Getting it done and Climate Week NYC 2022
This year’s Climate Week NYC, also marked the 77th UN General Assembly #UNGA77 and the second time we’ve been in New York representing the Future of Cities, to explore Regenerative Placemaking as a new framework for sustainable development. The energy, enthusiasm and commitment to “Making a Change” was real. World leaders gathered in the Big Apple to drive efforts on climate action.
The theme for this year’s week was Getting It Done, with a series of climate-focused events that call for meaningful contributions by businesses, government and the climate sector to be on the path to net-zero by 2050.
Future of Cities co-sponsored the Tech Splash Event which we attended organized by Brian Kurtz and co-hosted by a coalition of climate tech industry ecosystem builders with the purpose to grow connectivity across critical groups of leaders fueling the next great wave of regenerative innovation.
We met with the BMW Foundation Team, Matt Cyrankiewicz from Future Quest/Hoo Koo E Koo and Desiree Tavera from Far Away Projects which are all in line with our mission towards climate action but most importantly towards resilient cities and leveraging regenerative placemaking principles to create more sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities.
Future of Cities attended the Fii Priority Summit, by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, which hosted a capstone summit to identify and explore the highest Priority of all humankind. I was invited to give a talk on Regenerative Placemaking alongside philanthropist ex-president of the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as Alby Bocanegra Vice President of Urban Tech Partnerships at Mastercard and American landscape architect and educator Martha Schwartz.
Also on the program as part of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), was the Cities on Purpose, part of the 5th Annual Leaders on Purpose CEO Summit 2022 led by future-focused executives as they pushed the boundaries of business-as-usual toward a new business logic, one that puts purpose at the core of the organizational strategy. I attended a Jeffersonian dinner where I was fortunate to meet and discuss my plans with Dan Schulman CEO of Paypal and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands who is the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). The event was followed by a special talk centered around supporting leading businesses in becoming future-fit, more resilient, and sustainable. I was invited to speak on a panel moderated by Adam Penny, CEO of The Beautiful Truth Magazine, and alongside Claus Mathisen, CEO of NREP, Ahmet MUcahid Oren, CEO of Ihlas Holding, Khalid Fagih CEO of Red Sea International and Valeska Hernandez founder of the Visionist Advisors replacing Anne Hidalgo mayor of Paris.
Finally, the XPRIZE Science Conclave in NYC during climate week was their most important event of the year where they identify, debated and down-select the most important XPRIZEs in 5 different domains: Health, Energy/Environment, Education, Biodiversity, Exploration. Thank you to Peter Diamandis and Anousha for inviting me. FOC was honored to participate and present a prize for the most sustainable, attainable and inclusive housing solutions for cities.
