“Celebrating the Knowledge Miles of our Square Mile, the World’s Coffee House”

On Friday, 29 September 2023, I was privileged to become Lord Mayor Elect of the City of London (acceptance speech, CityAM coverage), and then on Friday, 10 November 2023, the Rt Hon The Lord Mayor of London, and on Monday, 13 November to deliver the Lord Mayor’s Banquet Speech. Cities are networked networks of connectivity and information sharing. They create, often indirectly, communication, transportation, commercial, and intellectual networks.  For the City of London, expanding and changing networks develop its strengths.  Over 40 learned societies, 70 higher education institutions, and 130 research institutes surround the City of London, creating a network of knowledge connections among science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, and finance.  

This site contains information about the 10 November 2023 till 8 November 2024 ‘Connect To Prosper’ theme, and chronicles events, programmes, initiatives, experiments, and ways to get involved.

What does the Lord Mayor do and what charities does he support?

What happened during the Lord Mayor’s Show that we held on Saturday, 11 November 2023?

What is the big idea behind ‘Connect To Prosper’?

Cui bono?

Download the z-fold brochure.

Programmes

• “VeraCity.London: The 695th Lord Mayor’s Connectivity WebApp” is in beta test. This fun webapp has been built in association with the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and Z/Yen Group. It will continue to be tested and improved up till launch on 10 November but is now open for use. We’d suggest using Chrome on your phone to access it;
• “Knowledge Miles: The 695th Lord Mayor’s Lecture Series” are online webinars that explore the connections of the Square Mile and its roles as “The World’s Coffeehouse” addressing diverse global challenges. Please contact Ben Schlossman if you and your organisation would like to become involved;
• “Coffee Colloquies“: The 695th Lord Mayor’s Penny University Chitchats, are in-person events at Mansion House to promote connections that help address the leading issues of the day – the most up-to-date event list is here.

Initiatives

GALENOS – On 9 June 2023 we launched GALENOS.  The Lord Mayor’s Appeal, working with our chosen charity MQ Mental Health, raised £5M and launched with Oxford University and Wellcome Trust an open access/pre-print service to speed up mental health research globally by circa two to three years.  BMJ announcement – https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/26/1/e300759, GALENOS press release on inception on 8 March – https://galenos.org.uk/news/experts-share-their-excitement-at-the-first-galenos-meeting.

695th Lord Mayor’s Constructing Science: Offices to Labs Initiative – On 6 July 2023 we launched the 695th Lord Mayor’s Constructing Science: Offices To Labs Initiative, promoting the international standard for converting vacant offices to life sciences facilities, both in London and worldwide.

695th Lord Mayor’s Ethical AI Initiative – On 10 November 2023 we launched the 695th Lord Mayor’s Ethical AI Initiative. Launched on 10 November 2023, finance professionals worldwide are welcome to take the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment’s (CISI’s) 12 hour Certificate in Artificial Intelligence (AI) www.cisi.org/ai (have done it meself). As of January 2024, some 3,000 students from 250 firms in 42 countries have registered, with 200 certificates awarded. Launched on 8 January 2024, technical professionals worldwide are welcome to register to complete BCS’s 7.5 hour Ethical Build of AI Certification https://campaign.bcs.org/ethicalai_preregister. We anticipate further certificate courses from the Chartered Association of Business Schools, ACCA, Law Society, Bar Council, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and the maritime industry.

695th Lord Mayor’s Space Protection Initiative – On 5 October 2023 “The 695th Lord Mayor’s Space Protection Initiative” was launched at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2023) of the International Astronautical Foundation as a combined technology and financial services initiative to use space debris retrieval insurance bonds and other financial instruments to keep space ‘clutter free’ in aid of meeting 40% of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

695th Lord Mayor’s Smart Economy Networks Initiative – On 10 November 2023 this initiative set out with the aim of creating a global centre for smart economy networks by developing a set of demonstrator projects involving over 25 firms led by City University and chaired by the Worshipful Company of World Traders.

Connect To Prosper – Sustainability – Lord Mayors have long been promoting sustainability, from the world’s first clean air act in 1953 to Rio and every COP.

Livery

If you are one of the 50,000 liveryman in one of our 111 Livery Companies or affiliated organisations, please join our City of London Livery Community LinkedIn group. We have many livery engagements this year, and the livery are supporting many of the programmes and initiatives above. If you are looking to join a livery or ward club, you can start here.

Experiments

There are a number of experiments planned and underway ranging from recreating Einstein’s two clock time dilation experiment at 22 Bishopsgate, to a pollinator count, a microplastics coastal survey, an autonomous boat trial, and a day of aeronautical and speed of light experiments at The Monument.

Travel

The Lord Mayoral Visit Programme promoting the City of London worldwide involves some 25 countries and 100 days of overseas travel.

Fun

A number of celebratory events include the Lord Mayor’s Show – the first and biggest event – as well as a Bavarian Ball, Ride Round The Range with the Sheriffs, Lord Mayor’s View of the Thames, Thames Day, Ballroom Badminton, and many others.