New Cities Summit gives floor to 10 outstanding urban innovators from across the world in Dallas, 17-19 June

• WhatWorks talk series will play a central role at the New Cities Summit, 17-19 June 2014, Dallas, Texas
• 10 inspirational urban innovators from across the world have been selected to speak on the main stage of the Summit, at the Winspear Opera House in the Dallas Arts District
• WhatWorks speakers will each have six minutes to tell their urban innovation story to the international audience of 800 urban leaders and thinkers

Dallas, US and Paris, France – May 28, 2014. The New Cities Foundation has selected ten outstanding urban innovators that make up this year’s WhatWorks talk series, hosted at the New Cities Summit in Dallas on June 17-19, 2014

Each year, WhatWorks gives the floor to 10 inspiring urban innovators from a variety of disciplines, global regions and backgrounds. Their dynamic, six-minute talks highlight what works to solve the great urban challenges facing all cities.

The 2014 WhatWorks speakers include:

• David Auerbach, Founder, Sanergy, Nairobi – an organization that strives to make hygienic sanitation affordable and accessible throughout Africa's informal settlements
• Pronita Saxena, Co-Founder, NextDrop, Hubli, India – a social enterprise that helps bringing water more efficiently to consumers by sending information about water availability using mobile phone messages
• Gerardo Asali de la Mora, Founding Partner and CEO, DAS Desarrolo Arquitectura Sustentabilidad, Mexico City – a company dedicated to the design and development of architectural and urban projects. Gerardo’s talk will focus on "Parklets": public green spaces, that convert the street parking lots into vibrant community areas for people
• Mouna Andraos, Co-Founder and Director, Daily tous les jours, Montreal – a design studio that creates collective experiences. The studio is focused on urban multi-disciplinary projects at the intersection of participation, design and technology
• Scott Crouch, Founder, Mark43, New York – a law enforcement software that helps police to reduce crime
• Mohamed Hage, Founder, Lufa Farms, Montreal – an urban farm with the world's first commercial rooftop greenhouse, aiming to change the way cities eat
• Chad Houser, Executive Director, Cafe Momentum, Dallas – a restaurant and training platform that provides post-release paid internships and support for juvenile offenders to foster successful re-entry into the urban community
• Miloš Milisavljević, Founder, Strawberry Energy, Belgrade – creators of the first free public solar charger for phones, tablets and multi-media players, which also sparks serendipitous connections between city dwellers
• Dr Su Yungsheng, Director, Technical Development Center of Urban Development Planning Branch, Shanghai Tong Ji Urban Planning & Design Institute; Shanghai – in charge of the Etopia project that develops green housing option, intelligent, efficient and available to all
• Meenu Vadera, Founder, Sakha Consulting Wings, Delhi – a social enterprise aimed at providing safe transport solutions for women, by women, in urban India
• The sessions will be moderated by Catherine Cuellar, CEO, Dallas Arts District

In Dallas this June, New Cities Summit participants will have the exclusive opportunity to hear these innovators’ stories first-hand, and find out how their projects could be adapted and replicated in many more cities, companies or organizations.

The entire global community will also be invited to learn from the WhatWorks speakers through a highlights movie and videos of each individual talk, which will be launched in July 2014.

Mathieu Lefevre, Executive Director of the New Cities Foundation said: “WhatWorks is always one of the most popular strands of the New Cities Summit –it is certainly my favorite! This year we’re placing these 10 inspirational WhatWorks speakers on the plenary stage of the Winspear Opera House. It’s always inspiring to witness the determination and energy of the innovators behind these fantastic urban projects. For the speakers, it’s a golden opportunity to meet decision who can help them develop their ideas, which could eventually impact upon cities globally.”

Ends

International press contact:

Kristina Ilic

Researcher

New Cities Foundation

kilic@newcitiesfoundation.org

+33 6 01356757

Local press contact:

Brunswick Group – Dallas

Roberta Thomson / Daniel Harrison

newcities@brunswickgroup.com 

+1 214 254 3790 

About WhatWorks

WhatWorks is a series of short talks, presented each year at the New Cities Summit, by urban innovators across a variety of disciplines and regions. The talks are aimed at telling the stories of dynamic entrepreneurs who have had a notable impact on their urban community. Speakers have 6 minutes to engage a high-level audience and present the projects they have implemented to solve the great urban challenges of our time.

Access the highlights movie from WhatWorks 2013 - http://bit.ly/1rhlROl

   www.newcitiessummit2014.org/what-works/ 

  Media Partner: Citiscope 

About the New Cities Summit

Organized by the New Cities Foundation, the New Cities Summit is the premier global leadership event on the future of cities. Fostering positive urban change, the high level gathering advocates cross-sector collaboration through network building, cutting-edge forums and lively discussion. The Summit showcases and disseminates the best ideas on the future of cities and generates concrete, scalable solutions capable of being adopted and replicated across the world. Following the inaugural Summit in Paris in 2012, last year’s event was hosted in São Paulo. The New Cities Summit 2014 will be hosted in Dallas, Texas, USA, from June 17 - 19.

About the New Cities Foundation

The New Cities Foundation is a leading global non-profit organization with a vision to build more inclusive, dynamic and creative cities benefiting people and society. Its mission is to incubate, promote and scale urban innovations through collaborative partnerships between government, business, academia and civil society.

 The New Cities Foundation hosts a number of leadership events on the most pressing urban issues, including its flagship event, the New Cities Summit The Organization also hosts smaller leadership events worldwide, such as Cityquest - KAEC Forum, a high level event focusing on the conception and building of new cities around the world (www.cityquest.net).

 The Foundation’s applied research wing, the Urban (co)LAB, manages a number of projects including Task Forces, thought leadership activities and competitions. The Urban (co)LAB recently completed two Task Forces on Urban E-health in Rio de Janeiro and on Connected Commuting in San Jose, California. The Urban (co)LAB also manages the AppMyCity! contest for the world’s best new urban mobile app, and seeks out the most talented urban innovators for the WhatWorks series of talks hosted at the New Cities Summit.

An independent, non-profit organization, the New Cities Foundation was created in 2010 and is financed by its members and partners. Overall, its members include some of the most forward-thinking companies, universities, cities and city organizations from around the world. The New Cities Foundation’s Founding Members are Cisco and Ericsson. The Foundation is based in Geneva and its head office is in Paris.

For more information about the New Cities Foundation, please visit:

About the Dallas Arts District
The Dallas Arts District is a nonprofit organization stimulating the cultural and economic life of North Texas by advocating for the largest urban cultural district in the United States -- comprising 20 square blocks of museums, performance halls, parks, restaurants, offices and residences. The Dallas Arts District also serves as world headquarters for the Global Cultural Districts Network in partnership with the New Cities Foundation and AEA Consulting. For more information, please visit www.dallasartsdistrict.org.

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