London is playing host to the 15th Ecocity World Summit at the Barbican Centre in June, a hybrid event running both in person and online.
Ecocity World Summit is the world’s longest-running conference on ecology and cities, bringing together urban professionals from around the world. The conference focuses on actions that cities and citizens can pursue to build a more sustainable lifestyle in balance with the environment.
Launched in 1990 in California, the conference takes place every two years on six different continents and counts 11,000 attendees. Previous host cities include Vancouver and Rotterdam.
How London & Partners assisted the bid process
London & Partners worked closely with the Barbican Centre, a partner venue, selecting New London Architecture to present the bid on behalf of London.
The bid received extensive support from the UK government, the Mayor of London, London councils, the City of London Corporation, Transport for London, the UK Green Building Council, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Green Finance Institute and the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London.
London & Partners coordinated weekly meetings with the bid team, which consisted of New London Architecture, the Barbican Centre and MCI UK (professional conference organisers), with the whole process taking place remotely during the first lockdown in 2020.
Wider teams at London & Partners, including Insights, Design and the Sustainability Sector team, collaborated on and supported the bid through content creation and the design and production of the bid book.
In July 2021, Ecocity's board of directors notified London & Partners that London won the bid to host Ecocity World Summit 2023. When the bid was secured, New London Architecture produced a press release which was announced across digital channels and national TV. It included a video recording of the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announcing the summit in London.
Engaging communities
The overall theme for the conference is "Engaging Communities," and London & Partners intends to leverage the London Festival of Architecture to engage communities across the capital. London & Partners plans to put on panels, solution-driven workshops and debates at the conference through a hybrid approach that's accessible to all.
Programme
The Barbican Centre, a famous icon of brutalist architecture, is hosting the Ecocity Summit, and throughout the year showcases a wide range of conferences, exhibitions and concerts.
Ecocity Summit 2023 takes place across three days in June, and an online platform shows virtual sessions and events. An offsite programme offering tours, workshops and networking events will take place across the city in partnership with London Festival of Architecture.