High-level decision-makers reflect on energy transition, economic growth and security in Porto

The themes of Energy Transition, Economic Growth and Competitiveness, and Co-operation, Peace and Security brought high-level international decision-makers from the public, private and non-profit sectors to Porto for a meeting in search of solutions with strong social impact. The Concordia Europe Summit, which took place at the Palace of Freixo over the course of two days, was attended by the Mayor of Porto.

'We need to give cities a bigger role, this is the only way to get citizens involved', says Rui Moreira. During the meeting, the Mayor emphasised how 'Porto has been able to create bridges and alliances', boosting the involvement of citizens in defining the policies to be implemented.

In a session on 'Co-operation, Peace and Security', the Mayor spoke about what he sees as the changes needed for European cities to become role models, helping to build relationships of trust between countries and promoting mutual understanding and cooperation to tackle national and international security challenges.

In this sense, Rui Moreira believes that 'the role of cities has not been recognised by states or international institutions', which makes them 'policy recipients rather than decision-makers'. 'Today, cities don't have the political tools to bring about change. And change is paramount', says Rui Moreira, in view of what he considers 'a perfect storm'.

This storm is made up of problems faced by cities, including Porto, such as housing issues, fighting against climate change, energy transition, the homeless population, drug trafficking, 'touristification', cybersecurity or even migration (of foreigners and people who choose to live and work in the city).

'If we want to deal with these problems, with this perfect storm we're facing, we need to give cities a greater role, which has not been recognised by states or international institutions', he said.

Strengthening this capacity for intervention and change, as well as citizen involvement in policies that are for everyone, is something that any city should strive for, argues Rui Moreira. Otherwise, he warns that 'one day someone will want freedom all to themselves. And we certainly don't want that'.

In addition to the Mayor, the former president of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, and the co-founder of Concordia, Matthew Swift, took part in the Concordia Europe Summit.

As a non-profit organisation, Concordia promotes the meeting of leaders, organisations and think tanks in order to help raise and sustain cross-sector partnerships for social impact.