Local Leader in the Context of the Concept of 'Smart Cities' Through the Optics of the European Union

2026-07-22

"Young Leader in local government - skills and competencies for good decision making and good governance. The SMART Cities concept combines, in general, the improvement of the quality of life of citizens, and environmental sustainability = raising awareness of the climate situation and promoting sustainable behavior, both in the context of inclusion and equal opportunities and all this with significant use of the opportunities provided by digitization and with strong civic participation in political decision-making on the direction of one's city. The current SMART era brings specific demands, especially on political leaders. Political leaders need to be able to create better policies designed to help build our societies to become more resilient, more efficient, more diverse, and more equal. The project brings the implementation of the global concepts of smart city to the educational process for students in the ""Public Administration"" and ""European Studies and Policies"" study programs. It is the identification of barriers and challenges of political leadership and the necessary competencies within SMART Cities requirements and their discussion with real leaders and other relevant actors in the field of policy-making that will enable students to adequately understand them and gain them the necessary insight. The module aims to contribute to bridging the gaps in education and research policies for SMART Cities leadership in an interdisciplinary way, using new methods, tools, and approaches, analyzing attitudes, practices, and potentials related to this issue. Our goal is to train experts in European public administration and thus future leaders capable of policymaking in European institutions, public administration, management, and consultancy. About 350 students, experts, practitioners, and teachers will be directly involved in the project, and from monograph, but especially audiovisual recordings of workshops and discussions streamed online a lot more people benefit. "

Slovakia

2025-12-15