Plenary session 5: Climate action for humanity – Innovation spaces driving scalable change
October 30th, 2026 — 11:00 - 12:00
Description
Moving clean technologies from local pilots to lasting low-carbon impact requires collaboration across disciplines, sectors and regions. By bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, industry and policymakers, innovation spaces are better placed to connect expertise with infrastructure, test solutions in real-world settings, and accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions, circular economy approaches and digital tools, functioning as living labs for systemic decarbonization and net-zero transitions.
The contributions range from green innovation pipelines to the practical use of shared infrastructure and data. In Kenya, a national smart city and university science park are working together to create a green innovation pipeline, including East Africa’s first automated pneumatic waste collection system. In Brazil and Belgium, a green energy park is using “Ecomes”, or boundary spaces, to capture data-centre waste heat for university hospital heating. In Sophia Antipolis, France, a climate-tech platform is coordinating sustainable fuel value chains, carbon traceability and AI decision-support tools for hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and maritime transport.
Speakers
