Sparking the Future of Urban Lighting – Programme

Monday 16 May 2022

14:00 – 14:15: Opening Remarks

  • Welcome words from LUCI President Meri Lumela (Deputy Chair of the City Board of Jyväskylä (FI))

14:15 – 15:45: Roundtable discussion: The Future of Urban Lighting for Sustainable Cities

Lighting professionals from cities around the world, including technicians, city lighting designers, operation managers, and advisors, will share their perspectives about the future of urban lighting. In this session, roundtable participants will discuss what lighting technology looks like for the future and how this can help us go a step further in developing a sustainable city.

Featuring the cities of Albertslund (DK), Budapest (HU), Ghent (BE), Gothenburg (SE), Helsinki (FI), Medellín (CO), Tallinn (EE)

15:45 – 17:00: Celebrating 20 years of LUCI Connecting Cities with Light!

Join in for a celebratory moment to mark the 20th anniversary of LUCI featuring testimonials from LUCI members around the world, a virtual group photo, and a moment to cheers together to the future of LUCI!

Launch of the Cities & Lighting Awards

During this session, we will launch the call for entries for the new LUCI Cities & Lighting Awards. This international urban lighting award is uniquely designed for cities by cities, recognising and celebrating urban lighting projects that show a positive impact on city development.

End of day quizEach day, we will host a fun quiz to test your knowledge of what you’ve heard and been inspired by during the day. Participate in the quiz for a chance to win exciting prizes!

Tuesday 17 May 2022

09:30 – 9:45: Opening of the Day

09:45 – 11:00: Keynotes: Visions for the Future of Urban Lighting

  • 09:45 – 10:15: Florence Lam, Fellow and Global Lighting Design Director, Arup (UK)

Shaping a sense of place for a regenerative future

As cities grow and precincts are regenerated, an integrated systems-based approach will be needed to deliver the long‐term health and wellbeing of people, place, and planet, harmonising the symbiotic relationship between humans and biodiversity. Florence’s keynote will offer her vision and a pathway on how holistic and innovative design approach may contribute to achieving a sustainable and regenerative future

  • 10:15 – 10:45: Mark Major, Senior Partner, Speirs Major (UK)

Return to the Dark City

The 20th century notion of using light to extend the day has been replaced by the idea that we should celebrate the qualities of the night. Lighting our cities and towns in the future will become as much about retaining natural darkness as it will be about adding light. This is not only in response to environmental concerns such as the need to save energy, reduce light pollution and waste and to protect biodiversity, but also to help improve the well-being of citizens. But lighting is an important social, economic, and place-making tool. Its presence helps keep us safe and secure. It supports interaction and underpins the night-time economy. It helps create identity, character, and ambience. How do we achieve the right balance between light and darkness in our urban environment in the future?

  • 11:00 – 12:30: Roundtable discussion: The future of urban lighting for the city at night

Representatives from various city departments, including public realm managers, city lighting designers, urbanists, and more will join together to discuss how lighting will impact the future of our public spaces at night. Roundtable participants will also share their views on how lighting can help improve the resilience of cities and how to create a strong culture of light for future generations.

Featuring the cities of Eindhoven (NL), Jyväskylä (FI), London Corporation (UK), Oulu (FI)

HULAB (Health and Urban Lighting Advisory Board) meeting
Light Festival Working Group meeting

End of day quiz: Each day, we will host a fun quiz to test your knowledge of what you’ve heard and been inspired by during the day. Participate in the quiz for a chance to win exciting prizes!

12:30 – 14:00: Break

During breaks, participants can network with peers within the online platform and visit the expo section.

14:00 – 16:00: Parallel Working Group Meetings (by invitation only)

HULAB (Health and Urban Lighting Advisory Board) meeting
Light Festival Working Group meeting

Wednesday 18 May 2022

09:30 – 11:30: LUCI network – Consultation Workshop (LUCI members only)

LUCI members will have a chance to join together to voice their thoughts during this special participative moment and help us shape the LUCI of the future.

12:30 – 14:00: Break

During breaks, participants can network with peers within the online platform and visit the expo section.

14:00 – 14:15: Opening of the Afternoon

14:15 – 15:15: Keynotes: Visions for the Future of Urban Lighting

  • 14:15 – 14:45: Amy Lamé, Night Czar, London City Hall (UK)

Lighting for Public Life at Night

Amy has a long and successful track record as a leader and collaborator in the cultural and creative industries. She is co-founder of the Olivier Award winning arts company and club night Duckie, and co-founded RVT Future, a voluntary LGBT+ community group campaigning to preserve the iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern.

She served as Mayoress of Camden in 2010-2011, and spent her year highlighting the history and culture of live music and nightlife in the borough. Amy is a familiar presence on TV, in print and on radio. She broadcasted for a decade on BBC Radio London, and now hosts Sunday afternoons on BBC6 Music.

Her debut book, From Prejudice to Pride: A History of the LGBT+ Movement – the first LGBT+ history book for children – was published by Hachette in June 2017.

In 2018, Amy was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from University of East London (UEL) and appointed Honorary Professor at University College London (UCL). Originally from New Jersey, Amy has been a proud Londoner for over 25 years. She has served as London’s first Night Czar since 2016.

  • 14:45 – 15:15: Leni Schwendinger, Creative Director and Consultant, International Nighttime Design Initiative (US)

Power to the imagination, or, the future lies with the light painter*

Leni Schwendinger is a nighttime designer who, for some years, has navigated through the arts, design, and community activism with light. Indeed, inventing the discipline “nighttime design” fuses those experiences.

Let’s apply ourselves to the future effects of the warming climate, which will engender radical change – more public life lived during the cool, darkened hours. And look to exemplars in the nocturnal Global South and far North.

In the present, key nightshift workers must be regarded as our clients and space users. Urban lighting of the future involves closely-knit collaborations between designers and citizens.

The future of city lighting is time. How does light guide human activities after sunset? Will you join the movement to transform after-dark experience into joyful, poetic, progressive scenarios?

Can you, as a lighting designer or civil servant, envision welcoming night environments as dynamic, colorful, pathfinding, and satisfying spaces – in all the right places?

Join Leni to walk through an aspirational talk that includes: Preparation, Curtain Up, and People Power.

Get ready for the new.

*László Moholy-Nagy

15:30 – 17:00: Roundtable discussion of elected officials : The future of urban lighting for the governance of the city

In this session elected officials are invited to share perspectives from the strategic decision-making level on questions like: how to manage the current paradox between the need for more light and less light, how public lighting can contribute to a an optimistic future for citizens, and exploring the link between urban lighting and democracy.

17:00 – 17:30: Closing session – Announcements

End of Event quiz: Participate in the final quiz of the event for a chance to win exciting prizes!

Photo credits

©Adam Mørklowres, City of Albertslund; ©City of Budapest; ©Niels Donckers, City of Ghent; ©City of Gothenburg; ©Lauri Rotko, City of Helsinki ; ©City of Medellin; ©City of Tallinn; @JasonHawkes, City of London; ©City of Eindhoven; ©Tanel Kindsigo, City of Jyväskylä; ©City of Oulu