We welcome our esteemed keynote speakers
Prof. Ursula Eicker
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities, Concordia University, Director Next Generation Cities Institute
Bio
Ursula Eicker is the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities and Founder and Director of the Next-Generation Cities Institute at Concordia University in Montréal. She works on decarbonization strategies for cities using living labs and urban digital twins for scenario modeling, user engagement and operational optimization.
Her research interests cover zero emission and smart cities, renewable energy integration, and sustainable urban infrastructure. With a team of about 50 graduate students and software developers she is working on multiple eco-district projects in Canada and builds the urban modeling and data analytics platform Tools4Cities. To engage users, 3D city models can be accessed via web interfaces or immersive gamification tools. Prof. Eicker has published 8 books, 20 book contributions, over 140 Peer-Reviewed Papers and more than 340 Conference Papers.
Prof. Sarah Giest
Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Bio
Sarah Giest is Professor of Public Policy with a focus on innovation and sustainability at the Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, where she heads the Public Policy and Innovation section. Her research examines how urban and neighbourhood contexts shape access to public services in times of digital transformation. While policy responses often emphasise individual digital skills, her work highlights the role of local social and spatial infrastructures—such as neighbourhood networks, libraries,and community organisations—in mediating inclusion and exclusion. Her current research explores how these place-based mechanisms help citizens navigate bureaucratic complexity and technological barriers. Sarah is the author of an OECD report on policy capacity for complex, place-based sustainability challenges and holds leading editorial and governance roles in international research networks on digital governance. She studied Political Science and Science and Technology Studies in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Canada, where she also earned her PhD.