Convening Leaders Sessions Highlight the Innovative Space Cities Network

Author:
Michelle Russell       

The Space Cities Network will be featured as a case-study example of innovative collaboration in two Convening Leaders 2025 sessions.

Space Cities Network is a recent initiative between four cities across four continents — Lausanne, Switzerland; Christchurch, New Zealand; Houston, Texas, United States; and Seoul, Korea — designed to increase collaboration across the outer space sector between universities, research centers, government agencies, industry sectors, and corporations.

At Convening Leaders, Space Cities Network will be featured as a case-study example of innovative collaboration in the business events industry in sessions on Monday and Tuesday — “International Collaboration & Overcoming Cultural Differences in Business,” and “The Vertical Advantage: Fueling Growth in Organizations & Destinations.”

Convene reached out to Claire Hector-Taylor, business development manager – international, for ChristchurchNZ, the sustainable economic development agency for Christchurch, and Gerald Howard, senior business development manager for congress management organization Lausanne Montreux Congress, to learn more about the initiative. They collaborated (but of course!) on their responses via email.

Please tell us how the idea for the Space Cities Network first came about.

Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL) is a major worldwide renowned engineering university with a  strong department in space. The Swiss were among the founders of the ESA (European Space Agency) launch on May 31, 1975. Over the last two decades, centralized, government-directed human space activity made way for a new model, in which public initiatives in space increasingly share the stage with private priorities.

Claire Hector-Taylor

Since the 1990s, we have seen a shift from the public-state market to the privatized space market. This move started to have its effect in the academic community. Working for the Lausanne Montreux Congress bureau, I (Gerald) could experience that booming activity in the constellation of events. In 2016, we supported a client (and now friend) with our consultancy conference management service. Exchanges on that conference project led to this analysis: The space market is a gold mine for innovation, technology, engineering, materials, and all related domains to exploration. Space Reports forecasts the global space economy to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, with an upside estimate of $2.3 trillion based on improved access to data and reduced costs of space entry.

The space community is a sum of private + public + academic + research + innovation + technology + industries. The space community is a perfect example of what globalization and international collaboration can be. Space projects are all international and that community needs to travel, meet, and share. They need support in doing so.

That’s where the idea of an alliance of CVBs came in. From 2016, I (Gerald) investigated the community of space and what city had the potential to participate in such a project. Which region had a strong commitment in academy, education, and research? What country was into supporting space projects? COVID appeared, putting the project on standby mode. Then from 2022, I sounded out colleagues from the world of DMCs and conventions bureaus. Major actors in the world of events, like PCMA and ICCA, have helped me a lot in enabling meetings and brainstorming with other cities. Finally, at the start of 2024, the potential convention bureaus and partners met and agreed to launch the alliance: The Space Cities Network was born — and we know it is the beginning of a great adventure!

Are there other potential cities with a space community that may be joining you?

At this stage, we have purposely started the network with a small group of cities, as we focus on initial strategy work, planning and development, with a core group of cities and partners. We envisage the number of cities involved will grow over time.

In what form/s will the knowledge sharing from public and private sectors take place between your cities?

The various committees structuring the Space Cities Network is a mix of private and public professionals. They will brainstorm on what is needed to strengthen exchanges and identify which domains of space require development and guidance within the scientific community as well as public and private sectors. For instance, during the 2024 International Astronautical Congress — a major world conference in the space sector with around 12,000 participants — in Milan, our scientific committee members proactively agreed to meet. There have already been discussions on space sustainability, which is obviously a key area that can benefit from global collaboration.

Is this something of an ambassador-of-sorts program, wherein each of your local experts encourage the associations to which they belong to hold their conferences in their city and the other three in order to tap into local expertise?

The ambassadors involved in the network will be focused on key domains of space where they see benefit in collaborating across the network, for the development of the sector. International conferences and events will form a part of this work — and with ambassadors regularly attending such events, they will be able to gauge which conferences would align to city strengths and therefore be valuable for associations to consider those cities.

Could you walk us through an example of how this collaboration will work with a particular space organization during its site-selection process?

Gerald Howard

If a city is bidding for a space-related conference, the local convention bureau will support a site visit for decision maker/s. With the support of committee members, local space-related experts will be involved with the site visit, enabling a deeper level of engagement between the prospective host city, regional and/or national space-related offices, and the association.

At that early stage, discussions around aspects such as themes, program, and longer-term impact and legacy opportunities can occur — providing the association with a clear picture of how they can benefit from choosing that host city. We offer not only services — we offer consultancy projects in which ROI is necessary in all domains of a conference (i.e., scientific, networking, projects, programs, exhibition, and professional site visits). When a multi-year bid approach across the network is an option, the Space Cities Network can offer site-visit management that can take in more than one city.

The Space Cities Network wants to give the association a longer-term plan for the future — such as progression of a particular theme, close alignment across multiple years, multi-year research projects, and more. We are supporters of the associations and events.

There have been collaborations between CVBs in the U.S. in the past that work on offering a rotation between those cities for an organization to hold its events (i.e., a multi-year agreement). Is this part of your initiative?

This could well form part of the ambition of the network. We will be undertaking some work to map international space-related conferences to the strengths and expertise in each city. Where there are multiple cities that are well-placed to host a particular conference, we would look to partner together to offer a multi-year approach for hosting.

How are you collectively working with space experts?

The network has three key groups: a steering committee that includes key personnel from the respective cities’ convention bureaus, a scientific & advisory committee that includes space-related experts, and a student & young professionals committee. Each group will have regular meetings to progress the aims of the network. There will be sub-groups who will work together on specific projects related to their areas of expertise. There is a keenness to share knowledge and ideas, and to work together on challenges which impact the sector globally.

How does this collaboration benefit event organizers?

If multiple cities are bidding to host a particular conference across future years, event organizers will have a more seamless experience with each city understanding the outcomes looking to be achieved across all iterations. Central themes could be developed across multiple years, and a similar city experience developed so there is a consistency in the conference or event over time.

Do you think this could be a model for other sectors to follow?

There are already some international alliances in play, and yes, we think this is a model that could be developed further. From a business events perspective, this way of working supports the objectives of international associations such as PCMA and ICCA, to work more closely together as a global community for the benefit of all.

What excites you most about this initiative?

There are many things which are exciting about this initiative, however for me (Claire), I would say having the opportunity to be a part of a truly global network is the most exciting aspect. Being involved in something that is much bigger than the work of just one city, means that together we can achieve more, and it’s a great example of the broader value of the business events sector — acting as an enabler for a globally significant sector.

I (Gerald) think Claire is so right. The space world is a real challenge for all. It implies effort from all, from all domains for a future that will impact all. It is the new exploration and legacy period. We need to be part of it and bring our own professional expertise. We are each a piece of a larger puzzle. Let’s all put our pieces of the puzzle together to get the best result.

Can you tell us what participants can expect to learn from your Convening Leaders sessions?

We have been brainstorming with PCMA leaders to set sessions that not only support the theme of the conference but also represent a real learning opportunity for all participants in relation to today’s world of economy and market. Houston — another member of the Space Cities Network — received its official nickname of “Space City” in 1967 because it is home to NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center. PCMA strongly supported the idea that holding Convening Leaders in Houston in 2025 presented an opportunity to share about the space world.

The space market is a real mirror of today’s world. The space market is a worldwide community in the universe of business. It is a witness of international collaboration in all domains. It is an example of what our community also experiences. We develop projects around the world, and clients travel worldwide to network, to partner, to make business. But we face obstacles because international business involves multicultural views and the understanding of a common project but with different goals.

For example, the famous and extraordinary project Artemis to explore the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars is an international collaboration that involves NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) (with 10 countries involved), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) — it is a real collective and international project. It is a project that connects the dots between academy, education, technology, innovation, politics, management, finance, culture, humanity, social, health, and sustainability.

The speakers are international experts and representatives of the space community, the constellation of space business. Learning from them how to navigate international collaboration while taking many obstacles and criteria into consideration is definitely a lesson of what space will be — and of what the future will look like.

Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.

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