By Ben Sosne
In an era defined by rapid technological advancements and shifting economic landscapes, the Berkshire Innovation Center prides itself on fostering thought leadership and serving as a catalyst to propel economic growth. Bringing together entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry leaders from various disciplines, we serve as a crucible for collaboration, idea exchange, and the convergence of diverse expertise, helping create a vibrant ecosystem where novel ideas are conceived, incubated, and refined. Committed to the idea that “collective wisdom always wins,” we believe that the cross-pollination of ideas sparks innovation and can lay the groundwork for solutions to the challenges all around us.
It is in this spirit of disseminating knowledge and fostering thought leadership that we welcome the 2024 Global Interdisciplinary Green Cities Conference (GIGCC) to the BIC this coming June.
The GIGCC, which brings together leading minds in business, engineering, art, architecture, design, political science, international relations, and applied science and technology, was first held at the ICN Business School in France in 2018 and was held the following year at the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business in Poland. After the 2020 event was canceled due to the global pandemic, it returned in 2021 in a virtual format based out of the University of Augsburg in Germany. In 2022, the conference was held at the Lucerne University of Applied Science & Arts in Switzerland and in 2023 it was held in person at the University of Augsburg.
Historically, the conference has brought together hundreds of industry participants and faculty members from universities across the globe, who share scientific knowledge and research related to the energy transition and efforts to achieve a green and sustainable planet.
The goals of the conference are as follows:
To provide education that achieving sustainability is a multidisciplinary field:
Business, Engineering, Art, Architecture, Design, Political Science, International Relations, Applied Science & Technology;
To gather researchers from across the globe to share knowledge and information regarding sustainability;
To educate our students and community in regards to the different dimensions of the field of sustainability;
To have our students and community to be involved in the implementation of sustainability principles to ensure the achievement of a net-zero carbon emission economy by the year 2050.
We are honored and thrilled to be hosting the GIGCC at the BIC this year – not just so that we can welcome leaders from around the globe to our community here in the Berkshires, but also so that we can include the voices of our local and regional partners in such a critical conversation. Moreover, though I am potentially a bit biased, I can think of no more appropriate place to host this event.
First of all, while the Berkshires has just around 2 percent of the population in the Commonwealth, we have nearly 12 percent of the land area and have a very rich history of people who care tremendously about the landscape, and who have settled and remained here to enjoy all that these hills have to offer. It is in our blood, and thus not surprising that so many residents and visitors are absolutely enamored with the newly launched “Berkshires Outside” – an fantastic new resource for outdoor enthusiasts (https://berkshiresoutside.org/).
Second, the Berkshires quite literally connects two of the innovation hubs currently driving the climate tech revolution – Boston and Albany. The Boston area ranks as one of the most innovative and research-intensive regions in the country and, since the climate tech revolution being driven by talent and innovation, it has become ground zero for the future of energy, drawing billions of dollars of private investments. Meanwhile, the Albany capital region has long been a national leader in climate technology and clean energy and now boasts a growing cluster of companies and institutions leading the way and rapidly scaling a clean energy workforce. Berkshire County is well positioned to realize economic benefits from these thriving innovation economies to its west and east, particularly when it comes to climate technologies.
Third, while the recent COP28 climate change conference in Dubai was headlined by 76 participating countries and numerous multinational corporations, there are many reasons to believe that the energy transition will be led by innovative startup companies and smaller, more nimble governments.
Large global corporations can be slow to adapt and, in many cases, maintaining the status quo is in their financial interest. Innovative startups, by contrast, are often designed as disruptors. Their founders and investors predict market changes and try to position their firms and products and leaders in the new normal. In the world of climate tech, it is the innovative startups that are most eager and most incentivized to lead a global energy transformation.
Similarly, large governments have, for the most part, been slow to react. As we have seen in our country, public opinion can be very diverse and the complex web of influential stakeholders can grind meaningful action at a Federal level to a halt. On the other hand, smaller governments – such as Massachusetts and New York – have set some of the most ambitious climate goals in the world and are showing solid progress.
Indeed, we see the GIGCC as an outstanding opportunity to celebrate the achievements of innovative companies locally and regionally and the achievements of the Commonwealth as a whole. While Massachusetts still has a long way to go to meet its 2025 goals, our recently released (and first-ever) “climate report card” showed solid progress in terms of EV adoption, heat pump installation, and consumption of clean electricity. There is no question that significant challenges lie ahead, but Governor Healey has pushed climate innovation as the next big investment and the initiatives her administration has implemented are quickly becoming models that other governments are learning from and mimicking.
In her inaugural address, Governor Healey spoke of building a “climate corridor that stretches from the Berkshires to Barnstable” that would harness “research, innovation and manufacturing” to create “thousands” of new jobs. In previous articles in this publication, the BIC has committed to being the Western Anchor of this climate corridor. Like Governor Healey, we see tremendous benefits for our workers, our economy, and our planet. Hosting the GIGCC is an amazing opportunity to dig into this commitment.