Recent News and Updates

Only the most relevant are noted.

Conexiones Creativas the Latin American platform for creative economies and districts extended its partnership with Brazilian cities with a launch in Porto Alegre where Charles helped kick start the initiative.

I’ve always wanted to go to Curitiba, having spent several days with Jaime Lerner, then mayor of the city and inventor of the ‘urban acupuncture’ concept. They won our Bay Awards ‘pioneering city’ prize. Finally, I got there, did various presentations and was guided around the city by the Jaime Lerner Institute including Jaime’s daughter Ilana and Ariadne do Santos Daher.

BLOXHUB in Copenhagen hosted the 1st WRLD CTY Global Fellows Circle for a 3-day learning journey and residency with 30 people from across all continents. One big experience was seeing how you actually implement climate mitigation projects.

The Goethe Institute’s Cities Ahead Academy programme has taken place in Essen, Krefeld and Rüsselsheim in summer 2025 with further Academies scheduled for Bamberg and Bratislava in the autumn. https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/wis/bik/cah.html

Braga won the European Capital of Innovation Rising City Award in 2025 and in September together with Braga Charles and Robyn Bennett we are revising the Creative City Index by merging it with ‘Art of Creative City Making’ evaluation template to create a more nuanced tool.

Placemaking Week Europe is holding its 7th edition in Reggio Emilia on the 23rd- 26th September. Charles will be speaking as well as moderating the morning of the 25th.

Vilnius is interested in pursuing the ‘Cities of Ambition’ (download book) and Charles will take part in a couple of forums in the autumn.

The launch of Charles’ Symposium series will take place at the Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking in Stroud in collaboration with WRLD CTY (INSERT LINK) starting at 4pm on the 5th November and ending at4pm on the 7th. 

Charles will be taking part in ‘The Fate of Britain Convention’ at Conway Hall, London on the 11th September. It is a call to collaborate on making a better, kinder, more connected country. To rebuild the Britain we know in our hearts we can do while being real about what we see around us: A multifaceted-intersecting-shit-show of climate, inequality and the cost of living. Together we can be the answer, but only if we’re able to become infinitely greater than the sum of our parts.

Charles is advisor to the Global Parliament of Mayors and responsible for their strand on the role of culture. The annual summit took place in Braga in June 

Latitude59 the Nordic start up summit, Tallinn helping to launch the Krulli development project on the them city making as gardening. May 2025

Cities at the Centre – UNESCO Creativity Day, Vilnius May 2025

Culture Shock, rethinking Stroud cultural story, April 2025

Chtiiing Les Journées nantaises de la créativité  Nantes Next steps for creative districts, April 2025

German Creative Economy Summit, Hamburg, ‘what is this creativity business about?’ March 2025

UNDP Innovation Days Istanbul March 2025

Digital Kick off Day, Creative Bureaucracy Festival, Berlin, March 2025

The World Government Summit Dubai February 2025 ‘A zero bureaucracy or creative bureaucracy’ presentation 

PUBLICA25, Circolo Bellas Artes, Madrid, Sustainability & Cities, February 2025

UrbCitPower: Empowering citizens for agency as driver for change in cities, Interreg Europe, Braga. Launch talk. February 2025

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