The Programme in 2026
Day 0: Side events
To add a little sprinkle on top there is a number of different side events to choose from the day before the main programme
From hiking to Preikestolen to a chill meet-up at a local pub; there is something for every taste!
Day 1: Conference
One day, two stages. For the visionary inspiration seeker to the practical junky looking for best practices and new tools. The Nordic Edge Expo program will be an arena for you to connect with new people, learn and challenge your perspectives. We promise you one thing - this is the place to be for leaders who want to recalibrate their strategies for a rapidly changing future.
5 May — Day 1
Conference: One day, two stages
09:00
09:45
09:45
Opening — Welcome ceremony
Hope Stage
Opening speech
Tormod Losnedal
Mayor, City of Stavanger
What you must understand about security, power and responsibility — and the role the Nordics can play
Louise K. Dedichen
Vice Admiral, former Norwegian Military Representative to NATO
Few people understand today's security landscape the way Vice Admiral Louise K. Dedichen does. With a career spanning national defence, NATO strategy and international security — most recently as Norway's military representative in Brussels — she brings rare and hard-won insight into what is actually at stake.
In this opening address, Dedichen maps the new threat picture: from traditional military risks to sabotage and cyber attacks — and asks what it truly means to take responsibility in turbulent times. Not just for governments and armed forces, but for cities, businesses and individuals. Because in an era where the lines between peace and conflict are increasingly blurred, understanding your role is no longer optional.
This is where the big picture meets the call to action.
In this opening address, Dedichen maps the new threat picture: from traditional military risks to sabotage and cyber attacks — and asks what it truly means to take responsibility in turbulent times. Not just for governments and armed forces, but for cities, businesses and individuals. Because in an era where the lines between peace and conflict are increasingly blurred, understanding your role is no longer optional.
This is where the big picture meets the call to action.
The world in 2029 – A journey into a near future where computers match the processing power of the human brain
Lars Rinnan
Visionary CEO, public speaker and futurist
The talk takes the audience on a journey into the future to the year 2029, where computers have as high processing power as the human brain. This means that machines can do just about anything a human can, only faster and better. A near future that will still be very different from today.
This future can be fantastic! The talk is positive and optimistic and addresses the major issues in the world. Maybe we have eradicated poverty, eliminated hunger, got rid of environmental problems, and maybe even disease is a thing of the past, all with the help of artificial intelligence and exponential technology? It is actually possible, and Lars shows how it can happen.
Lars is the host of the podcast «The World in 2029», where he interviews the tech founders and researchers creating the technology that will transform the world. The similarly titled book will be published in 2026.
This future can be fantastic! The talk is positive and optimistic and addresses the major issues in the world. Maybe we have eradicated poverty, eliminated hunger, got rid of environmental problems, and maybe even disease is a thing of the past, all with the help of artificial intelligence and exponential technology? It is actually possible, and Lars shows how it can happen.
Lars is the host of the podcast «The World in 2029», where he interviews the tech founders and researchers creating the technology that will transform the world. The similarly titled book will be published in 2026.
10:30
11:15
11:15
Session 1
Hope Stage
Ecosystems in Action – The City as a Platform
Urban Resilience in Times of (Climate) Change – the Rotterdam case
Arnoud Molenaar
Global Director Resilience and Partnerships, Square Floating Cities – former Chief Resilience Officer, City of Rotterdam
We are living in an era of change, or maybe even in a change of era. Cities are on the front line of these changes, making resilience no longer optional, but essential. In this keynote, insights from more than ten years of experience in Rotterdam illustrate how urban resilience can be translated into practice. The presentation highlights the need for a holistic approach, showing how climate adaptation can go hand in hand with spatial quality, economic vitality and social resilience. Through concrete examples — from community resilience to floating neighbourhoods — this keynote demonstrates how (climate) resilience can become a driver for urban innovation, liveability and future-proof cities.
Enabling Sustainable Data Centers: Infrastructure, Energy and Sustainability
Eirik Gundegjerde
Director of Strategic Projects, Lyse
Data centers are critical to digital growth, but they also drive rising energy demand. This talk looks at how access to renewable energy, robust infrastructure and reuse of energy can reduce emissions and improve efficiency and sustainability. It also shows how integrated solutions can act as a possible enabler for more sustainable data centers, while supporting electrification, digitalization, and long-term value for society.
From Climate Risk to Collective Action
Linn Gjengedal Ruud
Nordic Head of Large, Complex & International Claims, If Insurance
As climate change accelerates, extreme weather is reshaping risk faster than our systems, regulations, and infrastructure can keep up. In this session, Linn Gjengedal Ruud shares how climate-related damage has evolved over time, what risks lie ahead, and why decisions we make today — across sectors — will determine our resilience tomorrow. Drawing on insights from the insurance industry, she highlights the urgent need to move from insight to action through stronger collaboration and smarter prevention.
Action Stage
Toolbox for Transformation: Designing Cities for People and Nature
Nature – integrating natural systems into buildings and urban environments
Carmen Garcia Sanchez
PhD in Architectural Design, University of Copenhagen
In an era of an environmental crisis, the design and development of modern cities, and people's lifestyles, are resulting in an increasing disconnection from Nature, both physically and emotionally. This detachment from the natural world deprives communities of the proven social and individual benefits of daily interaction with Nature, and undermines the efforts of ecosystem protection initiatives. In this context, architecture can play a pivotal role in fostering positive interaction between built and natural environments as living ecosystems.
The presentation will call for a transformational change across multiple sectors and reflect on the following: How can the city of the future strengthen the bond between citizens and Nature, to sustain cultural and environmental identities, and enhance social and individual health and well-being?
The presentation will call for a transformational change across multiple sectors and reflect on the following: How can the city of the future strengthen the bond between citizens and Nature, to sustain cultural and environmental identities, and enhance social and individual health and well-being?
Regeneration – moving beyond sustainability towards net-positive impact
Oscar Rodriguez
Architect, Building Integrated Agriculture Specialist & Policy Director, UKUAT
The Inclusive City Blueprint: Designing for Equity and Dignity
Emily Yates
Director & Head of Accessibility and Inclusive Design, Mima
Most cities are designed for a statistical average that doesn't actually exist. Emily shows how inclusive design acts as the ultimate stress test for urban resilience. By shifting the focus from checking boxes to optimising performance in a way that prioritises equity, dignity and delight, we can build environments that work for everyone - from neurodivergent people, to parents with pushchairs, to those who may feel vulnerable due to a particular protected characteristic.
Emily breaks down a practical toolkit to embed diversity and inclusion into the DNA of infrastructure and experience. From auditing and mapping to identify barriers before adjustments, to engaging with lived experience users at critical project moments. This is a quick-fire, practical roadmap for creating cities that are more functional, inclusive, and human-centered.
Emily breaks down a practical toolkit to embed diversity and inclusion into the DNA of infrastructure and experience. From auditing and mapping to identify barriers before adjustments, to engaging with lived experience users at critical project moments. This is a quick-fire, practical roadmap for creating cities that are more functional, inclusive, and human-centered.
12:00
12:45
12:45
Session 2
Hope Stage
Investment and Impact – Financing the Transition
Why is capital still not flowing – and what will it take to change that?
The Nordics have the technology, the ambition and the policy frameworks. Yet too few solutions move beyond pilot stage, and too little capital reaches what actually needs to scale. This is not a funding problem. It is a system problem.
Bringing together investors, industry leaders and public actors, this session examines the gap between innovation, market demand and investment – and what must change to turn promising solutions into investable, scalable business.
The Nordics have the technology, the ambition and the policy frameworks. Yet too few solutions move beyond pilot stage, and too little capital reaches what actually needs to scale. This is not a funding problem. It is a system problem.
Bringing together investors, industry leaders and public actors, this session examines the gap between innovation, market demand and investment – and what must change to turn promising solutions into investable, scalable business.
TBA
Action Stage
Resilient Food Systems in the Nordics
The Nordics share climate risks and supply chain vulnerabilities, yet our food systems differ greatly in strength. This session explores how we can build resilience together—learning from Finland's preparedness, Denmark's agritech, Sweden's system innovation, Norway's ocean and bio-resources, and Iceland's circular energy.
Moderator
Bothild Å. Nordsletten
Thomas Snellman
Organic farmer, rural activist & founder of the REKO concept. Nordic Food Entrepreneur of the Year 2017
Mark Horler
Founder & Chairman, UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT); Founder, CEA Proteins
+ TBA
13:30
14:15
14:15
Session 3
Hope Stage
Leading in Times of Change – From Hope to Action
How do you build a city – and an organisation – that is ready for the unexpected?
Karin Ekdahl Wästberg
Director of Innovation, City of Stockholm
For more than a decade, the City of Stockholm has made innovation more than a project. It has become a culture, a way of working, and a strategic capability. By systematically fostering collaboration between the city, business and academia, Stockholm has developed an innovation management capacity that strengthens resilience and the ability to act in times of rapid change.
Climate Action Leadership and Economic Opportunity
Thomas Osdoba
Managing Director, NetZeroCities – EU's Mission Platform for 100 Climate-neutral and Smart Cities by 2030
How leading work by Europe's cities can become a real driver for strategic economic opportunity, while contributing to a future that is more equitable, fair, and inclusive.
From EU ambition to city-level delivery
Moderator
Hilde Sandvik
Panel
Thomas Osdoba
Managing Director, NetZeroCities
Karin Ekdahl Wästberg
Director of Innovation, City of Stockholm
Pieter Faber
Head of the EU office Cities, Northern Netherlands
+ TBA
Action Stage
Wicked Problems – Bold Moves
This session explores what it truly takes to move from theory to action: challenging established structures and daring to make bold decisions without having all the answers in place. The spotlight will be on three different cities who have chosen to act — even when the path forward was uncertain. Where did they start? What key choices did they make? What risks were taken — and what have they learned along the way?
We will get to know fascinating stories about how to embrace experimentation and ambiguity — and how to accept the discomfort that comes with real change. It is about bold moves that disrupt established ways of working and create space for new solutions to emerge.
We will get to know fascinating stories about how to embrace experimentation and ambiguity — and how to accept the discomfort that comes with real change. It is about bold moves that disrupt established ways of working and create space for new solutions to emerge.
Urban mobility: responding to the mobility crisis through bold policy and integrated planning
Moderator
Espen Strand Henriksen
Panel
Pedro Fernandez
Head of the Department of International Mobility and Environment Projects, Madrid City Council
Adrian Johnston
Innovation leader, Innovation Commissioner for Innovation City Belfast (ICB)
Nikita Shetty
Head of Markets & Partnerships, Northern Europe
Tommaso Bonino
Urban mobility planner and manager, Greater Bologna Metropolitan Area
14:45
15:15
15:15
Closing
Hope Stage
Hope in Action
Closing keynote
Birna Iris Jonsdottir
CEO, Digital Iceland
Reconnecting inspiration with responsibility – day 1 summary
Hilde Sandvik, Marte C.W. Solheim & Bothild Å. Nordsletten
Hosts & curators — Nordic Edge Expo 2026
