First SCALE-UP General Assembly & Annual Event a success

The first SCALE-UP Annual General Assembly was hosted by the City of Antwerp (Belgium) and brought together almost all consortium partners, adding up to a total number of over 60 attendees for 3 days.

In order to make the most out of the time together and to maximise the social aspect of the Assembly, the programme was designed in such a way as to include also relevant site visits around Antwerp, meetings with local stakeholders both internal and external to the project and collaborative city sessions.

Antwerp Centraal, next to Astridplein square

Following an ice breaker to get to know all attendees personally, the consortium visited two sites in Central Antwerp: The ‘Astridplein’ as well as the “most beautiful train station in the world” (Antwerp Centraal) and the newly transformed ‘Operasplein’, a modern multi-modal station underground. Both groups also visited the NPO The Beacon, a collaborative platform co-founded by SCALE-UP consortium partners for innovative businesses.

The second day of the General Assembly consisted of dedicated city sessions, offering not only the opportunity to share impressions of the site visits, but also to discuss openly within the entire consortium about the opportunities for change. Guest lectures by speakers of the University of Groningen and the Polytechnic University of Madrid on integration strategies of multi-layer governance hierarchies rounded off the session.

To enable a more direct and collaborative exchange, three breakout groups were created and attendees moved freely between the groups to provide their input on governance models, mobility measures and their dimensions.

Panel Speakers (from left to right): Lola Ortiz (City of Madrid), Koen Kennis (City of Antwerp), Isabelle Vandoorne (DG MOVE)

The first SCALE-UP Annual Event also took place during the General Assembly, including invited guest speakers and some selected attendees. Apart from a quick update from each of the cities on the work performed within the first year, two Panel Discussion, focusing on governance structures and multi-modal mixes respectively, were held.

The final day consisted of a last collaborative session, where the three groups presented their results and the technical coordinator settled some administrative issues. The General Assembly was characterised by interactive co-working processes and proactive exchange between all consortium members, which turned out to be the perfect recipe to make the most of post-pandemic in-person meetings.