Author: erik

C40 Mayors’ Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery

Posted on by erik

As the tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, mayors’ immediate priority is to face this unprecedented crisis and protect lives. At the same time, the city leaders who together established the Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force are leading in taking the first steps towards recovery. They have committed to providing the swiftest and strongest possible rebound for their citizens and reaffirmed commitment to the principles of the Global Green New Deal — to protect our environment, strengthen economies and build a more equitable future – and reach out to other cities, youth, unions, business and civil society to join in this effort.
[…]
By taking a sustainable path at this critical juncture, by respecting science, fostering unity and embracing a spirit of innovation and purpose, cities will secure the best recovery they can and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Amid the devastation of this global pandemic, mayoral leadership has never been more important.

Nine principles for a green and just recovery are elaborated that can support cities’ recovery efforts.
More

The role of Local Government Associations in localising the Sustainable Development Goals

Posted on by erik

Several Local Government Associations ( LGAs) have been implementing successful projects for the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in cooperation with their member cities, some are just getting started and some others have a good understanding of the Agenda 2030 but have not yet formal ideas of how its implementation could look like as a project in their LGA.

31 experts from 16 local government associations joined the Connective Cities virtual dialogue event on LGAs and their role in localising the SDGs on 1st, 2nd and 4th September 2020.

The participants from Albania, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Nepal, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Mozambique, Palestinian territories, Serbia, Tanzania and Turkey as well as from the event partners PLATFORMA, UCLG and its Capacity and Institution Building (CIB) working group secretariat presented their good practices on localising the SDGs and supported each other in the peer-to-peer consultation sessions focusing on local challenges and in the development of joint project ideas in this thematic area.

Climate-proof and Resilient Urban Development

Posted on by erik

In view of the current situation worldwide, attendance formats for international meetings are neither sensible nor formally possible. Nevertheless, the international community of practice for sustainable urban development Connective Cities continued its offer in Latin America and invited municipal practitioners from Latin America and Germany to participate in the follow-up (LINK NITEROI) virtual workshop on the topic of “Climate-proof and resilient urban development – project planning of municipal adaptation measures”.

This time, 29 participants from eight different countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Germany, Spain, USA) came together virtually to exchange experiences and knowledge. The aim of the event was to further develop the project ideas by revising strategic approaches with peer support and reflecting on examples from municipal practice.

Following project ideas were presented and jointly further developed:

  1. Project: Improving the resilience of people and environmental communities in areas vulnerable to climate change / Municipality: Portoviejo, Ecuador
  2. Project: Strengthening the ecosystem-based adaptation measures at the tourist location San Miguel de Allende / Municipality: San Miguel de Allende, México
  3. Project: Adaptation of existing and new households to the forecast increase in temperatures and precipitation for the Risaralda administrative area / Municipality: Quinchía, Colombia
  4. Project: Colina Verde – Strengthening of security conditions by limiting the risk of landslides and fires in the community of Boa Vista / Municipality: Niterói, Brazil
  5. Project: The importance of agroforestry systems as an adaptation measure to climate change and as an economic sector for the community of Tomé-Açu / Municipality: Tomé-Açu, Brazil

Water and Climate Change

Posted on by erik

Climate change affects – and is affected by – global water resources. It reduces the predictability of water availability and affects water quality. Climate change also increases the occurrence of extreme weather events, threatening sustainable social-economic development and biodiversity worldwide. This, in turn, has profound implications for water resources. As such, climate change exacerbates the ever-growing challenges associated with the sustainable management of water. Conversely, the way water is managed influences the drivers of climate change.

The 2020 edition of the UN World Water Development Report addresses the critical linkages between water and climate change in the context of sustainable development. It also serves as a guide for concrete actions to address these challenges. It outlines actions, supported by examples from across the world, in three areas: first, enabling people to adapt to the impacts of climate change; second, improving the resilience of livelihoods; and, third, reducing the drivers of climate change.

Municipal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic III

Posted on by erik

More than 30 municipal representatives from around 20 cities in MENA and sub-Sharan Africa  participated in the third virtual event of the knowledge-exchange series on Municipal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Municipal representatives from both political and technical levels were invited and they engaged in knowledge-exchange to analyse and discuss practical examples of municipal response related to cushioning and the recovery from the economic impacts of the pandemic. 

Municipal Response to Covid-19 Pandemic II

Posted on by erik

More than 30 municipal representatives from around 20 cities in MENA and Sub-Sharan Africa participated in the second virtual event of the knowledge-exchange series on Municipal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Municipal representatives from both political and technical levels were invited and they engaged in knowledge-exchange to analyse and discuss practical examples of municipal response related to provision of urban basic services such as water and solid waste management.

Settlement Profiling Tool

Posted on by erik

The Settlement Profiling Tool, developed by UN-Habitat in partnership with UNHCR, sets out the framework for preparing cross-sectoral spatial profiles which are intended to help inform urban development policy decisions.

A settlement profile is not a plan. It is instead a repository of spatial information that can be used to inform planning and development. The information is mapped and can include broad demographic data, from information on mobility and infrastructure to environmental studies. By going beyond analysis to provide recommendations or outlined scenarios that are relevant to policy, settlement profiles help establish political priorities and entry points for discussions with partners, communities and local governments about what to plan, where and when.

This settlement profiling tool is particularly focused on situations where protracted displacement has occurred, and supports a shift towards prioritising development interventions. The profile outputs should provide a concise and useful framework to help target investment in recovery situations. A settlement profile is intended to be used in conjunction with existing policies, organisational mandates, technical guidelines and studies to further support humanitarian actors. In particular, this includes UNHCR operations (e.g. country-level coordinators) when operating in urban contexts, which require a multi-faceted understanding of the specific conditions, dynamics and systems unique to urban and urban-like areas.

Climate Resilient Urban Development in South East Europe

Posted on by erik

More than 40 local urban practitioners from 24 municipalities and 8 countries, fitting under the EU’s regional dimension of Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans, intensively exchanged their experiences/municipal expertise within 2 weeks of digital experience on the topic of “climate resilient urban development” and jointly developed solutions and project ideas. They followed the invitation of Connective Cities to an unprecedented and unique experience: Virtual Dialogue Event: “Climate Resilient Urban Development” on 8-19 June 2020.

It has been increasingly understood that rapid urbanization and climate risks mean greater vulnerability to urban development. Many cities worldwide face significant challenges arising from natural hazards. The Southeast European region is no exception, whereas the climate resilient urban development becomes a central pillar of local sustainability policies. Most of the countries in the region continue to face environmental and climate change challenges.

This event offered a virtual platform to discuss these challenges and supported municipalities in developing locally adapted solutions for climate challenges; in exchanging cities’ significant experience of developing successful possible options and good practises; in transforming innovative urban project ideas into digital solutions especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, as this latter continues to impact heavily the lifestyle at all levels including the sustainable urban development workers and it’s needed to adapt to more innovative and agile ways of working for future crises responses.

During the 2 weeks asynchronous and synchronous digital experience participants listened to inspiring Keynote presentations from leading European scientists and shared insights with peers in carefully curated Peer2Peer collaboration and exchange formats. They learned how to collaborate digitally and got acquainted with some tools, methods and the overall mindset Design Thinking.

The project has built a Network, an exchange platform of urban players, which provides a systematic access to practice-oriented solutions for sustainable urban development by facilitating change and providing mutual support.

Work in crisis teams and operational crisis planning – basic principles and their application

Posted on by erik

International exchange of experiences: lessons learned in the COVID-19 crisis

The first dialogue event of our series International exchange of experiences: lessons learned in the Covid-19 crisis brings German municipal crisis management experts together with international actors to discuss how municipal administration can plan and implement measures in times of crisis. Among other issues, the principles of working in crisis teams and the planning of operations according to standards will be discussed. Practice examples will be presented by experts from Berlin, Amman and KwaDukuza Municipality in South Africa. The overall aim of the learning event is to achieve a joint exchange of experiences.

Please find more information in our Call for Participants (pdf-download).

If you have any queries about the event and the participation process, we encourage you to contact:

Alexander Wagner 
alexander.wagner@engagement-global.de
Telefon +49 (0)228-20717-455

Thiago Garcia
thiago.garcia@engagement-global.de
Telefon +49 (0)228-20717-633

Municipal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Posted on by erik

More than 40 municipal representatives from around 30 cities in MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa and Germany participated in the first virtual event of the knowledge-exchange series on Municipal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Municipal representatives from both political and technical levels were invited and they engaged in knowledge-exchange to analyse and discuss practical examples of municipal response to the pandemic in the field of public health and municipal administrative processes. The webinar provided the space for an exchange of experience on how to plan, manage and evaluate effective measures to curb the impacts of the pandemic.