Date: Friday, May 15, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Location: Ferdinand Room - Building A

The CITY-FOCUS Workshop is part of an innovative and transformative project designed to address the complex and interconnected challenges faced by contemporary cities. Anchored in resilience-oriented approaches and smart city solutions, the workshop brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and students to explore new pathways for sustainable urban development. The CITY-FOCUS project aims to develop a robust and replicable theoretical framework for assessing urban vulnerabilities and transformation capacity, while also providing evidence-based methods and tools to support urban planning. Particular emphasis is placed on promoting high-quality urban environments, integrating digital innovation and smart city concepts into governance and development processes. At the same time, the initiative contributes to strengthening the hosting university’s research capacities and fostering advanced competencies among its team members, supporting the broader development of urban research in Romania. Workshop objectives • To advance interdisciplinary knowledge on urban vulnerabilities and resilience • To examine the role of citizen perceptions in shaping urban transformation strategies • To explore innovative tools and methodologies for sustainable and smart urban governance • To promote dialogue between academia, public authorities and civil society Discussion agenda: • Chairs: Andrés RODRÍGUEZ-POSE (London School of Economics, UK); Gabriela-Carmen PASCARIU (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania} • Advancing knowledge on urban vulnerabilities and transformative capacities of cities; new approaches and methods | Rapporteur: Cristian INCALTARAU • Romanian cities vulnerabilities and capabilities based on citizen perceptions; relevance for transformability roadmaps | Rapporteur: Ioana-Maria URSACHE • EU Atlas of urban vulnerability and transformation capacity (successful/failure factors) | Rapporteur: Alexandru BANICA • CITY-FOCUS Dashboard | Rapporteurs: Valerica GREAVU-ȘERBAN & Marin FOTACHE