In its May 25th edition, the Dutch newspaper 'De Volkskrant' covered the changes that two progressive mayors have induced: In Barcelona, Ada Colou and in Madrid Manuela Carmena. The elections, yesterday June 2nd, have ended their mandates. Although their successors have a radical left background too, their support in both city's councils is minimal. Here and in the national parliament, the socialist party and the center-right parties are the overall winners. Particularly the future of the recently renewed 'smart city-policy' in Barcelona, where Ada Colou and Francesca Bria are 'sisters in arms' is uncertain.
For more detailed information, I enclosed El Pais' English version from today: By the way: the smiling trio are representatives of the right wing Popular Party, not from the socialists as the titel might suggest.
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Lezing generatieve AI en deepfakes (Dutch)

Kun je nog weten wat betrouwbaar is in tijden van generatieve AI en deepfakes?
Deze Nederlandstalige lezing is bedoeld voor iedereen die meer wil weten over de risico’s van deepfakes (denk aan stemklonen, plaatjes en chatgpt).
Wat is de globale werking, waar kom je het tegen, wanneer moet je extra voorzichtig zijn en wat kun je doen om jezelf te beschermen en manipulaties te doorzien.
How can we, as citizens, designers, and policymakers, regain control over the technologies that shape our cities?

Join us for the workshop: Civic Sousveillance & Democratic Oversight of Sensor Technology.
In this interactive workshop, we explore democratic oversight of camera detection and other urban sensors: from citizen initiatives such as the On Camera pocket guide and smart city camera-spotting tours to current policies on data collection in public space.
With contributions by Tom van Arman & Mike de Kreek from the Human Values for Smarter Cities research project, Inge Janse & Arthur De Jaeger from Centre for BOLD Cities, and council member Elisabeth IJmker from GroenLinks-PvdA. Next to talks we will also go outside for a joint camera-spotting tour around Arcam.
Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Location: Arcam
Address: Prins Hendrikkade 600
Language: Dutch
Registration: free, but mandatory via the registration form which is here
More info on the Human Values for Smarter Cities research project is here
Everything Urban 001_Interactive Talk for students and young professionals

Everything Urban 001 (LinkedIn Event) is the first in the Interactive Talk series for students and young professionals interested in Urban Affairs i.e. urban planning, urban management, architecture, sustainability, smart cities, to name some. Feel Free to attend it on September 4, 2025. More details in the link.