The fourth Smart Cities in Smart Regions Conference took place on October 9-10, 2024 at the campus of LAB University of Applied Sciences in the beautiful city of Lahti, Finland.
The themes of the conference were:
- Solutions for Systemic Change
- Smart Health and Wellbeing Innovations
- Design for Sustainable Business and Responsible Consumption
The conference centered on the idea that environmental, social, and economic sustainability are crucial for a resilient future. Resilience, within the context of sustainability, signifies the ability to address diverse challenges faced by regions and urban areas; be it climate change, social inequalities, safety, or energy transition. At SCSR2024, participants could discover speakers sharing solutions to help move cities and regions toward being smarter, that is, more sustainable, inclusive, and interconnected.
A key aspect of the conference was to promote collaboration between researchers, industry, and local and regional development actors. Therefore, presentations of scientific and applied research as well as practical case examples were welcomed, which gave the participants a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with the newest research as well as innovative real-world applications. Companies, organizations, and public sector actors were encouraged to present their best practices, practical innovations, and development projects connected to the themes of the conference.
As a part of the program we organized a matchmaking session to boost research, development and innovation cooperation between universities, industry and public actors. The matchmaking session allowed participants to present new project ideas and find partners.
Finally, SCSR2024 aimed to showcase the competence and creativity of students from LAB University of Applied Sciences. Hospitality, tourism and event management students were actively involved in the organization of the conference, and during the conference participants could find many examples of their engagement and fresh perspectives.
The conference was organized by LAB University of Applied Sciences and the City of Lahti in close co-operation with Avans University of Applied Sciences, LUT University, the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme, Lahti University Campus, buildingSMART Finland and Forum Virium Helsinki.
Conference proceedings
The proceedings of the conference have been published online. Access the publication via the link below:
Social media
The conference is on LinkedIn, and you can find posts about it with #smartcities2024 and #scsr2024.