Programme
Impact Day 2026
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June 18th, Szczecin, Poland
Impact Day is a working day focused on one question:
How can events create meaningful, lasting change for the cities and sectors they touch?
Whether you've been in the room all week, taking part of the GDS-Forum, or you're arriving just for this, the day is designed to move from context to conversation to concrete output.
Morning: Grounding the Day
The day opens with Szczecin itself.
The city explains why it chose to host the event, and in doing so, becomes the first impact story of the day. Professor Maciej Kowalewski then traces the city's development arc.
Followed by two Szczecin event impact stories as examples of what’s already in motion in the host destination. Three stories, three perspectives, one consistent thread.
Geneviève Leclerc (#MEET4IMPACT) and Guy Bigwood (GDS-Movement)
close the morning by setting the frame: where the industry stands, what we heard during the GDS-Forum, what matters right now, and what this day is here to do.
Midday: Three Working Streams
Delegates choose a stream for each session independently.
The streams run in parallel across two slots, before and after lunch, and each session is designed to produce something tangible on its own.
Stream 1: Youth & Civic Engagement
Young people bring perspectives, energy and ideas that business events should tap into more readily. This stream explores what it takes to bring youth in as genuine leaders and designers rather than as participants, and how events can become a real platform for their development and contribution.
Stream 2: Financing, Subvention & Sponsorship
Destination support and sponsorship models have largely been built around visibility and attendance. This stream looks at what it takes to redesign them around impact. Conferli brings their experience and research on destination subvention, and Meet4Impact, Exempla and IAI explore how sponsorship can work as an investment in outcomes rather than a transaction around visibility.
Stream 3: Sectoral Development Through Events
There's a difference between hosting a conference for a sector and using it to move the sector forward by accelerating industries, building connections that wouldn't otherwise happen, and positioning a city as the place where that work takes place. This stream explores that distinction in practice, with Technopark Pomerania bringing local cases as examples and Meet4Impact making the international connection.
Afternoon: Back in One Room Together
An open discussion brings all three streams into one conversation around a single question: How can events become engines for inclusive city transformation?
The conversation is honest, direct and open to the full room.
The closing plenary draws the threads together and turns the day's conversations into commitments to be carried forward.
Throughout the Day: ImpactAIQ
Between sessions, delegates can explore ImpactAIQ, a new tool developed by Meet4Impact and Gevme to help organisations design, measure, and communicate the impact of their events.
The day concludes with a dinner that presents the flavours of West Pomerania
