Our Friends in Copenhagen

We've a video conference from speakers in Copenhagen attending the UN Climate Change Conference.

Andree Buchman, VC Strasbourg Urban Community
Ronan Dantzec, VC Nantes Metropole, co-chair climate group of Eurocities
Dominique Gauzin-Mueller, architect, chief editor of Ecologik
Ronan Uhel, European Environment Agency

Quite a lot of scene setting in this first session. Think there are around 80-100 delegates here in Strasbourg. The morning session is shared, and then this afternoon and tomorrow morning there are 3 parallel workshops. I'll be attending the ones on New Locations and infrastructures for connected activities and New Economic Models in Green and connected cities.

The whole conference is looking at how ICT can help assist in key ways to achieve better systems for reducing carbon, and for informing and educating, and involving people in a more participatory way.

Conversation between speaker in Copenhagen and Strasbourg:

There's also an extra-European dimension to all of this - with some delegates from north Africa joinning us.
With 80% of people in Europe living in cities - we shouldn't generalise - its an "overall" figure. Across Europe there's different distribution of peoples and economic activity - as well as territory. EU policy has to look, post-Lisbon in terms of what it means about "territorial cohesion." All the knowledge and skills need to work together to create social cohesion.

Q from Strasbourg: is IT being discussed in Copenhagen.

"Nobody mentions it, but everyone uses it!" - Energy consumption related to IT is "extremely high" and people like CISCO are looking at this issue. (Wondering if this is the Elephant in the room?)

IT makes things more efficient in some ways - but also causes an expectation that we work 24/7 - a need to look at the culture of ICT use. It gives us a real opportunity to "share" - e.g. including the rural and southern European countries.

Wonders whether IT creates more mobility rather than less - because we want to see the "real people" sitting behind the computers - it creates more connections...

What we are really talking about is "kindness and generosity" - e.g. in particular with regards to the countries in the south. Working as a network is very generous (Knowledge sharing means you are "sharing your power").

Copenhagen speaker says: we need to have the left brain work (rational side) but the right side of the brain needs to also be there, (empathy).

Gilles Berhault summing up from the conversation from Copenhagen. Any questions from the audience? A comment on behalf of the Moroccan delegation... thanking the Copenhagen speakers for setting the scene. "The future holds great hope - the real question, particularly in the south is how do we switch to this online approach?" Every Moroccan, whether rural or urban has a mobile phone - it has had a major effect in making information available. IT is a "given" - and the EU has talked about a political commitment. The real question is how does networking lead to real technology transfer? Not just "foreign experts coming to see us".  (Moroccan delegate is an architect and director of planning in their government.)

Another comment: "There's a lot of misinformation on the network - what can you suggest to sort real information from disinformation?"

Answer to Moroccan colleague from Copenhagen. To the south of the Med, urbanisation has happened almost "overnight" - population, social, employment and urban issues all together. Networking isn't the issue so much as a vision for the future - a political and social vision, including "development and catching up". Knowledge and skills need to be shared to create "a shared understanding of the future" to avoid the negative fallout - e.g. inefficient transport systems.

A new social/economic structure required... in Europe we have had difficulties and have been overcoming them... development models are important. Specific cultural traits need to be factored in. A session at Copenhagen yesterday from French speaking Africa - transferring technology will help us all go in the same direction and "very positive."

Sense that "shared vision" is vital... and its not just a one-way of sharing, but ideas are often stronger and more innovative coming from countries with lower levels of resources. Something to be learnt from the Copenhagen negotiations. "Every country in the future should have the same access to resources/tools."

Its fascinating being here from a UK perspective and hearing that the idea of "shared vision" and "networking" seems to be a conversation that has already been had and agreed - cooperation - whereas I sometimes get the feeling in the UK that there's a frustrating non-understanding between different sectors/different regions/different political viewpoints - even between different public sector agencies. Maybe this is the key message from being involved over a longer period of time with European projects and institutions: collaborative not competitive.