PRELIMINARY AGENDA

Day 1 – Thursday 19 March 2026 - Vision, Challenges & Cross-Sector Collaboration

09:00 - 09:10

Welcome Address

Mr. Yiannis Armeftis
Mayor of Limassol

09:10 - 09:30

Opening Addresses

Dr. Costas Kadis
Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, European Commission

Mr. Apostolos Tzitzikostas*
Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, European Commission

Mr. Alexis Vafeades
Minister of Transport, Communications and Works

Mr. Michalis Damianos*
Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism

Dr. Maria Panayiotou
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment

09:30 - 09:50

Joint keynote from the EU Missions

Mr. Patrick Child
Deputy Director-General in DG Environment, European Commission

Mr. Kęstutis Sadauskas
Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs & Fisheries, European Commission

09:50 - 11:00

Panel Discussion: Port and Coastal Cities at the Frontline of Climate Action and Maritime Restoration

Mr. Yiannis Armeftis
Mayor of Limassol

Marit Vea
Oslo City Commissioner for Climate, Environment and Transport

Adrian Craciun
Coordinator, Constanta Metropolitan Zone

Moderator:

Thomas Osdoba
Managing Director, NetZeroCities

12:00 - 13:00

Panel Discussion: From Vision to Action: Governing the Transition to Climate-Neutral Blue Cities

Julio Lumbreras
Full Professor, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Director, citiES 2030

Elena Simion
International Projects Expert & CapaCITIES Coordinator, UEFISCD

Fedra Francocci
Coordinator, BlueMissionMed Project

Maria Tengvard,
Viable Cities Sweden

Moderator:

Laura Hetel
Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, European Commission

14:30 - 16:00

Shaping the Mobility Systems of Tomorrow: Innovation, Integration, and the Net Zero Transition

• Integrated Smart and Shared Mobility Options to Reduce Car-Dependence
• Shaping Behavioural Change Beyond Private Car Use
• Designing Mobility Hubs for Seamless and Sustainable Multimodality

Maria Kamargianni
Director and Founder of MaaSLab, Hon. Professor of Transport Systems Innovation & Sustainability, UCL

Giovanni Circella
BOF Professor of Mobility, Ghent University, and Director, 3RFM Program, University of California

Loucas Dimitriou
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus

Moderator:

Karen Vancluysen
Secretary General, POLIS

Day 2 – Friday 20 March 2026 - Enabling the Transition: Finance, Energy, and Design for Climate-Neutral Blue Cities

09:00 - 10:15

Mobilising Capital for Climate-Neutral Blue Cities

Matiss Paegle
Board Member, EU Cities Mission

Moderator:

George Ioulianos
City Finance Specialist

10:45-12:15

The Future of Limassol Port–City Integration: Challenges and the Roadmap Ahead

• Plugging Ships into Cleaner Energy: Advancing Decarbonization at Limassol Port
• Perspectives and Strategies from the Port Industry
• Renewable Energy at the Heart of Port–City Transformation
• Best Practices for Sustainable and Liveable Port–City Ecosystems

Athanasios Pallis
Professor - Jean Monnet Chair in European Port Policy, University of Piraeus

Carola Hein
Prof.dr.ing, TU Delft

Andreas Poullikas
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Frederic University

Moderator:

Angelos Menelaou
Professor, Frederic University

12:15 - 13:30

Powering the Urban Energy Transition

• Energy Sharing and Optimization to Promote Net-Zero Ports
• From Rooftops to City-Scale Energy Systems
• Smart Grids & Decentralized Energy Systems, Storage and Flexibility
• Energy Communities as the Social Engine of the Just Transition

Desen Kirli
Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh

Bob D’Haeseleer
Climate Neutral City Advisor, ICLEI Europe

Sissy Windisch
Chief Operating Officer, Imby

Moderator:

Nestor Fylaktos
Research Scientist, The Cyprus Institute

14:15–14:45

Joint keynote: Science Meets Practice: Empowering Urban Innovation in Blue Cities

Matthaios Santamouris
Distinguished Professor, Anita Lawrence Chair High Performance Architecture, School Built Environment, Faculty Art Design and Architecture, University New South Wales, Sydney Australia

Maria Vassilakou
Managing Director, Vienna Solutions | Advisor to Cities on Urban Transformation Strategies & Transition Management

14:45 - 16:05

Advancing Inclusive and Climate-Neutral Neighbourhoods: Energy Justice, Public Space and the New European Bauhaus

• Resilient Neighbourhoods
• Green and Recreational Spaces
• Energy Justice / Energy Poverty
• New European Bauhaus

Dimitra Theochari
Dipl. Ing. Architecture and Structural Engineering, NTUA MLA I ap UTSOA Managing Director, Ensphere GmbH

Matthaios Santamouris
Distinguished Professor, Anita Lawrence Chair High Performance Architecture, School Built Environment, Faculty Art Design and Architecture, University New South Wales, Sydney Australia

Maria Vassilakou
Managing Director, Vienna Solutions | Advisor to Cities on Urban Transformation Strategies & Transition Management

Moderator:

Annemie Wyckmans
Professor, Project Coordinator, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology

16:15-17:30

The City Re-Imagined: Designing for Climate Neutrality and Coastal Resilience

Dana Behrman
Associate Director and Senior Urban Designer, UNS

Ben Scott
Senior Partner, Architect, Foster and Partners

João Albuquerque
Partner, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

Moderator:

Mr. Yiannis Armeftis
Mayor of Limassol