Meeting of The Minds 2013 goes Toronto

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Yesterday I arrived in Toronto for this years Meeting of The Minds, a yearly, invitation-only conference. Meeting of the Minds brings together 350 opinion-shapers, policy-makers, leading thinkers and innovators from every sector. The conference is two-plus days of intensive exchange for leaders creating more sustainable cities using smarter design tools, sounder environmental practices, and cleaner energy systems. I spent yesterday wandering around the city, being the first time for me here, and as they say, the first cut is the deepest. It is fascinating how quick you are to shape an opinion of a city and it depends on everything from the experience at the airport express bus coach, over architecture to your activities. As somewhat a professional I of course know that you should not judge a city by its first impression, especially not when it comes to it’s city development progress. But also, this is what tourists experience and it sure is an important factor shaping the image and reputation of a destination. Toronto could have been off a worse start. Weather is great, bus driver very friendly, hotel room with a view of the CN Tower, and the unexpected star-gazing possibilities with TIFF, one of the worlds greatest film festivals being on at the moment. Today will be an interesting one, with a pre-conference tour to the Cisco Smart + Connected Communities Innovation Centre. A lot of the future success of Smart Cities will depend of how successful professionals will be able to explore och communicate the benefits of its solutions. I am convinced about the sustainability benefits of smarter cities (in all three sustainability dimensions), but when will the big breakthrough happen? I think we will see it very soon. Stay tuned on this blog for what is happening at this years Meeting of The Minds. I’m looking forward to great meetings, inspirational enlightenments and fuel for sustainable thoughts.