Smart City Expo World Congress, Iwater, CEES and the European Utility Week end on a high note
Barcelona becomes the Capital city of sustainable development with 4 events jointly held at Fira
The city of Barcelona has become the world capital of sustainability for three days after hosting four international events focused on sustainable development at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via. Over 32,000 professionals from a hundred countries have been able to discover the latest innovations, trends and technologies, as well as share experiences regarding smart cities, energy, the integral water cycle and circular economy through the Smart City Expo World Congress, Circular Economy European Summit (CEES), iWater and the European Utility Week.
Smart City Expo World Congress, organized by Fira de Barcelona, has experienced a 30% increase in the number of exhibitors over its previous edition, with 591, and has brougt together 600 cities and 16,688 attendees who have been able to share experiences, discover the latest solutions and learn from the 420 experts featured in its congress program. The event focused its sixth edition on the strategies and tools available to promote the empowerment of citizens and a greater involvement and participation in municipal processes and design. Keynote speakers included Ellen MacArthur, Susan Etlinger, Parag Khanna, David Bollier, Kent Larson and David Harvey.
The event also hosted the first CEES, a conference focused exclusively on the promotion of a new economic model that redesigns the current production processes based on the extraction-manufacturing-use-disposal scheme, which many consider exhausted, to focus on the reuse of materials and resources.
Iwater, Fira’s new trade show dedicated to the integral water cycle, exceeded its expectations by receiving in its first edition 4,562 visitors and 127 exhibitors. With the aim of creating a unique business, knowledge and networking platform for agents linked to the water sector, the event has addressed key issues such as efficient water management, reuse, water stress and scarcity of resources, infrastructure financing or new models of public-private collaboration. After its success, Iwater is working on the upcoming 2018 edition.
The last of the four shows held this week at the Gran Via venue is the European Utility Week, the leading platform for energy and resource management, organized by private operators Synergy and Clarion Events. The event has focused on the optimization of the power network, the development of renewable energy, energy storage as well as the opportunities and challenges that the Internet of Things is bringing to this industry. With no official figures yet, the show, which welcomed 12,000 visitors in its latest edition, had recorded increases of 20% in attendance on the first days, according to its organizers.
The joint celebration of the four events has allowed the attendees of each one to be able to visit the others, thus promoting synergies between each sector and reaching new visitor profiles with a greater internationality.