“What gets measured, gets managed.” This adage underscores the importance of tracking progress to achieve meaningful change. For municipalities committed to gender mainstreaming, this means developing structured data systems, enriching the knowledge base, and ensuring precise monitoring—essential steps toward truly inclusive, gender-sensitive local governance.
Building on the model pioneered by the National Federation of Tunisian municipalities (FNCT) and its partners,1 this guide provides a unified, practical framework for advancing gender equality by integrating a gender perspective across all municipal services. Beyond policies and projects, it aims to catalyze a cultural shift—one where gender mainstreaming is no longer an add-on, but a fundamental pillar of equitable and effective local governance. Establishing a municipal observatory for Gender Mainstreaming enables municipalities to integrate the gender perspective into all aspects of municipal services, and to foster a shift in mindset where gender mainstreaming is recognized as a core element of fair and inclusive local governance. Employing the guide’s evidence-based approach, municipalities can stimulate dialogue, propose concrete solutions, and develop measurable gender related indicators that municipalities can apply and track.
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.
This was the central question that brought together urban risk experts, local leaders, and community representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo to continue the workshop series on “Risk-Informed Urban Development in West Africa and the ECOWAS Region”.
The 2nd workshop took place from 02-04 July in Accra, Ghana. This workshop was jointly organised by the German Projects Resilience Initiative Africa (RIA), Connective Cities, and CIVIC and in cooperation with the African Union and the ECOWAS Commission.
The Workshop Series
West Africa is facing growing challenges due to climate change and rapid urbanisation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts temperature increases of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, which has already led to a 25% rise in climate-related extreme events between 2011 and 2021. These shifts threaten water resources, biodiversity, food security, and public health. Additionally, the urban population is expected to double by 2050 across Africa, exacerbating the risks associated with rapid urbanisation, particularly in informal settlements. Climate-related disasters could cost the region between 1.5% and 3% of GDP annually by 2030, making investments in urban resilience vital for protecting infrastructure, livelihoods, and promoting sustainable economic growth.
Panelists from left to right – Isabel Njihia (UNDRR), Mr. Cédric Dzelu, Technical Advisor to the Minister, Ministry for Climate Change and Sustainability, Ghana, Dr. Emmanuel Osuteye, AUC, Mrs. Beatrice Owusu-Appiah, Planner, City of Accra, Mr. Assouhan Jonas Atchade, ECOWAS Secretariat | Photo: GIZ – Resilience Initiative Africa
To address these challenges, RIA and Connective Cities have launched the workshop series on “Risk-Informed Urban Development in West Africa and the ECOWAS Region”. The goal of the workshop series is to provide urban actors in the region with the tools and knowledge needed to manage urban risks while fostering collaboration through peer learning and exchange. The workshop series supports 12 cities from West Africa in preparing bankable project ideas to address the risks faced in their cities and strengthening the capacities of the participating urban practitioners in enhancing urban resilience.
Workshop 2 – Inclusivity and Participatory Risk Assessments
Presentation by Dr. Benjamin Creutzfeldt, City of Berlin on New impulse for municipal urban pluvial risk management: map-ping the impacts of heavy rain on various elements at risk | Photo: GIZ – Resilience Initiative Africa
After the kick-off workshop in Lomé, Togo, the 2nd workshop took place in Accra, Ghana from 2 to 4 July. Over three days, participants gained insights into participatory risk assessments and inclusivity concepts. They were provided with concrete tools and approaches on how to integrate these concepts in their urban planning work to tackle Risk-Informed Urban Development. Experts in urban planning, as well as representatives from the African Union and ECOWAS, and civil society, shared their experiences and provided a range of perspectives, from continental to local-level approaches.
The workshop was completed through the continued peer-advisory sessions where cities presented their concrete challenges in the elaboration of their project idea that they started since workshop 1 and received practical advice from other participating cities.
The Ga Mashie Participatory Slum Upgrading Project | Photo: GIZ – Resilience Initaitive AfricaThe Recycling Hub at the Bubuashie Cable and Wireless. | Photo: GIZ – Resilience Initiative Africa
On the third day of the workshop, participants visited two sites in Accra that linked to the topic of participatory risk assessment and inclusivity: The Ga Mashie Participatory Slum Upgrading Project and the Recycling Hub at the Bubuashie Cable and Wireless. The site visits were co-organised by the City of Accra and Slum Dwellers International.
Next steps
The series of workshops will continue to provide local governments, urban planners, and communities with the knowledge and tools needed to make risk-informed decisions in urban planning and management. The next workshop is scheduled for October 2025, focusing on access to finance and the development of action plans.
Group photo of participants | Photo: GIZ – Resilience Initiative Africa
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
NEWSLETTER – ISSUE NO. 86, AUGUST 2025
Dear Readers,
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them,” wrote American author, professor, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou to her daughter. When people come together with this mindset—pooling their energy and expertise to face crises collectively—remarkable resilience can emerge, both within groups and across entire communities.
This spirit was clearly visible at Connective Cities’ expert forum during the Seventh German-Ukrainian Partnership Conference in Münster, as well as in our ongoing learning process on inclusivity and participatory risk assessments in West African cities. Close engagement with citizens and participatory governance are key elements here, and digital tools can help make them more effective, as highlighted by examples from Abu Dhabi and Ras el-Matn in our event “From Open Municipality to Smart City.”
We also report on how local administrations and city associations joined forces at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York to advocate for stronger recognition of their expertise in shaping national sustainability strategies.
And of course, we warmly invite you to our two upcoming online events: one will focus on strategies for the “reuse of public buildings from the 1960s and 1970s”, while the other will reflect on experiences with local sustainability reporting and the Voluntary Local Review.
We hope you enjoy this issue and find it inspiring.
Your Connective Cities Team
REVIEW
From the Open Municipality to the Smart City
Localising good governance and leveraging GIS for livability and infrastructure planning
Through transparency, citizen participation and data-driven decision-making, cities can improve quality of life and infrastructure planning. While technology enables efficiency, the foundation remains good governance: cooperation, accountability and citizen-centred policies. Two good practices – a geodata solution in Abu Dhabi and participatory administration in Ras el-Matn – were used as examples to discuss the ways to achieve this in depth.
Resilient Cities in Times of Multiple Crises Strategies for Resilient Municipalities
Connective Cities side event at the seventh German-Ukrainian partnership conference in Münster
The Ukrainian panellists gave impressive examples to the audience of the effects of Russia’s war of aggression, demonstrating what it means for a city’s population to face acute crises, and showing how important citizens’ and entrepreneurs’ willpower is in this regard. The importance of close collaboration between a variety of national and international stakeholders in building resilient cities was also highlighted.
From Risk to Resilience: Building Inclusive Urban Futures in West Africa
How do Western African cities address inclusivity and participatory risk assessments in the context of growing challenges of disaster risk preparedness and rapid urbanisation?
The central question of how to address urban risk brought together experts and local leaders from municipalities in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The workshop series supports 12 cities in developing bankable project ideas to address risks in their areas, while also strengthening participants’ capacity to improve urban resilience.
Local and Regional Governments at the High-Level Political Forum 2025
Working group meeting draws conclusions from the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Committee in New York City 2025
Local administrations are still not sufficiently involved in preparing national sustainability reports as partners, which is likely to be one reason for the ongoing challenges in implementing the SDGs. This was one of several key conclusions from the working group meeting attended by 19 municipal practitioners from around the world.
2nd Hands on Public Buildings. Reuse of modernist buildings
Invitation to the summary & outlook event on 22 September 2025, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (CEST), online
The construction sector is responsible for around 60% of CO₂ emissions and over 30% of waste generation. Reusing and converting buildings is an essential strategy for making the construction sector more sustainable and saving local authorities money. We would therefore like to cordially invite you to our 2.5-hour online event.
Sustainability Reporting and Voluntary Local Review
Invitation to the summary and outlook event on 25 September 2025, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CEST), online
The Voluntary Local Review (VLR) is a globally recognised, flexible reporting tool that helps cities track and present their contributions to the 2030 Agenda. During the online events, representatives from local government associations and municipalities will come together to present and discuss success stories from Lusaka, Niš and other places.
Association of German Cities Gereonstraße 18 – 32, 50670 Köln | Deutschland Kontakt: Sabine Drees Email: sabine.drees@staedtetag.de
Engagement Global gGmbH Service Agency Communities in One World Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40, 53113 Bonn | Deutschland Kontakt: Sibylle Loyeau Email: sibylle.loyeau@engagement-global.de
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36, 53113 Bonn | Deutschland Kontakt: Ricarda Meissner Email: ricarda.meissner@giz.de
The Resilience Initiative Africa (RIA), in partnership with Connective Cities is implementing a series of workshops aimed at bolstering urban resilience.
Workshop Timeline:
Workshop 1: Introduction to Risk-Informed Urban Development (February 2025, Togo)
Workshop 2: Participatory Risk Analysis and Financing Preparedness (April/May 2025)
Workshop 3: Action Plan Development for Inclusive Disaster Risk Management (September/October 2025)
Building on the success and outcomes of the first workshop in the series on strengthening risk-informed urban development in West Africa and the ECOWAS region—held in Lomé, Togo from March 18 to 20, 2025—the second installment will take place in Accra, Ghana from July 2 to 4, 2025.
The workshop in Lomé focused on establishing an exchange network by bringing together peers from 12 cities across the region, along with representatives from the ECOWAS Secretariat and the African Union Commission, to engage in in-depth technical discussions on strengthening risk-informed urban development and identifying project ideas to address resilience challenges.
Building on the foundations of the peer exchange platform established in Lomé, the upcoming workshop in Accra will continue the technical exchanges on project idea development, with a particular emphasis on inclusion and participatory risk analysis to ensure a whole-of-society approach where no one is left behind.
We look forward to a successful workshop in Ghana, and will share the updates on our Connective Cities platform.
Connective Cities regional network in the Middle East and North Africa organized a virtual insight session on how municipalities can utilise open governance models and harness the power of digitalisation for better urban planning and service delivery. The major potential of employing this approach lies in improved strategies for dynamic urban resource management, devising strategies for urban engagement and civic participation, as well as innovations in urban management, and policy analysis.
The insight session showcased municipal experiences on how open government principles can be localized to enhance transparency and citizen engagement and ultimately promote good governance. The role of digital transformation in increasing transparency and public participation was underscored. Furthermore, the insight session delved into application of digital tools, in particular AI-powered Geographic Information Systems (GIS), for supporting data-driven decision-making for infrastructure development and livability improvements. By showcasing good practice examples from Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Ras el-Matn (Lebanon), participants learned about successful experiences in integrating open government principles as well as urban informatics for sustainable urban growth and making municipalities more inclusive, efficient, and resilient.
On the importance of correctly assessing quality of life | Photo: Connective CitiesGIS-supported planning to improve the quality of life | Photo: Connective Cities
The first showcased good practice discussed geospatial solutions to empower governments and municipalities with AI-powered, user-friendly GIS platforms via automation, smart analytics, and seamless decision-making tools. Examples of these tools that are employed by the municipality of Abu Dhabi to achieve higher livability standards are custom GIS applications, smart city dashboards, spatial data infrastructure systems, real-time monitoring solutions, and geospatial decision support tools. These tools are customizable and scalable, and can be adapted to the municipal needs that include spatial analysis, infrastructure planning, data integration for engineering projects, and urban design visualization.
Principles of the open government | Photo: Connective Cities
In Ras el-Matn municipality, the principles of the open government were recently adopted to promote transparency and cooperation between municipalities and citizens. These principles were locally-adapted to form a framework for transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in local governance, particularly via increasing transparency and accountability, promoting citizen participation and collaborative governance, deploying technology, innovation and open data, improving access to information , and mainstreaming rule of law , ensuring fiscal transparency and public integrity, and optimizing responsiveness by listening to public feedback and adapting policies accordingly. It was highlighted that the smart municipality complements the open government but does not replace it. Technology is a tool to support transparency and participation, but it is not the ultimate solution to improving livability in cities.
Steps towards setting up a municipal database | Photo: Connective Cities
By localizing transparency, citizen engagement, and data-driven decision-making—as demonstrated in Abu Dhabi’s geospatial solutions and Ras el-Matn’s participatory governance—cities can enhance livability and infrastructure planning. While technology enables efficiency, the foundation remains good governance: collaboration, accountability, and citizen-centric policies. The key takeaway: A “smart city” is not just about technology but about leveraging it to strengthen open, equitable, and sustainable urban development.
Recording of the session on Connective Cities platform (in Arabic).
In times of multiple crises, cities must become increasingly resilient. They are increasingly under pressure due to war, the climate crisis, and economic uncertainties. At the seventh German-Ukrainian Municipal Partnership Conference on 18 June 2025, Connective Cities will host an expert forum on the topic of ‘Resilient cities in times of multiple crises – strategies for resilient municipalities’.
The expert forum will examine and classify aspects of resilient urban development in Ukrainian and German municipalities. Christian Rauch from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) will present the concept of urban resilienceand report on the ‘city stress test’ with German municipalities. How does urban resilience manifest itself in practice? Invited panelists from German and Ukrainian municipalities will use visual material to present their strategies for sustainable urban development on a wide range of aspects of urban resilience. Led by the moderator, the audience will also be involved in the subsequent panel discussion.
The seventh German-Ukrainian municipal partnership conference will take place in Münster from 16 to 18 June 2025. It is directed at local government representatives and other committed individuals from the German-Ukrainian municipal partnership network and offers space for professional and personal exchange, insights into support services, as well as expert forums and panel discussions on pressing current issues. More information on the partnership conference can be found here.
In times of multiple crises, cities must become increasingly resilient. This currently applies to Ukrainian municipalities in particular: they need to prepare for and respond to stressors such as acts of war, the effects of climate change and economic developments. Connective Cities hosted the expert forum “Resilient cities in times of multiple crises – strategies for resilient municipalities” at the seventh German-Ukrainian partnership conference in Münster (16 – 18.06.2025). The cooperation partners GIZ and Engagement Global with its SKEW welcomed a panel with numerous good practices from Ukrainian and German municipalities, some of which are already involved in Connective Cities’ project activities on urban resilience.
A resilient city is a city that deals with risks and takes precautions, but also a city that is able to learn and adapt. Resilience is a much-used term today – Christian Rauch, head of the “Digital City, Risk Prevention and Transport” department at the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), therefore defined the concept of resilience in a city in his introductory keynote speech. A resilient city is robust, but also adaptable. It is able to react to a variety of stressors, such as social polarization, thermal stress, demographic developments or energy crises. Areas of action for greater urban resilience include integrated and forward-looking urban development, strengthening and adapting critical infrastructure, risk and crisis management, climate resilience and sustainable solutions, community participation and governance, monitoring, review and learning processes, as well as the use of digital tools. Christian Rauch also referred to international strategy documents with guidelines for strengthening urban resilience: “The New Leipzig Charter” and “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030“.
Individual efforts for more urban resilience were illustrated by the examples of the 7 panelists, who presented their strategies by way of introduction with images of their projects:
From the district of Euskirchen, which was affected by the flood disaster in 2021, project manager of the KRITIS dialog Sarah zur Linden reported on her experiences of improving communication between local and regional actors in crises.
Valeriia Levchyshyna from the Lviv City Institute is involved in setting up the Lviv Resilience Hub, which aims to bundle the networking of Ukrainian cities on the topic of resilience and continue the topics of the “Ukrainian Resilience Week” at municipal level.
Project coordinator Monika Hanemann reported on the WiReSt project from the Steinfurt district. As part of the project, an open-source app was developed to inform small and medium-sized companies in the region about potential bottlenecks within relevant supply chains.
The Head of the International Cooperation Department, Sasha Kirian, presented an example of greater social resilience from Kharkiv, a municipality affected by Russian bombing: Underground schools. Thanks to foreign investment, a total of 16% of pupils already have the opportunity to attend a safe institution. Measures like these allow the population to stay in the city.
The mayor of the city of Trosyanets, Yuri Bova, explained how important the will of the population is for this and showed pictures of a hospital that had been bombed and then rebuilt. He repeatedly and impressively emphasized the unbroken will of the citizens – including the hospital staff – to stay. This also has an impact on economic resilience: No company has left its town, some have even invested in the reconstruction of destroyed production facilities.
Patrick Dufour, Head of the Heilbronn Economic Development Agency, also spoke of strategies to retain companies. To this end, he is already working intensively with Ukrainian municipalities.
Tetyana Shulichenko, Director of the Economic Development Department of Mykolaiv City Council, showed pictures of the reconstruction of the port, for example. According to her, the increased international interest and willingness to invest is an opportunity. New places for a better quality of stay and life have also been created in the port.
On the one hand, the audience was able to take away from the expert forum the basics of urban resilience and the realization that diverse and mostly innovative approaches and projects can strengthen the resilience of their cities. The examples of the Ukrainian panelists regarding the effects of the Russian war of aggression impressively showed the audience what it means for the population of a city to stand up to acute crises and how important the will of citizens and entrepreneurs is to do so. The examples and speeches also clearly showed that lively cooperation between a wide range of actors, both nationally and internationally, is essential for resilient cities. Under certain circumstances, the increased interest in investment is also an opportunity for Ukrainian municipalities to actively shape reconstruction in line with the model of the resilient city.
Join us for an insight session exploring how municipalities can utilise open governance models and harness the power of digitalisation for better urban planning and service delivery.
This insight session showcases municipal experiences on how open government principles can be localized to enhance transparency and citizen engagement and ultimately promote good governance. The role of digital transformation in increasing transparency and public participation will also be discussed. Furthermore, the insight session delves into application of digital tools, in particular Geographic Information Systems (GIS), for supporting data-driven decision-making for infrastructure development and liveability improvements. Participants will explore good practice examples of cities successfully integrating smart governance and spatial planning for sustainable urban growth and engage with experts and peers on strategies to make municipalities more inclusive, efficient, and resilient.
How does your city deal with increasing heat? What can you do to protect the urban population from the impacts of heat burden in cities?
We would like to invite you to learn from the intensive exchange of expertise between the cities of Aswan in Egypt, Heidelberg and Lüdenscheid in Germany, Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya and Lviv in Ukraine. The experts jointly identified and analysed challenges and developed locally-adapted solutions in the form of pilots that were implemented in their respective cities. We would like to present and discuss the results of the two-year deep dive process ‘Heat in the city’ on 12 June 2025, from 9:00 – 12:00 am:
You will have the opportunity to ‘dive’ into the projects and understand which key elements are important for successful implementation and upscaling in the future. In Lüdenscheid, efforts began with forming a multi-departmental core team to guide the development of a comprehensive heat action plan tailored to the city’s needs. Meanwhile, in Aswan, an integrated heat action framework was developed to address the unique challenges of the region’s hot climate. In Mombasa, initiatives focused on raising awareness and mapping urban heat island hotspots to inform better both stakeholders and citizens. Similarly, in Nairobi, schools became the focus of heat mitigation efforts, using temperature data to guide the strategic planting of shade-providing fruit trees, complemented by awareness programs aimed at students and educators. Meanwhile in Lviv, the participatory initiative of pocket parks was successfully launched in three different sites. Heidelberg is planning both to create a climatological database for all public spaces and outdoor areas and to develop up to three best practice examples for urban heat mitigation in public spaces.
The event is aimed at municipal experts from Germany and around the world as well as at potential donors and financial institutions who may be interested in supporting the projects. We look forward to welcoming you!
The working language of the event is English. In order to attend the meeting, subscribe here.
