About the Initiative
The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative is a pioneering programme to help mayors and their teams across Europe tackle urban challenges, drive progress, and lead – delivering tangible results for residents in new ways.
Cities across Europe are navigating the convergence of climate risk, economic volatility, demographic change, and rising populism, all while responding to higher public expectations and fragile institutional trust. To meet that challenge, local governments need more than ideas. They need the infrastructure – organisational, technical, and human – to move from vision to execution, and that’s what the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative provides.
Established and led by Bloomberg Philanthropies together with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative is delivered by LSE Cities in collaboration with the Hertie School in Berlin.
Through the intensive classroom, field-based, and capacity-building training, mayors and senior city officials learn evidence-backed strategies from world-class faculty, researchers, and policy leaders on how to drive performance, work across departments, mobilise collaborations, and put in place solutions that improve their communities and people’s lives.
The Initiative’s research component strengthens and shapes the field of City Government Innovation (CGI) by advancing curriculum development, field‑building, and mayoral support. The unique learning and development opportunities offered by the Initiative train future city government leaders to strengthen innovation capabilities and advance the wider field of urban innovation.
Ricky Burdett
Co-Chair, Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative, LSE Cities
Savvas Verdis
Academic Director Executive Education, Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative, LSE Cities
Salvador Parrado
Academic Director Executive Education, Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative, Hertie School.
Andrea Römmele
Member, Academic Governing Board and Management Committee, Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative, Hertie School
Vanessa Rubio-Márquez
Member, Academic Governing Board and Management Committee, Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative, LSE
About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on creating lasting change in five key areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world. In 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $4.3 billion.
About LSE Cities
LSE Cities is an international centre that investigates the complexities of the contemporary city. The centre conducts research, provides graduate and executive education, and holds advisory and engagement activities in London and abroad. Extending LSE’s century-old commitment to the understanding of urban society, LSE Cities investigates how complex urban systems are responding to the pressures of growth, change, and globalisation with new infrastructures of design and governance that both complement and threaten social equity and environmental sustainability.
About Hertie School
Hertie School is a private university based in Berlin, Germany, accredited by the state and the German Science Council. The school prepares exceptional students for leadership positions in government, business, and civil society. Interdisciplinary and practice-oriented teaching, first-class research, and an extensive international network set the Hertie School apart and position it as an ambassador of good governance, characterised by public debate and engagement. The school’s motto is ‘Understand today. Shape tomorrow.’