Young professionals bring new energy, ideas, and skills to European standardization. As our society undergoes rapid transformations, their contributions are key to ensuring that standards remain relevant, forward-looking, and impactful.
In the context of the green and digital transitions, and as Europe strengthens its efforts to build a skilled and forward-looking workforce, we are continuing our interview series dedicated to young professionals. Through conversations with young professionals working in standardization across different sectors and countries, we will highlight their experiences, motivations, and visions for the future.
This campaign aims to shed light on the vital role of skills, collaboration, and innovation in keeping European standardization fit for tomorrow’s challenges – and on the people who are already helping to shape it.
For the second episode in this year’s series of interviews, we interviewed Monika Heyder, a Senior Expert of Green and Digital Transformation at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, on the importance of standardization for cities and local communities, sustainable development and innovation.
1. Please, present yourself. How are you involved in standardization?
My work focuses on enabling the green and digital transformation of cities and communities by connecting innovation, policy, and practice. I support sustainable urban development through knowledge sharing, peer learning, and the strategic use of standards at the European office of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.
Since 2020, I have chaired the German Committee on Sustainable Cities and Communities at DIN, which mirrors the work of ISO/TC 268 and CEN/TC 465. Our committee has a unique composition, with city associations, research institutions, municipal agencies, and city representatives, rather than a traditional industry-heavy setup. This enables a needs-driven approach to standardization, rooted in real-world urban challenges.
At the European level, I co-convene the Ad Hoc Group on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (CEN/TC 465), alongside Martin Brynskov (OASC, Copenhagen University). We bring together cities, initiatives, and projects across Europe to feed their innovative work into the standardization ecosystem. We aim to ensure that promising, funded solutions, which are often shelved after project completion, are identified, mapped against existing standards, and used to fill gaps. This work has been financially supported through a StandICT fellowship.
This convergence of digitalization and sustainability is also reflected in upcoming global developments. We expect these areas to be increasingly addressed through the newly established ISO/IEC JTC 4, where sustainable development and digital technology will be more closely aligned.
2. How did you become interested in standardization?
My journey began in 2015 when my then-employer sought to explore service-based innovations for cities. We worked on digital platforms in cities like Singapore and Lyon, what would today be called digital twins. The ambition was to develop scalable, interoperable urban models to operate and manage city districts. That is when I realized the critical role standards play in enabling replication and scale.
Inspired by the work on the German certification system for Sustainable Neighbourhoods (DGNB NSQ), which brought together diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions, I explored options at DIN. This led me to the DIN mirror committee for sustainable cities, where I found the perfect blend of sustainability, digitalization, and collaborative governance.
3. You are a Senior Expert of Green and Digital Transformation at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. Can you briefly explain what you are working on? How does it relate to standardization?
ICLEI is a global network of over 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. In the European branch, we help our members implement EU strategies like the European Green Deal and the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities.
In my role, I work on several large-scale platform projects that connect over 100 EU-funded initiatives focused on smart cities, nature-based solutions, and climate neutrality. Many of these projects develop scalable innovations, but unless their findings are translated into shared frameworks, like standards, they risk becoming one-off successes.
In the European Mission platform of the “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission”, for instance, over 100 cities are piloting solutions to accelerate climate neutrality. We recognized early on the importance of linking these innovations to standardization to broaden their reach and impact. Standards help bring in external partners from industry, technology providers, and financiers, creating common ground.
Another example is our work in the NetworkNature project, where we have introduced standardization to better position nature-based solutions in the market. After our awareness campaign together with HS Booster, two projects have already launched CEN Workshop Agreements, emphasizing quality control and finance to enhance the market uptake of nature-based solutions, in areas where consistency and trust are essential for broader adoption.
4. You are leading the development of ICLEI’s standardization strategy. What prompted this initiative, and what do you hope it will achieve?
Before ICLEI, I worked at a Franco-German research institute created by Electricité de France (EDF) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). At EDF, I saw how structured, long-term standardization strategies can amplify research outcomes and position innovations in the market. That experience profoundly influenced my thinking.
At ICLEI, I took stock of a decade’s worth of contributions to standardization across climate resilience, urban sustainability, and smart solutions. With the momentum from the European Standardization Strategy, we saw a timely opportunity to formalize our engagement.
The strategy I handed over to ICLEI’s leadership this year aims to embed cities’ voices more systematically into European and international standardization. Cities are not just users of technology; they are also testing grounds for innovation. Our goal is to ensure their insights help shape standards from the start, making them more relevant, impactful, and actionable.
5. In your experience, how can standards benefit cities and local communities? And what can standardization bodies do to better connect with them?
To rephrase former Wallonia Parliament President Philippe Borboux's quote: "Knowledge valorisation is a powerful tool to boost the competitiveness of our cities and communities in a globalized world and to improve the lives of our citizens." Standards are a key mechanism for this, bringing tested, reliable, and scalable solutions to market.
However, in my opinion, the full value of standards can only be realized if they reflect the challenges, needs, and know-how of local communities. Europe has a unique opportunity to strengthen the alliance among research, industry, and the public sector, especially cities.
Our work in the Ad Hoc Group has shown that there is strong interest among local administrations to contribute, but structural barriers remain. Administrative hurdles and budget constraints often prevent municipalities from participating in national mirror committees or attending meetings. We need to explore new models of engagement, remote participation, dedicated city clusters or observer roles tailored to public authorities.
Ironically, today’s austerity could become a catalyst. As cities look for cost-efficient and effective ways to transform, standards developed by many, for many, offer a powerful lever to do more with less.
6. You provide advice to projects on how to engage with standard-setting processes. What advice would you give to organizations or municipalities that want to start working with standards but don’t know where to begin?
First, don’t be intimidated by the acronyms or complexity. It feels overwhelming at first, but the learning curve is surprisingly quick.
Second, once you start engaging, you will likely find it hard to stop. Standardization can be deeply rewarding, an addictive combination of technical problem-solving and strategic thinking.
Most importantly, you are needed in this space. Your expertise, your local knowledge and solutions are precisely what the standardization system needs to stay relevant. Don’t let others define the systems that shape your world. Step in, lead, and co-create the future.
7. What advice would you give to fellow young professionals to encourage them to get involved in standardization?
Standardization is an arena where technical expertise intersects with negotiation, diplomacy, and long-term impact. It is a front-row seat to shaping our shared future, especially in times of rapid transformation.
As a young professional, you will not only learn a lot, but also grow your network, gain visibility, and develop skills that few other platforms can offer so early in a career. You will work alongside senior experts, industry leaders, and researchers from across Europe and beyond.
So, if you are curious, proactive, and want your work to have a tangible, long-term impact, standardization is a path worth exploring.
This article is part of our special series dedicated to the Young Professionals in European Standardization: through a series of articles and interviews with standardization professionals, experts and business leaders coming from a variety of backgrounds, we will explore the interaction between innovation, skills and standardization in some of the most relevant sectors for Europe’s long-term competitiveness. You can read the other articles related to the campaign here.
