In this episode of UCL STEaPP Chat: Dr Ellie Cosgrave (Director of Urban Innovation and Policy Lab, Department of Science Technology Engineering and Public Policy) and Dr Tim Moonen (Managing Director of the Business of Cities) chat about the challenges that cities are facing. They discuss how their works support city leaders to manage these challenges and how these works contribute to the training of the future policy makers within STEaPP MPA programme. STEaPP Chat’ is our new format of short chats with researchers, educators, and policy advisors, showcasing the work we do at the Department of Science Technology Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) of University College London (UCL). The 20-30 min long chats will not only demonstrate how academic work ties into the world of policymaking, attempting to improve peoples’ lives, but also shows why we teach what we teach. Join in for future episodes and keep an eye out for ‘STEaPP Chat’.