METREX Autumn Conference 2025. Save the date!

We are very pleased to announce the dates of the upcoming METREX Autumn Conference in Gipúzkoa – San Sebastián, Spain!

This year, from 5 to 7 November, METREX will be hosted in Gipúzkoa – San Sebastián.

The three-day conference combines network meetings, institutional welcomes, and cultural visits with a strong thematic focus on sustainable and integrated mobility. Day one features Network and expert groups and closes welcoming the international delegates. Day one welcomes international delegates, Day two highlights Gipuzkoa’s local practices within a European perspective and includes the METREX General Assembly with elections and strategic discussions. Day three looks ahead at Europe’s mobility, governance, economy, housing challenges, and a continuation of the Europe 2049 Foresighting, concluding with a synthesis session, and a potential adoption of a “San Sebastián Statement” on metropolitan transition. 

The initial programme draft

The METREX conference in the province of Gipuzkoa opens on Wednesday 5 November  with parallel Network and Expert Group meetings in the morning. In the afternoon, participants are officially welcomed at the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, followed by a cultural visit to the Faktoria Albaola shipbuilding heritage centre in Pasaia, where Basque innovation and craftsmanship are highlighted. The day concludes with an informal dinner. 

On Thursday 6 November, the programme focuses on Gipuzkoa as a model for sustainable and integrated mobility. At the FICOBA centre in Irún, the official opening is followed by institutional presentations on how mobility drives urban transformation, including the VIA IRUN project, cycling strategies, and Bilbao’s approach to electromobility. A European panel then situates mobility in the wider EU context, featuring case studies from Euskadi, Spain, Strasbourg, the West Midlands, and Katowice. After a networking lunch, the METREX General Assembly takes place with elections, financial updates, and the 2026 programme. Optional excursions later in the afternoon offer insights into climate governance (NATURKLIMA) or urban regeneration through the VIA IRUN project. The day closes with a conference dinner. 

Friday 7 November is dedicated to Metropolitan responses for Europe’s mobility and regeneration agendas. Thematic panels cover shifts in metropolitan mobility, Europe’s economic future, governance (through MetroCase and MECOG-CE), housing and a continuation of the Europe 2049 Foresighting. After lunch, a synthesis session explores metropolitan alliances for transition, including a dialogue on the role of metropolitan areas in the EU, reflections on integrated mobility and regeneration models.

The conference ends with the presentation of a possible San Sebastián Statement and final remarks from METREX and the host region. 

More details will follow soon!