Charles chairs the Sounding Board of the BMW Foundation’s RISE Cities Programme, which argues that desirable cities of the future will only meet the needs of people and the planet if they become resilient, intelligent, sustainable and equitable. This implies an integrated approach as well as providing people with agency by fostering engagement and ensuring that data and new technologies are accessible to all. They see this also as a dimension of places being sustainable and thus ultimately more resilient.

The RISE Cities programme does this by supporting innovative and scalable solutions to help bring such desirable future cities to life. It recognizes that cross-sector collaboration is vital so as to harness the collective intelligences of public, private, civic and research organizations in solving global challenges. The aim is to align committed action from organizations and people who share a common purpose. To encourage this work, the RISE Cities Programme facilitates formats for mutual learning and exchange – most notably an annual Tandem Fellowship for: public-private and public-civic actors to work together on solving a problem in their cities.