April 9-10: William McDonough speaks at Powering Progress Together Detroit 2015

On April 9, 2015, William McDonough will deliver the keynote address at Shell’s Powering Progress Together conference in Detroit, Michigan.

By 2050, three quarters of the world will live in urban centers; collectively, these cities will consume as much as 80 percent of the global energy supply. So how can we work better together today, to achieve our vision for resilient, sustainable and prosperous cities? Trying to answer this burning question, Shell Powering Progress Together is bringing together the most thoughtful and innovative minds from business, academia, NGOs and government to discuss and deliver tangible, solutions-oriented conversations that address key challenges faced by Detroit and other world-cities in transition.

Among the key challenges to be addressed:

Define the role of the new urban citizen

How will individuals interact with their urban surroundings in the future? How will municipal governments listen and facilitate an environment – both physical and virtual – that provides an optimal quality of life for their residents? What do we need to do today, to achieve our vision for the future?

Re-think mobility in future cities

How will we move people and goods within and between cities of the future? What energy sources should power the planes, trains automobiles and transportation inventions of the future? What challenges do we need to overcome today to achieve a collective vision for sustainable mobility?

Assess technology’s role as the enabler to a new urban world

How will technology bolster efforts to predict and preempt issues, help cities operate most safely, effective and efficiently, and advance creative new solutions to urban challenges? What can and should we do to foster collaboration and innovation?

Speakers will be asked to present their insights with an eye towards Detroit – a city with its own story of world-changing breakthroughs and exceptional adversity – but with relevance to transitioning cities around the world that have a shared vision of redefining themselves as model future cities. Through insightful discussions, debates and networking, the intention is to isolate what has worked, what should be done and how business, government and NGO leaders can think differently and work more collaboratively to bring innovative solutions to bear.

Shell Powering Progress Together Detroit 2015 takes place at the COBO Center on April 9, 2015.

Visit the event website for more details:

http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/events/powering-progress-together/events/detroit-2015.html

Connect with William McDonough: