Summer holiday greetings
Dear UBC colleagues,
The summer has finally arrived and everyone is trying to tie all loose ends before their holidays start. The spring at the Sustainable Cities Commission has been busy with starting up new projects dealing with urban wastewaters, urban mobility, and integrated urban storm water management. At the same time we have been involved in building new project concepts on resource efficiency, smart energy efficiency and port and shipping logistics. Demanding yet interesting.
We have also been involved in planning several upcoming conferences such as the Climate Leadership Council's Annual Summit taking place on 27 September 2016 in Turku, Finland and Sustainable City Development Conference 2016 taking place during 30 November – 2 December 2016 in Malmö, Sweden.
I also wish to highlight the upcoming UBC Commission meeting in Jelgava, Latvia 12 – 14 October 2016 where we will focus on the Natura 2000 sites – including their protection and incorporation of sustainable urban development as well as successful storm water management. More information about the event and registration will be sent to you soon. I hope to see as many as possible of you in Jelgava.
Before my holiday started, I travelled to Daugavpils (Latvia) for the first time, and then continued via Vilnius (Lithuania) to Gdansk, Słupsk and Ustka in Poland - a nice tour in our beautiful Baltic Sea Region that gave me a fantastic opportunity to discuss and exchange experiences among colleagues. If you have challenges you need assistance with or would like to disseminate good experiences with other UBC member cities, contact us!
Last but not least - have a nice holiday. Relax and enjoy your summer!
Björn Grönholm