Program ‘26

The major trends shaping our time are becoming increasingly clear. The energy transition is no longer an ideological debate but an economic reality. In the end, it is not the better intention that prevails, but the more efficient solution. While politics and business in many parts of the world continue to think in terms of scarcity, emerging technologies are already creating the conditions for a world of abundance. As a result, the fundamental rules of capital, value creation, and prosperity are being radically transformed.

Recent years have put the resilience of infrastructure financing and investment to the test. The energy crisis, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainties have exposed weaknesses, but have also shown which models are viable. At the same time, Europe’s need for energy, digital, and strategic infrastructure is growing at a rate rarely seen before.

Europe has successfully accelerated the deployment of wind, solar and battery storage. Yet the next challenge is no longer generation capacity – it is infrastructure. As demand from electrification, industry and data centres grows, grid constraints are increasingly shaping where projects can be built, how they operate and how they create value. This keynote explores how the relationship between grids, renewables and flexibility is changing, and what it means for investors, policymakers and infrastructure developers in the decade ahead.

Today, the energy transition is no longer constrained by a lack of capital for wind and solar projects, but by the system’s ability to absorb, store and distribute the energy they generate. As a result, electricity grids have become the critical bottleneck of the transition. At the same time, financing is evolving from funding individual generation assets to supporting integrated models that connect generation, storage and consumption. The future no longer belongs to standalone assets, but to efficient and resilient energy systems.

CEE is one of Europe’s most dynamic economic regions. But can it continue its remarkable success story? What role will energy, infrastructure, capital markets and European integration play in driving the next phase of growth? And has CEE already become a more attractive investment destination than many of Western Europe’s established markets?

CEE has established itself as one of Europe’s most attractive destinations for infrastructure & energy investments. As Europe seeks to strengthen its competitiveness, energy security, and industrial resilience, investment opportunities are expanding across the region and neighboring markets. Where will capital flow next? Which sectors will drive long-term value creation? How can private investors, banks, multilateral institutions, and capital markets join forces to unlock the region’s potential? And what will define the next phase of growth in Europe’s evolving infrastructure and energy markets?

In light of staff shortages and rising expectations, ensuring public services has become a shared responsibility of municipalities and companies. The discussion will explore how AI, automation, and new models of cooperation can help secure public services, quality of life, and regional appeal in the long term.

The AI boom is turning data centers into a new form of critical infrastructure. The central question is: Will this result in stable, long-term infrastructure assets, or the next investment bubble? One thing is clear: Digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly indispensable for the economy, government, and local communities.

Investors around the world are seeking long-term investment opportunities. Yet many infrastructure projects fail to materialise not because of a lack of capital, but because of risk, uncertainty and insufficient bankability. The keynote examines how development banks and public institutions can mobilize private capital at scale.

Rising interest rates, geopolitical shifts, and changing market dynamics are reshaping the way capital is deployed and infrastructure & energy projects are financed. This discussion will explore how innovative financing models, new deal structures, and diverse sources of capital can meet evolving market requirements. It will also examine how infrastructure and energy continue to attract capital as strategic asset classes, offering long-term value creation, resilience, and diversification opportunities across Europe.

The municipality is the building block of democracy, and trust in mayors endures even in times of crisis. But how strong is this local protective barrier still? And above all, what significance does it hold in a Europe undergoing political, financial, military, and diplomatic change – a Europe whose way of life, as exemplified by Ukraine, is under external and sustained attack from destabilizing forces, as well as internal challenges? From functioning critical infrastructure to internal social peace – what will municipalities need to accomplish to ensure this in the future?

Keynotes:

The foundation of stability: The role of municipalities in Europe’s geopolitical transformation

Subsidiarity as a shield: Why Europe’s strength begins at the local level

Talk:

What are the foundations of Europe’s stability – politically, financially, militarily, and diplomatically? And what role do municipalities play?

Green transition, energy transition, housing transition, digital transition, security transition… or just “thick walls”? Europe has made its decision, and the local level is supposed to “get it done.” But will sufficient funds be available for this in the future? And in an aging society that places the highest demands on the public sector, have we perhaps “counted our chickens before they’re hatched” anyway? Do we perhaps need a direct EU funding pool for municipalities to bypass the bureaucracy of nation-states? What does the reality look like here?

Keynotes:

The budget for a new era: Rethinking Europe’s public finances

A new direction for EU funding: The future of subsidies and their impact on municipalities and regions

Talk:

Europe between the need for reform, fiscal pressure and the investment gap