research Center. With Master’s degrees in Architecture (ENSA Nantes, France) and Transcultural Studies (Heidelberg University, Yale University – Baden-Württemberg Research Fellow), Solène specializes in architecture, urban studies, and interdisciplinary research, with a focus on the politics of space, urban mobility, and social justice. Over the past three years, she has led the education and training portfolio for the New European Bauhaus while contributing to the initiative’s development, drawing on her experience as both an architect and humanities researcher.
Margarida Oliveira
Margarida has been the National Contact Point and Delegate for Horizon Europe at Portugal’s National Agency for Innovation (ANI) since January 2021, overseeing Cluster 2 (Culture, Creativity, Inclusive Society), Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy, Mobility), and the Cities Mission. She is also the National Contact Point for the New European Bauhaus initiative. Previously, she served as a Science and Technology Manager at ISPA-Instituto Universitário, supporting research and innovation (R&I) funding and projects. Her background includes roles as a lab technician in molecular biology in Brussels and a product specialist in a molecular biology startup in Wageningen. Margarida holds a Master’s in Biological Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (2012).
João Seixas
As Pro-Rector of NOVA University Lisbon for Social and Territorial Innovation and a professor at NOVA FCSH, João brings extensive experience in urban policies and regional development. With a PhD in Geography (Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona) and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Studies (LSE), he has taught, researched, and consulted internationally on cities and metropolises. He has held roles such as commissioner of the Lisbon Strategic Charter and consultant for the European Commission's URBACT program. His publications include "Lisbon in Metamorphosis" (2021) and "Lisbon Projections" (2018), among others on urban development.
Moderators & Hosts
Kinga Kovács
Kinga, urban environmental expert, has been driving transformative projects at Energy Cities since 2006. Passionate about enhancing quality of life through sustainable urban planning, she specialises in citizen engagement, co-creation of public spaces, and integrated initiatives like Smart Cities and Living Streets. With degrees in Urban Environmental Management, Economics and Psychology, Kinga thrives on blending technical expertise with human-centered approaches. Fluent in multiple languages, she fosters collaboration across Europe, helping local authorities reimagine urban spaces. Kinga finds joy in Europe’s cultures, organic living and the simple beauty of a bustling city alive with nature.
Brian Smith
Brian is an urban planner with experience in regeneration, project delivery, and public-private partnerships at local, national, and European levels. He became Secretary General of Heritage Europe (formerly the European Association of Historic Towns and Regions) in 1999, promoting sustainable management of historic towns and cities through international cooperation and best practices. Brian co-edited the report for "Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe," highlighting heritage’s impact on Europe’s economy, culture, and environment, and contributed to the EU’s Horizon 2020 initiative, "Getting Cultural Heritage to Work for Europe." In 2021, Heritage Europe became an official partner of the New European Bauhaus (NEB), participating in projects aligned with NEB principles.
Sofia Guedes Vaz
Sofia spent the last two years in Egypt as Programme Liaison Director of the Environmental Engineering Degree at Nova Cairo. Since she is back, she has been the ethical adviser of HUB-IN. Otherwise, Sofia has worked in several public and private organizations, both national and international in the environmental field. Her academic background is in environmental engineering and environmental philosophy. Sofia has published extensively, namely books, scientific papers, chapters in books, and popular science type of books.
The Venue
The Geographical Society
The Lisbon Geographical Society is housed in in the heart of the city, in a historic building of rare architectural and decorative beauty. Founded in 1884, its mission is to promote knowledge of territories and the history of the Portuguese Discoveries.
The site hosts a museum with a strong ethnographic focus, featuring diverse collections from various countries, cartographic instruments including Coronelli’s globes and planispheres, and an extensive bibliographic and cartographic archive.
Come and explore this fascinating legacy!
