WRAPPING UP 2013: CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN SOCIAL INNOVATION, URBAN PLANNING AND POLICY MAKING.

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URBAN 360º, the blog curated by Pablo Sánchez Chillón, Urban Planning Lawyer, International Speaker, Researcher and Urban Advocate. Pablo is Co-founder of Eolexcitylab, Urban Innovation Lab (Spain).  

When 2013 comes to and end is time to stop for a while, look around and review this exciting and unique year which, from Latin America (Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Puerto Rico) to Asia, stopping by France, Austria, Rome or Barcelona, put me in the middle of the international arena of urban thinkers, connecting the dots between social innovation, policy making and urban planning.

Beyond the thriving and always challenging work done in 2013 advising forward-thinking institutions and Governments on Policy Making Strategies in the field of urban innovation (with the help of the generous team of Eolexcitylab,and Sánchez Chillón Abogados  (house of ‘Cityzentrism’ and  ‘Digizens’) and the new projects to be announced soon, the season has been quite intense and stimulating, giving me the opportunity to meet extraordinary people and places, while sharing ideas, projects and profitable discussions about urban innovation with dozens of colleagues in challenging scenarios and cities.

Among other events, from Autum 2012 to the date, I have been invited to give keynotes and speeches at 5Plus City Forum (Paris),3^Rd Low Carbon Earth Summit (Xian-China), Smart City Exhibition – Bologna (Italia), Smart City Expo World Congress – Barcelona, Thinking Capitals Congress – Elche ,Peripheria Final Conference/ Co-creation in Smart Cities – Forum PA (Roma), TrendSpain – Google España (Madrid), 3rd Low Carbon Earth Summit 2013 (Forum 7- Low Carbon Cities)  Xi’an – China, Smart Cities Summit Chile,  XIV Encuentro Iberoamericano de Ciudades Digitales en Quito, Smart Cities Summit Santiago de Chile –CEPAL/Fundación País Digital, Corredor Digital and PUCPR (Puerto Rico), Vienna Grows Smart Conference 2013, SCE Bologna 2013, City Sense by World Bank 2013 (Barcelona), Smart City Expo Barcelona 2013 and 24 Hours Around the World 2013 (Science Frontieres France),

With unfortunately less time for investigation, writing and curating my precious and beloved blogging corner Urban 360º, (but keeping the spirit and commitment) 2013 has been the year in which I have tried to share my vision, thoughts and experience with the younger generarations, after being desginated invited Lecturer at the Master of Advanced Tools for Sustainable Planning Università degli Studi di Sassari (Italy), Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (Santander-Spain) & Pontificia Universidad Católica of Puerto Rico, helping to connect urban innnovation schemes with an increasing range of committed and talented thinkers and doers, from academia and institutions to new players fostering innovation on site.

Last, but not least, being a member of the Steering Committee of the Smart City Exhibition Bolonia (Italia), Scientific Committee of the Master on Design of People Centered Smart Cities, (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata -Italy) and Advisor of the EU Project UrbanIxD enriched my vision and experience this year, joining multidisciplinary teams of professionals and scholars. January-Feb. 2014 will bring me to Madrid to the joing the ‘Tecnología, Big Data y Sostenibilidad‘ event by CIBBVAand AGBAR and to Modena (Italy) invited by the City (Digital Agenda) to talk about ‘Smart City and Smart Community: Il futuro Digitale della Città’.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all of you and long live urban innovation!