SOLD OUT! Green Technology and Innovation: A Nordic Model

This event is free to the public but registration is required.

The Nordic countries and Washington State share ambitions to innovate and develop sustainable solutions to the growing challenges their cities face from climate change, urbanization, and limited natural resources. These challenges include complex issues around providing energy, healthcare, transportation, and waste and water management, and require addressing the concerns of multiple stakeholders. Innovative “smart cities” will be the best positioned to find solutions to these interconnected challenges. Please join the World Affairs Council and the Nordic Heritage Museum for a panel discussion with His Excellency Lars Gert Lose, Ambassador of Denmark to the United States, Market Director of Synergies and Liveable Cities, Mette Søs Lassesen, and representatives from the City of Seattle for a conversation on building and sustaining smart cities. The Deputy Chiefs of Missions to the USA from Sweden, Norway, and Finland will participate in the audience Q&A.

The formal program will take place from 6:00-7:30PM. Join us immediately following for a networking reception and Pacific Northwest book launch for the Nordic Ways publication (refreshments will be provided).

About the speakers:

Lars Gert Lose is the current Ambassador of Denmark to the United States. Prior to arriving in Washington he held the position as Permanent Under-Secretary of State, where he served as Chief Adviser on Foreign Affairs to Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Ambassador Lose has had an extensive career within the Danish Foreign Ministry. He started his career in 1997 by becoming Head of Section in the EU Coordination Office. Since then, he has held a range of high-level positions within the MFA: such as Private Secretary to Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Stig Møller (2004-2008) and Head of the Foreign Minister’s Office (2008-2011).

Mette S. Lassesen is responsible for Market Development in North America on behalf of Ramboll-Environ and the broader Ramboll group with a particular focus on Planning and Urban Design/ Livable Cities. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ramboll is an international engineering and design consultancy and provider of management consulting services to both the public and the private sectors. With 13,000 employees globally, Ramboll works across the Buildings, Transport, Planning and Urban Design, Water, Environment and Health, Oil and Gas, Energy and Management Consulting markets.

In her current and previous roles in Ramboll, Mrs. Lassesen has led a number of strategy and business development initiatives at the corporate level – most recently her work has focused on the development of Ramboll’s approach towards sustainable and livable cities. She has also been in charge of Ramboll’s global knowledge management and innovation efforts, including the development of Ramboll’s digital workspace and the overall focus on technical excellence.

Prior to joining the Ramboll Group she headed the international department within Ramboll Management Consultants, and served as senior expert in the areas of public administration reform and good governance, with particular focus on anti-corruption and public procurement. She has served as team leader on numerous assignments for a variety of clients, including the EU, the World Bank, the OECD, Danida, Sida and DFID.

Michael Mattmiller was confirmed as Chief Technology Officer for the City of Seattle in June 2014. In this role, Michael champions efforts to connect people with their government, increase the productivity of the City workforce through technology, and increase digital equity across the city.

In 2016 Michael led the creation of the City's consolidated technology department, which brought together more than 650 professionals and provided the scale necessary to deliver powerful technology solutions for the City and public it serves. In addition, Michael led the creation of a City-wide privacy program to build public trust in how their municipal government collects and uses their personal information, and a broadband program that has increased availability of fiber-to-the-home gigabit broadband service throughout the city.
Prior to his role at the City, Michael served as a senior strategist at Microsoft and as a consultant to the federal government at PricewaterhouseCoopers. A Dublin, Ohio native, Michael received a B.B.A. and M.S. in Information Systems Development at The George Washington University.

Scott Kubly is the Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). As director of SDOT, Scott oversees transportation policy, capital project delivery, transportation and maintenance operations, transit and mobility improvements, and management of the City’s right of way. Under Scott’s direction, SDOT is taking a proactive approach to managing shared mobility services, onboarding Smart Cities solutions and other emerging mobility innovations as a way to meet the Seattle’s values and community objectives.
In 2015, Scott led the creation of the award-winning Move Seattle Plan, an outline of Mayor Murray’s 10-year vision for transportation. This foundational strategy led to the voter-approved Levy to Move Seattle, which provides $930 million to improve safety, maintain streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city. Scott additionally serves as the vice president of the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Prior to joining the SDOT, Scott served as deputy director of the Chicago Department of Transportation and, before that, as associate director for the District Department of Transportation in Washington, DC.

About the moderator:

Jay Bruns is Senior Advisor for Private Sector Engagement at the United Nations Environment Program. Jay supports UN Undersecretary General Erik Solheim and his team to devise a program for collaboration with leading U.S. and Canadian businesses to advance the UN’s environmental agenda.

Before consulting with the UN, Jay led environmental stewardship efforts at The Hartford, one of the largest and oldest insurance companies in the U.S. Prior to this role, Jay had a 25-year career as a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Department of State, ending in the Senior Foreign Service. He represented the United States in Europe, Asia and North America, participating in negotiations and managing policy issues in the State Department, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the National Security Council.

Jay’s interests in the environment and the Nordic countries came early: he founded the ecology club at his high school in Denver, Colorado, and later that year moved to Denmark for twelve months as a high school exchange student. He subsequently attended the University of Copenhagen and had two diplomatic postings in Norway - first as Vice Consul and later as Acting Ambassador.