Prior to the introduction of the Integrated Development Plan in 2015, all departments of Livingstone Municipal Council had their own isolated planning process, resulting in a waste of resources. In 2015, an integrated planning approach was introduced for a 10-year period with broad participation of residents. Stan Mwanakayaya, Director of Urban Planning at Livingstone Municipal Council, describes the experience of the first five years in this podcast.
View podcast at YouTube:
Connective Cities and its partners invite you to the sixth Insight Session, which will be held under the title “The post-COVID City – bringing together urban practitioners to work towards greener cities” virtualy on 18 October, 10:00-11:30 CEST.
The Insight Session will address the question “The city after Corona? When urban planners, climate scientists and health experts work together, the result can only be green”. The session is part of the so-called Urban October. During the month of October, UN-Habitat and partner organisations organise activities and discussions on sustainable urbanisation. The Insight Session will focus on the challenges and lessons learned in designing cities to better resist the spread of disease and redesigning urban planning to adapt to the risks of health crises.
Further information: Insight Session: The post-COVID City – bringing together urban practitioners to work towards greener cities | Connective Cities Network
Event Language: English
The Insight Session will be moderated by Franziska Loibl, Ute Maas and Tino Bosire. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Franziska Loibl (franziska.loibl@giz.de)
Ute Maas (ute.maas@giz.de)
Tino Bosire (tino.bosire@giz.de)
The international community of practice for sustainable urban development, Connective Cities in the MENA region, organized a virtual projects workshop under the topic “Municipal Energy Efficiency Projects in the MENA Region” on the 14 and 15 September 2021. The workshop was preceded by a day on financial advisory services for municipal energy efficiency projects in the MENA region.
The workshop has been a follow-up to the dialogue event held virtually in May 2021. This project workshop aimed at facilitating exchange of know-how and experience through peer learning among urban practitioners in MENA and Germany, supporting the project owners to define a roadmap and appropriate measures to progress with the development of the project ideas into bankable project proposals (technical advisory), as well as supporting consensus building among different stakeholders engaged in the planning and implementation of the project ideas, and determining future support needed to implement project ideas, which includes support from the Connective Cities network and German municipalities.
Nine Municipalities from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia presented their project ideas and had a chance to further develop them in the fields of: improving energy efficiency in municipal buildings, energy efficiency via reduction of fuel consumption in waste management and energy efficient street lighting.
At the virtual dialogue event held on 20, 21 and 23 September 2021, over 45 participants from 10 countries took a look at social entrepreneurship from a range of municipal perspectives. They found that this rather new target group for local business development has a great deal of potential for municipalities. Innovative examples from Kiel, the municipality hosting the virtual event, as well as from the UK and Uganda, showcased the wide range of funding opportunities and the great benefits that can arise when municipalities and social entrepreneurs work together.
So far, many municipalities have given barely any thought to social entrepreneurship. The dialogue event provided them with a good first impression. The international dialogue and examples from around the world also inspired many participants to take concrete action to promote social entrepreneurship.
As part of the virtual series Insight Sessions: (Post) COVID Urban Futures, the event “The importance of disaster preparedness in cities and municipalities: experiences and lessons learned” took place on September, 1st 2021. The series facilitates a recurring exchange on various topics of sustainable urban development in the (Post) COVID-19 era between urban practitioners and interested parties worldwide. In the exchange formats, space is created for impulses and reflection and good practices are presented.
Considering the recent flood events in Germany in July, the session discussed global challenges and lessons learned from devastating flood events around the globe. Practitioners and experts from the field of urban planning exchanged ideas on how cities can better prepare for extreme weather events, improve early warning systems and increase public awareness of disaster risks.
In the first keynote speech “Cities and Flooding – Integrated urban flood risk management”, Abhas K. Jha, Practice Manager, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, South Asia Region at World Bank, discussed the challenges and possible courses of action in dealing with climate related risks of unprecedented and therefore unpredictable magnitude – so-called Black Swan Events. He stressed the importance of functioning (early) warning systems and their continuous further development as well as interdepartmental agreements within the authorities so that they can react appropriately in the event of a disaster.
In her keynote address “Reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience of cities to climate change impacts”, Dr. Koko Warner, UNFCC, spoke about the increasing risks worldwide due to global warming of more than 1.5 °C, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts. The importance of adaptation measures in municipalities and regions was particularly emphasized.
Both emphasized the importance of green infrastructure solutions in contrast to the expansion of grey infrastructure such as floodwalls and dikes. Sponge cities in Bangladesh were presented as an exemplary good practice, in which falling or inflowing water masses are absorbed by unsealed surfaces.
The two presentations were followed by a panel discussion of the experts William Mazibuko, Director of Disaster Management, City of Johannesburg, South Africa, Markus Sulk, Team Leader, Vocational Rescue Service, Fire Brigade Dortmund, Germany and Karma Dupchu, Director of the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology, Royal Government of Buthan on the topic “Good Practices and challenges in municipal flood risk management worldwide”.
You can find the recording of the event here: Insight Session: The importance of disaster preparedness in cities and municipalities | Connective Cities Network
Connective Cities and its partners invite municipal practitioners to a two-day Covid-19 Response Dialogue on Covid-19 and municipal waste management to be held virtually on 9 and 11 November 2021.
The event brings together municipal experts from Germany with international urban practitioners to discuss municipal waste management during and after the pandemic.
Two main aspects of waste management and Covid-19 will be covered during the event:
Both aspects can be better dealt with if gender-sensitive strategies are considered. Therefore, the exchange will give special attention to the gender perspective.
More information: Call for participants [pdf, 3 Seiten, 339 kb]
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Thiago Garcia
thiago.garcia@engagement-global.de
Phone +49 (0)228-20717-2633
Alice Balbo
Alice.Balbo@staedtetag.de
Phone: 49 (0)221-3771-573
The German City of Kiel is committed to the Agenda 2030 with its 17 SDGs. The sustainibility price in 2021 helped pave the way. Kiel is a true champion of social entrepreneurship promotion. Many sustainability projects evolved with the support of the city and its people. The video presents four outstanding examples from the local entrepreneur scene.
Watch the video at YouTube:
On 8 September 2021 the event “Pop-up bike lanes: long-term opportunities for green urban development after the COVID-19 pandemic?” took place as part of the virtual event series Insight Sessions: (Post) COVID Urban Futures. The series facilitates a recurring exchange on various topics of sustainable urban development in the (post) COVID-19 era between urban practitioners and interested participants worldwide. In entertaining exchange formats, space is created for impulses and reflection, and innovative solutions are presented.
The current event focused on pop-up bike lanes and changes in urban mobility during the pandemic. Over 30 participants from Bangladesh, Georgia, Tunisia, Egypt, Japan and Germany, among others, took part in the event. Representatives of cities worldwide discussed the possibilities and opportunities that arise from the long-term maintenance of the newly created cycle paths.
After a brief insight into this year’s Connective Cities COVID-19 programme, Sebastián Posada Garcia of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Department at the Secretariat of Mobility of the City of Bogotá, Colombia, presented the concept of pop-up bike lanes and good practice in Bogotá. At peak times in April and May 2020, the city installed more than 80km of additional temporary bike lanes, some of which have already been converted into permanent new bike lanes. In his presentation, Mr. Posada Garcia also addressed some frequently mentioned criticisms against pop-up bike lanes, such as increased numbers of accidents or increased congestion for motorists. He emphasised, based on statistical analyses, that the speed of car traffic did not decrease during the pandemic. However, many more citizens used bicycles to get around the city of Bogotá during COVID-19.
Afterwards, Thomas Kiel d’Aragon, Head of the Transport and Civil Engineering Department at the German Association of Cities in Berlin, presented examples of pop-up cycle paths in German cities. He also discussed the legal basis for the construction of additional cycle paths, as well as the financing of sustainable urban projects. Mr. Kiel d’Aragon also highlighted the enormous knowledge in the private sector compared to cities and pleaded for a close cooperation between the municipal administration with cycling initiatives or sustainability movements and private institutions.
Finally, Seçil Öznur Yakan, co-founder of the Women on Bicycle Initiative in Istanbul, Turkey, gave insights into the work of her initiative. In an impressive way, she showed how women around the world are working for more equity in bicycle mobility and networking with each other as well as with urban actors. Ms Öznur Yakan also presented the film My Bicycle My City, which was released in 2019 as part of World Bicycle Day. The film is available on YouTube: Benim Bisikletim Benim Şehrim Film – 2019 – YouTube
The presentations were followed by a lively discussion in which further questions could be answered, for example on the political promotion of increasing bicycle mobility in the different cities and countries. Finally, the Connective Cities working groups “Gender responsive urban mobility” and “Smart Mobility” were presented in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. You want to be part of the working groups? You can find more information and register here: Platform COVID-19 | Connective Cities Network
You can find the recording of the event here: Insight Session: Pop-up bike lanes - Long-term opportunities for green urban development?
Good Practice Bogotá, Colombia
Mzikhona Mgedle, a local resident in Langa township (Cape Town, South Africa), founded Langa Bicycle Hub in 2020 with a vision of positively influencing the community of Langa while providing access to a sustainable and affordable form of transport by using bicycles to move people and basic goods and facilitate community building. This project is in partnership with Open Streets Cape Town, Darrvin Ebikes Africa, Langa Safety Patrol and Langa Community individuals.
Are you an urban representative, employee of a municipality or an urban practitioner from a NGO, university, research unity, or other working directly with cities administrations in a low- or middle-income country? You want to work towards a flood risk informed urban development and would like to apply for the City Climate Finance Gap Fund?
Join our working group and:
European cities have experienced flooding many times in history, however, the scale and numbers of losses of life from the flooding in July 2021 have been devastating. Hitting the long safely imagined temperate zone, the events reveal the importance and urgency of discussing measures to enhance disaster preparedness, strengthen resilience and enhancing preparedness in cities around the globe. The need of cities worldwide to adapt to a changing climate and an increasing number of extreme weather events is more prominent than ever to save lives, reduce economic losses and protect critical infrastructure. The competences and institutional capacities of policy- and decision-makers need to be strengthened to address risks.
Within the working group on risked informed urban development, which will be hosted jointly by the Global Initiative Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) and Connective Cities, cities will work together towards handing in their expressions of interest for the City Climate Finance Gap Fund by peer-to-peer exchanges, learning from good practice examples and profiting from individual experts’ advice. Specific topics of the project ideas may include public sensitization for disaster management, risk assessment and communication, risk governance, as well as other scopes depending on the participating cities’ needs.
You are interested in becoming part of the joint GIDRM and Connective Cities working group on risk informed urban development? Please consider the following steps:
Join the working group online: Risk informed urban development | Connective Cities Network
Join the first meeting: 12 October 2021, 14:00-15:00 CET
For further requests, do not hesitate to contact Karl-Heinz Gaudry (karl-heinz.gaudrysada@giz.de) or Ricarda Meissner (ricarda.meissner@giz.de).
