Keynotes: Understanding resilience today and preparing for tomorrow

In the opening keynote, Esteban Leon, Head of the City Resilience Global Programme at UN-Habitat, will explore the core elements that enable cities to remain resilient in the face of uncertainty and disruption. His session provides a clear framework for understanding urban resilience and sets the foundation for the discussions that follow.

In the second part of the day, Ernesto Faubel, Head of the Smart City & Data Management Department in the City of Valencia and Chair of the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC, will focus on digital resilience. His keynote examines how cities can protect essential services and systems in an increasingly connected world, addressing cyber threats, data integrity, technological sovereignty, and the role of tools such as digital twins in building more adaptive urban environments.

The forum concludes with a forward-looking keynote by Laura Halenius, Senior Lead for Growth from Critical Technologies at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. She will explore emerging risks, critical technologies, and plausible scenarios shaping the next decade of urban resilience, asking what could fail first and how prepared cities truly are to respond.

Panel Discussions: From Emergency Coordination to Community

The forum includes two panel discussions that connect keynote insights with lived experience.

The first panel featuring Eva Næss Karlsen (Oslo), Esteban Leon (UN-Habitat), and Kristen Guida (London) focuses on emergency coordination and response, examining how cities and responsible organisations prepare for and manage crises. With perspectives from city emergency management, national authorities, community representatives, and cybersecurity experts, the discussion highlights the importance of cross-sector coordination when disasters, attacks, or extreme events occur.

The second panel, featuring Denys Nazarenko (Kyiv city), Ernesto Faubel (Valencia city & CitiVERSE EDIC), and Mariliis Öeren (Praxis Center for Policy Studies), explores the human dimension of resilience.

Experts from governance, technology, and community development will discuss how cities can combine digital tools with inclusive processes and effective communication. Because resilience is not only technology, but it depends equally on people, trust, and collaboration.

Join us in Tallinn or online on March 12-13! 

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