Heat affects us all. It is one of the world’s fastest-growing and deadliest climate risks.
However, we are not powerless against it. Municipalities around the world are developing and sharing comprehensive strategies. These range from heat action plans and green and blue infrastructure planning to smart rainwater management, the use of AI, and the creation of digital twins for risk-informed crisis management.
Naturally, municipalities have also been tackling this crucial topic within the Connective Cities framework. We’ve put together a selection of examples from the Connective Cities context along with additional resources for you.
Heat in the City – The Connective Cities Deep Dive Learning Process From 2023-2025, six municipalities joined forces to analyse the impact of heatwaves and heat islands, and developed solutions tailored to local conditions.
Detailed interim report: https://www.connective-cities.net/en/media-center/heat-in-the-city-2/
Cities Leading by Example
This guidebook on risk-informed planning and heat mitigation, developed by the Connective Cities’ Deep Dive, serves as a practical guide for municipal actors, urban planners, policymakers and community leaders who wish to adopt a risk-informed approach and integrate heat adaptation into their planning processes. https://www.connective-cities.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/cities-leading_guidebook.pdf
Ibero-American Urban Climate Atlas
This project covers 11 cities in Spain and South America. The research aims to analyse the local context of each city with regard to the impact of heat islands. The objective is to assess changes in temperature patterns and their territorial effects within cities.
Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI) and ICLEI South America https://e-library.iclei.org/uploads/IBER_ATLAS_EN_2.pdf
Financing heat resilience How governments can finance heat resilience through risk-informed investments, innovative financing mechanisms, and resilient infrastructure.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Centre for Disaster Protection, National Disaster Management Authority (India) https://www.undrr.org/publication/documents-and-publications/financing-heat-resilience
Heat Action Plans in Local Government Practice (in German)
Implementation of the recommendations for drawing up heat action plans in local government practice (Plan°C)
German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu) https://repository.difu.de/items/c805c6fb-c3c1-4288-b1c9-eff356fb04bd
We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming virtual Insight Session on ‘nature-based solutions for urban resilience’, which will take place on July 15, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM CET.
Cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Germany, and other regions are increasingly relying on nature-based solutions to address flooding, climate risks, biodiversity loss, and the associated urban development challenges. However, integrating these approaches into municipal planning, management, and implementation remains a complex task.
This Insight Session brings together research, policy and community network perspectives to present practical approaches for planning, integrating and implementing nature-based solutions.
We invite the following discussion partners:
Andreas Wolter, President of Climate Alliance Presentation: From Local Action to Collective Impact: How Municipal Networks Advance Climate Resilience
Andreas Wolter will present the Climate Alliance network and highlight its role in supporting municipalities to strengthen local climate action. His presentation will provide important insights into how city networks learn from each other, promote knowledge exchange, advocacy, and collaboration, while simultaneously helping municipalities translate climate commitments into practical measures – such as nature-based solutions to strengthen municipal resilience.
McKenna Davis Senior Fellow and Coordinator for Nature-Based Solutions at Ecologic Institute, Berlin Presentation:Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions: Insights and Practical Examples from the Urban Governance Atlas
McKenna Davis will share insights and practical examples from the Urban Governance Atlas and the Climate Adaptation Naturally project, highlighting how nature-based solutions can be integrated into municipal policy and planning.
Dr. Kirk B. Neu,Researcher in the fields of landscape architecture, landscape planning and urban resilience Presentation:Evidence-based Lessons on Planning Nature-based Solutions for Flood Resilience in Sub-Saharan African Cities
Drawing on research from Ghana and the wider Sub-Saharan African region, Kirk Enu will present practical lessons on how municipalities can use research evidence to plan and implement nature-based solutions for inclusive flood resilience.
The event offers participants the following:
practical examples of nature-based solutions for strengthening the resilience of urban flood zones;
Insights into the framework conditions for governance, policy and planning required for implementation;
Insights from the compatibility of research results with municipal decision-making processes;
Perspectives on the role of municipal networks in promoting climate protection measures; and
an opportunity to exchange experiences with practitioners and experts from different cities and regions.
The event will be held in English, with French translation provided.
We cordially invite municipal practitioners, urban planners, climate and resilience experts, researchers, development partners and other interested members of the Connective Cities network to participate.
We look forward to welcoming you to the event.
If you have any questions or require support, please contact: moses.munuve@giz.de
Language: English – French simultaneous translation
How can forests be planted sustainably in urban areas with chronically low precipitation and/or heat waves?
The Miyawaki-Method is a reforestation technique which has become popular in recent years due to its efficiency in growing vegetation in small urban spaces within a very short time period. In order to accelerate growth, the method builds on three key principles: The exclusive use of native plant species that are used to the soil; which are planted in extreme density; and form a multi-layered ecosystem featuring canopy, sub-canopy, shrubs and ground cover tiers. A videographic overview of the Miyawaki-Method can be found here.
Not only can micro forests serve as cooling green corridors in urban geographies; they may also be classified as nature-based solutions, which are essential for various ecosystem services, not least disaster prevention. According to the method’s founder Dr. Akira Miyawaki, native forests are nearly thirty times more resilient and offer protection against natural disasters compared to non-native species.
While the Miyawaki-Method has been developed in Japan in the 1970s, it only recently has become to spread globally, with many applications in India but also growing popularity in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. However, as droughts become more frequent around the globe, watering-intensive Miyawaki afforestation may also face increasing difficulties in implementation. Can Urban Micro Forests therefore be considered a suitable intervention and nature-based solution in municipalities affected by frequent drought – for instance across Africa and the Middle East?
The MIYA-forest network from Eberswalde, Germany is one recent example of civil society-led practices to spread tiny forests according to the Miyawaki-method, both in Germany and the MENA region. In this ConnectiveCities Insight session, Board Member Stefan Scharfe will present the association’s best practices, which—in addition to planting more than 40 micro-forests since 2021—also include educational and scientific work.
As our second speaker, Deema Assaf from TAYYŪN, an Amman-based research and ecological design studio, will share her experience planting Miyawaki forests. The architect pioneered the Miyawaki method in the Middle East, planting the region’s first such forest in Amman in 2018 and going on to lead multiple native forest plantings across the city. Her work spans native seed harvesting and propagation, community planting workshops, and regenerative, permaculture-based design.
The Connective Cities learning process on “Nature at the Heart of Urban Resilience” was officially launched through a three-day kick-off workshop held in Naivasha, Kenya from 21 to 23 April 2026, bringing together 20 municipalities and cities from across Sub-Saharan Africa and Germany, alongside over 40 urban practitioners, technical experts, and institutional partners.
The workshop marked the starting point of a longer-term engagement aimed at supporting local governments in translating their urban challenges into concrete, implementable solutions through structured peer exchange and technical support.
Cities at the Frontline: Climate Pressures and the Need for Nature-Based Solutions
Urban areas are increasingly where the impacts of climate change are most visible—and most intensely felt. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, cities and municipalities are facing a convergence of pressures: rapid urbanisation, environmental degradation, and growing exposure to climate risks such as flooding, drought, and heat stress. These pressures are not isolated; they interact in complex ways, amplifying vulnerabilities and placing strain on already limited infrastructure and institutional capacities.
At the same time, local governments are not passive actors. As highlighted in the opening of the workshop, they are at the forefront of both experiencing and addressing climate challenges.
Andreas Wolter, President of Climate Alliance and City Councilor of Cologne, emphasized the critical importance of ensuring that cities are actively represented in the global climate discourse, as municipalities are where climate impacts are most immediate and where solutions must ultimately be implemented.
Complementing this perspective, Dr. Nelson Maara, representing Nakuru County, highlighted the importance of preserving ecosystem services as a foundation for resilience, drawing on local experience to illustrate how the degradation of natural systems directly translates into increased urban vulnerability for climate-related risks.
Together, these perspectives reinforce a growing recognition that municipalities must play a stronger role in shaping climate action, as they are responsible for translating high-level commitments into practical, locally grounded solutions. In this context, Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) offer a critical pathway—enabling cities to address environmental, social, and economic challenges simultaneously through the restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems. However, while the relevance of NbS is increasingly acknowledged, the ability to move from concept to implementation remains a complex issue. This is where the Connective Cities learning process plays a critical role, equipping municipal practitioners with the technical capacities and knowledge required through structured exchange formats.
From Exchange to Implementation: The Role of the Learning Process
The learning process is built on the principle that cities and municipalities learn most effectively when they engage directly with one another on real, shared challenges. Rather than focusing on abstract knowledge transfer, it creates a structured space for practitioners to jointly analyse their challenges, exchange experiences, and progressively develop reform measures—concrete actions or project concepts that can be taken forward within their local contexts.
Additionally, another key component of the Learning Process methodology is to strengthen the capacities of urban practitioners to design, plan, and advance these measures within their institutional environments. The peer-to-peer approach is particularly important given the diversity of participating municipalities, bringing together different governance structures, capacities, and experiences while highlighting that many of the underlying challenges are fundamentally shared.
The learning process is therefore not about transferring solutions from one context to another, but about enabling cities to adapt and refine ideas through dialogue, ensuring that they are both context relevant and practically implementable.
From Framing to Practice: Expert Inputs and Panel Insights
Building on the broader objectives and structure of the learning process, the kick-off workshop in Naivasha marked the first step in translating this approach for peer learning into practice. Over the course of three days, participating cities and municipalities engaged in a structured exchange that combined expert inputs, panel discussions, and peer learning sessions, allowing them to ground NbS in their own urban realities.
The expert inputs provided the theoretical basis for the participants to better understand the importance of NbS for sustainable municipal development:
Prof. Johanes Belle introduced NbS through the lens of ecosystem services, highlighting how natural systems provide essential functions such as flood regulation, water purification, and climate moderation.
In addition to their core infrastructural functions, Nature-Based Solutions also generate co-benefits, including improvements in psychological well-being of local residents, increased soil quality, and opportunities for job creation. By framing NbS in terms of these services, Dr. Belle underscored that ecosystems should be understood as functional infrastructure, central to urban resilience rather than peripheral environmental assets.
For example, wetlands and urban green spaces can absorb excess stormwater, reducing flood risk while simultaneously improving water quality in rapidly growing urban areas. This perspective was particularly relevant for participating cities, many of which are experiencing the direct consequences of ecosystem degradation in the form of increased flood risk, declining water quality, and heightened climate vulnerability.
The input from Deputy Mayor William Wolfgramm, from the City of Cologne’s Climate Department demonstrated how such concepts of NbS can be translated into practice within a structured comprehensive planning framework by presenting the City of Cologne’s ‘urban green space masterplan’. Drawing on concrete examples, the presentation showed how NbS are embedded within long-term planning instruments and supported through institutional coordination, data-driven analysis, and dedicated funding mechanisms.
Measures such as de-sealing urban surfaces, expanding green corridors, and promoting green roofs and rainwater retention systems illustrated how NbS can be systematically implemented at scale when anchored in governance structures, through long-term planning processes and through taking a ‘whole-of-society’ approach.
The panel discussion further reinforced this shift from concept to application. Drawing on experiences from cities that had previously engaged in similar processes, panelists demonstrated through experiences from previous Connective Cities learning processes how initial ideas developed through peer exchange can evolve into tangible outputs—whether through feasibility studies, planning instruments, or pilot interventions. The discussion highlighted various concrete lessons:
eThekwini (South Africa): Emphasised the importance of adopting an all-of-society approach to disaster risk management, bringing together local government departments, technical experts, and communities. Particular attention was given to strengthening communication channels with local populations and ensuring that NbS are embedded within long-term, city-wide programmes and institutional frameworks.
Abelkuma, Accra (Ghana): Highlighted the importance of breaking down institutional ‘silos’ and ensuring coordination across departments in the development of foundational instruments such as urban greening guidelines and implementation plans. The intervention further underscored the need to strengthen technical detailing, local ownership, and financing pathways in order to move from concept to implementation.
Berlin (Germany): Emphasised the importance of clearly scoping technical challenges, anchoring them within appropriate institutional frameworks, and establishing clear lines of accountability. They further highlighted how inclusive, participatory processes—bringing together multiple stakeholders, including local communities—can strengthen implementation, supported by robust control mechanisms such as data systems, continuous monitoring, and regulatory frameworks.
Lusaka (Zambia): Emphasised the critical role of data collection and feasibility studies in advancing projects from concept to implementation. They highlighted the importance of partnerships in mobilising financing and noted the value of city networks in providing technical support and facilitating access to funding opportunities.
Commonly shared among the panelists was the insight, that while ideas often originate through exchange, their success depends on strong ownership —both in terms of institutional anchoring and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders— alongside the ability to translate concepts into structured an financeable interventions.
Cities in Dialogue: From Individual Challenges to Shared Patterns
With these insights in mind, the workshop moved into the peer learning phase, where participating cities and municipalities began to unpack their own challenges in greater detail. To facilitate focused exchange, participants were organised into five moderated working groups:
Group 1: Babadjou (Cameroon), Méagui (Côte d’Ivoire), Natitingou (Benin), Commune de Nanga-Eboko (Cameroon)
Group 3: Tanga City (Tanzania), Köln (Germany), Mazabuka (Zambia), Ilemela (Tanzania)
Group 4: Embu (Kenya), Nakuru (Kenya), Mwanza (Tanzania), Tarkwa-Nsuaem (Ghana)
Group 5: Bosaso (Somalia), Sinda Town Council (Zambia), Kimberley (South Africa), Berlin (Germany)
Within these groups, municipalities presented their challenges, received peer feedback, and began refining possible directions for action. While the discussions initially reflected diverse local contexts, a clear pattern of shared challenges quickly emerged.
Across the groups, municipalities repeatedly highlighted issues related to ecosystem degradation, water management, waste systems, and rapid urbanisation. These challenges were often closely interconnected. For instance, inadequate waste management was identified as a key contributor to flooding, as blocked drainage systems exacerbate water accumulation during heavy rainfall. Similarly, unplanned urban expansion into wetlands and riverbanks was found to increase exposure to climate risks.This reinforced the understanding that urban challenges are not isolated, but rather systemic in nature, requiring integrated responses that address environmental, institutional, and social dimensions simultaneously.
As discussions progressed, cities began to move beyond describing their challenges and toward identifying more structured pathways forward.
From Challenges to Action: Peer Recommendations and Emerging Directions
Through structured peer exchange, participants worked to refine and prioritize potential solutions. Rather than introducing entirely new ideas, this process helped cities to clarify the thoughts broad to the workshop and translate broad concepts into more concrete directions.
Key recommendations emerging from the discussions included the need to strengthen the evidence base for planning, through baseline studies, risk assessments, and feasibility analyses. Cities were also encouraged to integrate NbS within urban planning and governance frameworks, ensuring that interventions are embedded within long-term strategies rather than implemented as isolated projects.
Another strong theme was the importance of community engagement and behavioral change, particularly in areas such as waste management and environmental protection. Many cities recognised that technical solutions alone would not be sufficient without local ownership and awareness building measures.
Finally, there was a clear emphasis on the need to move toward structured project development, including cost-benefit analysis, clearer project definition, and preparation for financing.
From Ideas to Implementation: What Comes Next
While the initial phases of the workshop focused on understanding challenges and identifying potential solutions, time was also dedicated to looking ahead within the year-long learning process. The emphasis shifted towards how these ideas can be further developed into implementable and financeable interventions.
To support this, inputs were provided by the City Climate Finance Gap Fund and the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA). Both initiatives outlined their approaches to supporting cities in developing climate projects, including their selection criteria, support mechanisms, and application processes. Emphasis was placed on the importance of strong technical preparation, clear project scope, and alignment with climate and development priorities.
These inputs directly responded to the needs expressed by cities, particularly in relation to moving beyond early-stage ideas and accessing financing. Building on this, the workshop concluded with a forward-looking exercise in which cities presented initial concepts for reform measures, beginning to articulate more concrete project ideas and potential pathways for implementation.
What the workshop demonstrated is that cities are not lacking solutions. Across contexts, there is already a strong foundation of ideas, experiences, and emerging practices. The key challenge lies in structuring these ideas, strengthening the enabling environment, and advancing them toward implementation.
The Connective Cities learning process provides a platform to do exactly that—turning exchange into collaboration, and collaboration into tangible action.
The second Africa Urban Forum (AUF), organized under the African Union framework with the support from UN-Habitat and UNECA, took place from 8 to10 April 2026 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. AUF welcomed a diversity of participants, among them politicians, private sector, civil society, development partners and interested members of the public as well, to discuss the conferences’ topic: ‘Adequate Housing for All: Advancing Socio-economic and Environmental Transformation towards the Realization of Agenda 2063’.
At AUF, Connective cities alongside GIZ partner projects Covenant of Mayors Sub Sahara Africa (CoMSSA) and Resilience Initiatve Africa (RIA) organized and facilitated a side event on 9 April, titled Climate proofing the built environment: Integrated Technical Support for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure.
The events’ panel-discussion included international experts, development finance institutions, and local administrations. Thereby, participants could gain insights from local government representatives from Embu, Kenya, and eThekwini, South Africa on how to combine collaborative governance with technical expertise for climate resilient infrastructure. In this regard, the launch of the Embu Final Prefeasibility Technical Assistance Report on Solid Waste Management Infrastructure illustrated the need for comprehensive data gathering prior to project implementation.
Next to the case studies, panelists discussed institutional arrangements and policy approaches related to financing sustainable urban infrastructure. For example, a representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development emphasized that cities must leverage on digitalization of revenue collection to meet ever-rising financial demands and also demonstrate to potential financiers built-in capacity to collect, allocate, and use financial means effectively.
Furthermore, a program manager from the European Investment Bank noted that for development projects to be implemented efficiently, the national and sub-national levels of government must enter into collaborative modes of governance, whereby they complement each other in sourcing funds from potential financiers. The program manager further advocated for a non-fragmented approach towards infrastructure development to avoid wastage and duplication of effort and resources.
In sum, the AUF side-event, by bringing together financial institutions and local government leaders, provided valuable insights into how to comprehensively think sustainable urban development as a basis to successfully build climate-resilient infrastructure in African cities and beyond.
The approximately 9,300 inhabitants of Borgholzhausen in Germany are spread over an area of 56 km². One third of the population lives in the town centre, while the other two thirds live in eleven settlements, each with a few hundred inhabitants. From the station in Borgholzhausen, the NordWest-Bahn railway connects to the neighbouring cities of Osnabrück in the north-west and Bielefeld in the south-east. However, there is no local public transport connecting the settlements to the station.
Against this backdrop, Borgholzhausen has developed a new type of electric car sharing service that enables residents of the municipality to book the last mile from the train station to their home conveniently and at no extra cost, included in the price of their train ticket. The neighbouring municipality of Halle-Künsebeck is participating in this innovative mobility concept.
Anyone with a valid public transport ticket can now book an electric vehicle free of charge for a maximum of half an hour on specified routes between certain stops. It is also now possible to rent a vehicle at a moderate cost through the classic car-sharing scheme. The income from this reduces operating costs.
This good practice describes how this model, which is unique in Germany to date, was developed, how it is being implemented, what advantages it offers and what lessons have been learned so far.
African and German Cities Power a Shared Vision for a Just, Climate-Smart Hydrogen Future
Cities across Africa and Europe are accelerating their role as frontline actors in the global green transition, driving innovation, investment, and climate resilience from the ground up. Following the successful launch of the Hydrogen Cities Working Group earlier this year in Naivasha, Kenya, Connective Cities will convene the second peer-learning workshop on 24–27 November 2025 in Mombasa, Kenya.
This flagship event will bring together city leaders, practitioners, industry innovators, researchers, and development partners to scale up municipal hydrogen strategies and unlock new pathways for green industrialization, inclusive growth, and just transition at the local level.
From Naivasha to Mombasa: Turning Ideas into Impact
The inaugural workshop in Naivasha brought together over 30 municipal representatives and technical experts to explore how cities can anchor the emerging green hydrogen economy in local value creation and job generation. It underscored hydrogen’s role not only as a clean-energy vector but as a catalyst for climate-neutral industrial ecosystems, skills development, and innovation-driven urban transformation.
Case studies showcased how municipalities are positioning themselves along the hydrogen value chain — from production and storage to end-use applications in mobility, manufacturing, and port logistics. Examples ranged from Namibia’s evolving hydrogen hubs to Germany’s Heilbronn and Karlsruhe regions, where local governments are building innovation clusters, R&D partnerships, and market linkages for hydrogen deployment.
Specialist presentation during the meeting in Naivasha | Photo: Connective Cities
Participants also highlighted the importance of integrated urban governance — combining spatial planning, transparent land management, and strong stakeholder engagement — to ensure hydrogen projects deliver tangible community benefits.
Key takeaways from Naivasha included:
Municipal leadership as a driving force for innovation, investment, and policy alignment.
Local value creation through SME participation, skills training, and green entrepreneurship.
Institutional capacity and human capital as preconditions for hydrogen readiness.
Peer-to-peer collaboration as a catalyst for scaling solutions and knowledge transfer.
Since Naivasha, cities have been actively refining their project concepts, forging cross-regional partnerships, and identifying bankable entry points to accelerate their green transition agendas.
Green Hydrogen: Powering Sustainable, Inclusive Urban Futures
Africa’s vast solar and wind potential places its cities at the heart of the global clean-energy transformation. Green hydrogen — and its derivatives such as green ammonia and e-methanol — offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for low-carbon industrialisation, climate resilience, and circular economy development.
For municipalities, this transition means:
Developing innovation clusters and hydrogen corridors that attract private investment.
Expanding renewable energy infrastructure and smart urban grids.
Enhancing water security and resource-efficient technologies such as desalination and wastewater reuse.
Creating green jobs across engineering, construction, logistics, and research sectors.
Catalysing start-ups, incubators, and technology partnerships.
Building skills pipelines aligned with future hydrogen markets.
Yet, challenges persist — from infrastructure gaps and regulatory complexity to financing bottlenecks and local ownership. The Hydrogen Cities Working Group provides a collaborative platform where cities can co-create solutions, de-risk investment, and ensure the green transition remains inclusive, equitable, and locally anchored.
What to Expect in Mombasa: Scaling Up and Going Deeper
The upcoming workshop in Mombasa will mark a critical shift from strategic visioning to operationalisation and project implementation. Over three days, participants will:
Present project updates and refine concepts through structured peer-review and coaching.
Engage in interactive sessions on land use, water-energy nexus, and industrial cluster design.
Explore innovative financing instruments, including blended finance and PPP models.
Participate in hands-on peer-coaching clinics to advance project maturity.
Exchange with international experts on policy frameworks, investment pipelines, and market integration.
Join a site visit to the Mombasa Port and Special Economic Zone to identify real-world opportunities for green hydrogen applications.
The event will feature keynotes from government and private-sector leaders, expert panels, and networking sessions to strengthen partnerships between African and German municipalities.
Confirmed participants include cities such as Mombasa, Naivasha, Lüderitz, Arandis, Nouakchott, Waterberg District, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, and Freudenstadt — forming a growing alliance of municipalities championing decentralized, climate-smart hydrogen ecosystems.
Looking Ahead: Cities as Catalysts of a Just Green Economy
As the global energy landscape transforms, cities that act decisively today will become the engines of tomorrow’s green prosperity. The Mombasa workshop represents another milestone in empowering municipalities to lead the hydrogen-powered urban transformation — advancing climate action, economic resilience, and social inclusion in equal measure.
Through the Hydrogen Cities Working Group, Connective Cities continues to bridge continents, connect expertise, and translate ambition into action — ensuring that the hydrogen revolution drives sustainable, locally embedded, and future-ready urban economies.
From Naivasha to Mombasa, cities are demonstrating that the green transition starts locally — and scales globally.
This workshop contributed to strengthening the exchange of municipal experiences and paved the way for Syrian cities to be integrated in the network and become active members. Representatives from Damascus and Reef Damascus Governorates shared the current state of comprehensive planning, highlighting the challenges of pursuing a long-term vision for sustainable development while aiming to turn the complexities of post-war reconstruction into an opportunity to build back better.
Participants during the lecture on planning in Damascus | Photo: Muna Shalan, Connective CitiesPresentation of the digitisation process in Amman | Photo: Muna Shalan, Connective Cities
They also discussed their aspirations for digital transformation in their city administration. Their counterparts from Greater Amman municipality delved into practical experiences in these thematic fields, sharing a wealth of knowledge and lessons learned grounded in the local context of implementation.
Peer consultation and presentation of good practices | Photo: Muna Shalan, Connective Cities
Through interactive peer learning activities, the participants showcased good practice examples and fleshed out success factors and impediments faced by municipal workers in the process of city planning, municipal service delivery, and digital transformation. The discussions created an open and honest exchange, allowing both sides to learn from each other’s successes and obstacles.
Field visit to Al-Zuhour Green Triangle – a model for green infrastructure | Photo: Muna Shalan, Connective Cities
A site visit to a good practice example was also organized as part of the workshop namely to Al-Zuhour Green Triangle – a model for green infrastructure. On an area of 2300 sq. m, this pilot project that was implemented by Greater Amman municipality and UN-Habitat Jordan demonstrates two concepts of green stormwater management; stormwater bioretention and stormwater detention.
The workshop resulted in a roadmap for future cooperation and institutionalization of knowledge exchange, which outlined priority action areas. Key focus areas include legislation and governance, with an emphasis on fast-tracking a fair reconstruction law in Syria, adopting standardized tendering and contracting procedures, and activating public-private partnership (PPP) frameworks where appropriate. In terms of decentralization, participants agreed on the need to delegate selected powers—particularly in transport and traffic management—to municipalities, supported by technical committees to ensure that master plans align with sectoral strategies. Strengthening resources and capacities was also identified as critical, including securing adequate human and financial resources, and investing in in-house expertise and ongoing training.
Group photo of participants | Photo: Muna Shalan, Connective Cities
Placing the community at the center of urban planning emerged as another key principle, with commitments to maintain public participation through Citizen Hubs and feedback mechanisms that reflect both the social and economic dimensions of urban life. Finally, under the banner of “Build Back Better,” participants called for addressing data gaps, improving cross-sectoral coordination, and using reconstruction as a platform for long-term, sustainable development.
On 12 June 2025, the working group of the Deep Dive “Heat in the City” gathered online to wrap up their two years long collaboration on the topic of heat islands in the cities. Each city presented their pilot projects in depth to an audience of experts from Germany and the Global South.
The format
The Deep Dive format enables medium-term, intensive collaboration among a small group of municipalities over two years to develop concrete urban solutions through expert exchange and co-creation. Learn more about the format here.
Deep Dive “Heat in the city”
In this first edition of Connective Cities Deep Dive, the cities of Aswan (Egypt), Heidelberg (Germany), Lüdenscheid (Germany), Lviv (Ukraine), Nairobi (Kenya) and Mombasa (Kenya) worked together online and in person, in order to understand their respective challenges, exchange ideas, and scientific procedures. The group was supported by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in the assessment of urban heat islands (UHI) in the city and development of locally-adapted solutions. Through the involvement of their local administrations, they implemented their pilot projects that incorporated procedural and organizational measures to mitigate heat in their cities. Learn more about each step of the Deep Dive here.
The six pilot projects
Each city piloted heat mitigation solutions tailored to their local contexts, focusing on data-driven, community-based, and cross-sectoral approaches. Nairobi planted shade fruit trees in schools and trained staff and students in thermal monitoring, while planning an open-access heat map for community awareness raising about the UHI. Lviv created pocket-parks and monitored their cooling effects, despite facing implementation challenges like martial law and funding gaps. In Lüdenscheid, a heat action plan was developed through interdepartmental collaboration, including initiatives like refill stations, awareness brochures, and a city cooling map. Aswan developed a comprehensive heat action framework using both local knowledge and international practices, selecting a pilot area for pedestrian-friendly, shaded public space transformation. Mombasa focused on stakeholder awareness and urban heat mapping, while Heidelberg introduced a high-precision urban climate analysis and a climate scanner to make urban planning more climate-friendly, better account for local microclimates, and thereby sustainably enhance quality of life and climate resilience. Learn more about the projects here.
Conclusions
All members of the working group agreed that the Deep Dive “Heat in the City” contributed with a broader impact in the six cities, not only by the development of climate mitigation strategies, but also in the perspective of tighter collaboration among local institutions and a strong feeling of global affiliation.
The municipal experts exchange has led to a stronger sense of community, co-creation, leadership skills, and ownership. As they explored how green activities could be linked to green jobs, international exchanges helped emphasize the urgency of finding solutions. These exchanges made decision-makers and the public more aware and underscored the need for immediate action.
The Deep Dive required a readjustment of their thinking and viewpoints, prompting them to reassess their own methods. They often had to justify working internationally while operations were still local, which helped them adopt a broader perspective on issues such as UHI. The exchange platform gave them also visibility and recognition, which in turn helped influence decision-makers. Despite challenging circumstances such as the war in Ukraine, people became more sensitised—highlighting that the right moment for action is now.
Finally, the working group noticed a growing sense of long-term awareness. There was a shift from seeking immediate results to focusing on long-term planning for resilience and achieving environmental goals. By learning from international successes and failures, they could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our local processes.
Even if the Deep Dive has ended, the implemented projects are still ongoing and the six cities are better prepared to face heat waves now.
During the process of redefining a building’s purpose and outlining the procedure and financing of the venture, constructions might fall vacant. A vacant building is wasted potential in many ways, for both the community and the cities’ urban development.
Moreover, an unused building often leads to an increase in visual and atmospheric pollution due to the accumulation of waste, water infiltration and possible growth of mold or toxic materials. Besides these ecological consequences, vandalism may increase as well as insecurity in the surroundings. Hence, the revitalisation of vacant buildings can come costly to municipalities and possible investors.
How can vacancy be avoided? Opening public buildings to interim use was one of the topics that participants of the learning process “2nd Hands on Public Buildings” wanted to focus on during the one-year-long learning process on reusing public buildings from the 1960s and 1970s. Therefore, experts from Germany, Kenya, Palestine and Montenegro came together virtually on March 12, 2025.
During the meeting, the German guests Oliver Hasemann, ZwischenZeitZentrale Bremen, and Moritz Tonn, Transiträume e.V., elaborated on the facilitation of interim use in Bremen and Berlin. With years of experience and quite some examples of moderating agreements between the buildings’ owners and users, the inputs allowed for a general understanding of the opportunities and challenges related to intermediate tenants. Given the vibrant cultural scene in Berlin, Transiträume e.V. has successfully allowed artist to transform vacant halls to impressive exhibition spaces, attracting large numbers of visitors. Among other, ZZZBremen showcased its “Wurst Case” (translates into “Sausage Case”), in which a sausage factory was reused involving the public in an extended participation process. The factory was then rented in a small scale to local entrepreneurs, artists, and for social initiatives and artisans testing of various kinds of use (offices, workshops, studios).
Giving the buildings a temporary use helps their protection, reduce the operational and maintenance costs for public vacancy and can support the cultural and creative industry. Through the participation of neighbourhoods, the interim use of vacant buildings also helps revitalizing disadvantaged areas. The main challenges consisted in setting a frame for interested users, which means to create the basic infrastructure and the legal framework for working in the abandoned buildings as well as finding sponsorships and raising awareness for the new project.
Based on these inputs, the group of experts discussed their project examples and ideas regarding a possible temporary use. Twenty floors of the former Hilton Hotel in Nairobi are currently vacant and the participants were interested in how interim use might lead to the attraction of possible investors. Although in one case an investor who had visited an exhibition in Berlin had finally bought the complex, the guests stated that this was not the main objective of interim utilisation. Financing was also a concern of a participants from Montenegro and Regensburg.
The consense was that those who profit most from the interim use should also be hold financially responsible. In most cases, tenants only pay a symbolic rent, but their conservation of the building presents an economic advantage for the owner. Cases are very individual. In Regensburg, the activation of central heating in the concerned building would have caused high costs. While the guest suggested house in house solutions, Regensburg had yet found creative forms of interim use and offered the fireguard and police to use the building for training purposes. Asked from Hebron, questions concerned the public participation process and best practices. The ongoing Connective Cities learning process will offer another follow-up activity on the involvement of the public, soon.
„Think about your interim project from the end. How is it guaranteed that the project ends in everybody’s consent?” Oliver Hasemann, ZweischenZeitZentrale Bremen
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