Cognitive Cities Conference 26 & 27 February 2011 in Berlin
Design made in Germany is happy to be partner of the Cognitive Cities Conference (#CoCities) which will be hold the first time on 26 & 27 February in Berlin. It is organized by young Berlin (and Hamburg) based entrepreneurs such as Third Wave (see also the last blog post), Your Neighbours, Martin Spindler, Fabian Mürmann, Markus Reuter, Axel Quack& Welf Kirschner. The first time I heard (or better: read) about the conference was a tweet I found in my twitter timeline and I immediately liked the logo and design concept of the site (as well as the alliteration of the conferences’ name).
So what is the conference about? Short: The future of cities. Long: A platform for exchange and mutual inspiration. Urban planners, designers, technology geeks, environmental experts, public officials, urban gardening enthusiasts and cultural influencers are invited to be part of the conversation about tomorrow’s cities.
I spoke to Edial Dekker from YourNeighbours about the conference but first, here is all the facts you need:
Cognitive Cities Conference
26 & 27 February 2011 in Berlin
Day 1: Berlin, Heimathafen Neukölln (Price € 99.00)
Day 2: Places in Kreuzberg and beyond. See the website for more information. (Free entrance)
The CoCities conference is based on a non-profit basis.
conference.cognitivecities.com
I’ll be there too so feel free to say hello.
Hi Edial, what is the idea behind the conference? Why do we need a Cognitive Cities Conference?
By 2050 the global population will rise to about 9 billion people and 75% of them will be living in cities or urban sprawls. This is huge. And on the other hand, we can already see a lot failed cities, who were not able to handle the amount of inhabitants. So, it’s crucial that we get a better understanding of cities and that we start the conversation in Germany. An event about the future of cities is not only logical, but also very needed.
Why is Berlin the perfect place for the CoCities?
Berlin is a city with a lot history and some people call it a ‘city in transition’, which makes it already interesting. There’s still a lot of space and, while there is little money, the standard of living is very high. On the other hand, there are a lot of architectural projects that have miserably failed, but that have found new purposes. And more than once, it’s the people of Berlin that try to (re-)create things, without governmental support. So inviting people who are interested in cities to Berlin is not so crazy.
What can the visitors expect?
It will be a day full of interesting speakers from a lot of different disciplines. So no matter what the entry level is, we are sure the visitor will hear a lot of new insights. With people like Warren Ellis, who is an author of comics, we expect really amazing ideas and stories that you want to witness and take home. On the other hand, we also want to spark the conversation around the future of cities, so there will be plenty of moments to meet up with other interesting attendees.
Will the CoCities conference be hold every year?
It looks like we will do another event next year, but we really want to gather as much feedback as possible after this event. After the feedback, we will probably decide whether there will be a next event. Since we’re selling the last tickets now, we are sure this event will be a success and we hope to see you there!
