The Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering successfully hosted its second annual Urban Future Forum during New York Tech Week, building on the success of its inaugural 2024 event with an enhanced focus on "Building Blueprints for Advanced Energy Implementation."
The forum, supported by a grant from the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator — a collaborative initiative between Wells Fargo and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory — represented a significant evolution from last year's foundational climate tech discussions to this year's hands-on, solutions-oriented approach.
Unlike traditional conference formats, this year's forum emphasized interactive workshops designed to close critical development gaps in the advanced energy sector. Through hands-on sessions, innovators gained the tools to develop and implement energy projects and learned blueprints for working with communities, workforce organizations and other nonprofits.
The event attracted a diverse audience including innovators, workforce development organizations, non-profit organizations, policymakers, investors, customers, utilities, and professionals working on advancing energy solutions.
The day began with lightning case studies and fireside chats featuring industry leaders who addressed the evolving landscape of advanced energy finance. Su Sanni, Founder and CEO of Dollaride, presented insights through a lightning case study, followed by a fireside chat on "Navigating the New Reality of Advanced Energy Finance and Community Partnership."
The conversation featured Jack Fritzinger, Founding Partner at Node, and La-Toya Niles, Senior Grants and Partnerships Manager at Sustainable Cities Fund, who explored how financial strategies needed to adapt to include meaningful community engagement.
The forum's morning workshop sessions addressed four critical areas of Community Partnerships, Project Finance, Project Development Tools, and Workforce Partnerships — while the afternoon focused on scaling from pilots to citywide implementation.
The afternoon session highlighted thermal networks as a case study in scaling energy solutions from pilot projects to citywide movements. The panel brought together Jeanne Bergman from SANE Energy Project, Thomas Guest, Founder of Brym, and Greg Koumoullos from Con Edison's Thermal Energy Networks department.
This real-world example demonstrated how innovative energy solutions could transition from concept to large-scale implementation, providing attendees with concrete models for their own projects.
Recognizing contemporary challenges in the energy transition, the afternoon workshops included a specialized session on "Countering Misinformation," led by Holly Buck, Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainability at University of Buffalo. This addition reflected the forum's understanding that technical innovation had to be accompanied by effective communication strategies.
Additional afternoon workshops covered peer-to-peer project development with Brian Asparro, COO at CarbonQuest, and creating assessment criteria for energy projects with Hannah Corn, Climate Investor and Growth Strategist.
The first-ever Urban Future Forum in late June 2024 had brought together stakeholders from across the climate-tech ecosystem and featured multiple panels, whose topics ranged from the importance of community involvement and targeted policy interventions to building a green workforce.
This year's iteration built on those foundational discussions by providing practical tools and frameworks that attendees could immediately apply to their work in advancing energy solutions, even amid a challenging environment with regard to the new administration in DC.
As cities worldwide grappled with energy transition challenges, events like the Urban Future Forum provided essential platforms for sharing knowledge, building partnerships, and developing the blueprints needed for successful advanced energy implementation at scale.