London wins bid to host 2023 Ecocity World Summit

London, UK has won a bid to host the biennial 2023 Ecocity World Summit, a global conference on sustainable cities. The hybrid physical-virtual summit will take place, 6-8 June 2023, at the Barbican Centre. It will convene representatives from communities across the city from schoolchildren, academia and professionals, to investors, trade associations and political leaders, to share new thinking and maintain the energy and momentum generated by COP26. A legacy project will deliver a new piece of green infrastructure in London, conceived and developed through a collaborative process. The London Festival of Architecture will provide a month-long backdrop with activation across the city throughout June. The bid to host the summit was supported by the UK Government, Mayor of London, London Councils, City of London Corporation, Transport for London, UK Green Building Council, Royal Town Planning Institute, Green Finance Institute and Bartlett Faculty of Built Environment, UCL. It was led by New London Architecture (NLA) in partnership with London & Partners, the Barbican Centre and conference organisers MCI. Amy Chadwick Till, summit director, will lead a committee of industry professionals to shape and deliver the programme. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “It’s fantastic news that London will be the host city for the Ecocity World Summit 2023. It has been great to see sustainability at the top of the global agenda in the wake of the COP26 summit, and the Ecocity conference in London will continue the sustainability conversation by bringing together business, political and community leaders from all over the world. Global cities have a big role to play in tackling climate change and environmental issues.” He added: “London has shown its leadership by committing to a Green New Deal to help London become greener and fairer, creating new jobs and skills for Londoners and ensuring London becomes a net zero-carbon city by 2030 and a zero-waste city by 2050. As the new chair of C40 Cities, I am working with other mayors and cities across the world to share ideas and collaborate, and conferences like Ecocity World Summit will help to enhance global co-operation.” Chadwick Till commented: “Past Ecocity summits have a track-record of enabling tangible local action. I am excited about the opportunity for our London summit partners to drive local change. By facilitating global knowledge sharing and highlighting new thinking, projects, and policies frameworks from around the world, we can offer inspiration and tools for cities to deliver on global needs. Design workshops that tackle real-world briefs, a virtual offer that connects in cities with fewer resources, and city activation through the festival in June will leave a powerful positive legacy beyond the three-day summit itself.”