Category: Good Urban Governance

Transformative Riverine Management Programme

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The Transformative Riverine Management Programme from the municipality of eThewkwini (Durban, South Africa) is an innovative project to integrate adaptive water and climate management and establishes a partnership between the municipality, research institutions, community organisations and citizens. The programme aims to transform the management of over 7,400 km of watercourses and river corridors. The aim is to improve water quality through ecosystem-based adaptations and reduce flood risk through community-level projects, such as paying for collected waste that can lead to drain blockages.

Interview with:

  • Mr Geoff Tooley, Coastal Stormwater and Catchment Management Division, Department of Engineering, eThekwini Municipality.
  • Mr. Emmanuel K. Letebele, Senior Planner, eThekwini Municipality

Watch video at YouTube:

https://youtu.be/d3iR9INk1oQ

Mr Emmanuel Letebele was part of the Working Group on Risk-Informed Urban Development (RIUD) in Sub-Saharan Africa. This working group is a joint initiative of GIZ’s Connective Cities programmes and the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management programme. More information on the RIUD working group.

Municipal Policy Award of the Carl and Anneliese Goerdeler Foundation 2023

Posted on by erik

Municipalities make an important contribution to climate protection – in Germany and worldwide. They not only work directly on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, but have often additionally committed themselves to further climate protection. Municipalities also face similar challenges worldwide and can therefore benefit from close cooperation and lively exchange. This is especially true for cross-border cooperation projects, which require particularly high motivation, courage and, last but not least, organisational and assertiveness skills during the ongoing pandemic.

In 2023, the Carl and Anneliese Goerdeler Foundation’s Municipal Policy Award will honour cross-border municipal cooperation projects on participatory municipal climate protection and adaptation measures with prize money of 2,000 euros. Outstanding cooperations of municipalities or municipal alliances with the participation of a German municipality or municipal alliance are sought.

All important information about the award and your application can be found in the competition announcement: pdf-Download  [in German]

Deadline extension: The deadline for applications is Monday, 31 October 2022.

The prize is awarded in memory of the communal political work of Carl Goerdeler as Mayor of the City of Leipzig and his resistance activities against Nazi rule. The award is intended to serve the peaceful cooperation of municipalities and municipal alliances that unites people and to promote mutual learning for the benefit of the residents.

Contact:

Ricarda Meissner
ricarda.meissner@giz.de 
Phone: +49 (0)228 4460 1138

Klaudia Sonntag
klaudia.Sonntag@giz.de 
Phone: +49 (0) 228 4460 1587

The Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the area of digitalisation and crisis management in the Southeast European region (SEE)

Posted on by erik

This report summarizes the activities developed under the project “The Development of COVID-19 Recovery Solutions at Municipal Level in the Areas of Digitalization and Crisis Management.” The project covered Southeast Europe and was conducted from September 2021 until December 2021.

The Report describes in detail the capacity-building processes conducted to support municipal resilience within the working groups of digitalization and crisis management over the course of several months, while also highlighting good practices that were identified and small urban initiatives that were developed together during the collaboration with urban practitioners from across the SEE region.

Additionally, the report covers processes and steps undertaken to support the expansion of the Connective Cities Network through encouraging more active and practical involvement of its current and new members.

For presentations and explanatory videos please refer also to

Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the area of digitalisation 

Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the areas of Crisis Management

Toolbox citizen engagement for sustainable mobility planning and implementation

Posted on by erik

The success of sustainable mobility plans and projects often depends on the commitment and acceptance by citizens. Therefore, citizen engagement in planning and implementation of sustainable mobility in municipalities turns out to be a key success factor not only for impactful implementation of new concepts, but also for co-creating smart sustainable mobility measures. This happens when solutions are developed together with stakeholders.

Due to the consequences of the pandemic citizen engagement is limited or impossible. This can endanger the success and/or slowing down necessary sustainable mobility projects. For this reason, the Connective Cities working group «Sustainable Mobility after COVID-19» created a prototype for «Toolbox citizen engagement for sustainable mobility planning and implementation».

The toolbox covers different levels and degrees of participation. It is a collection of successful tools and roadmaps that can be used in different phases of sustainable mobility planning and implementation in and after the pandemic.

Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the area of digitalisation

Posted on by erik

To support digitalisation capacity building in cities and municipalities, four intensive workshops were conducted with urban practitioners and relevant representatives throughout SEE. The workshop consisted of two parts: a learning activity, followed by collective work. These events took place online, using Miro and video conference tools, with 2-4 facilitators. 

Watch video at YouTube ansehen:

https://youtu.be/3D3F4iKCENY

More: Digitalisation: Developing your own ideas based on international practice – Insights into the work of the Digitisation Working Group in South Eastern Europe

Unturning the Stones – Exploring Climate Finance for Asian Cities

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In the event 25 urban practitioners and experts from 6 countries exchanged on innovative and efficient financing approaches to build climate resilient and low-carbon cities. They were united by the fact that all of them are working at the forefront of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in their cities. The event was jointly organised by Connective Cities, TURBOCLIC (Transformation – Urban Opportunities – Climate Change), an initiative from GIZ’s sector networks TUEWAS (Transport Environment Energy and Water in Asia) and SNGA (Governance Asia).

Further information, presentations and impressions

First Response Mechanisms, Fake News and Crisis Communication

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Working group of crisis management, consisting of urban practitioners from 14 municipalities across 9 countries: Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine, commenced its work on 20th September 2021 with Kick-off meeting.

Considering that this initiative comes as part of Connective Cities COVID-19 Programme and its objective is to support cities’ resilience during and after COVID-19, working group had embarked on a journey of rigorous analysis and discussions on matters and issues most relevant to their realities, worsened due to pandemic.

Process of work for the group consisted of homework being prepared for each session, depicting various scenarios of crises, disasters, their solution schemes as well as plans that could have been internalized by institutions for future preparedness.

During the session’s topics of Disaster Risk Reduction, First Response Mechanisms, Fake News and Crisis Communication were featured as important structures and knowledge basis for participants to take into account in their everyday works.

As work in the sessions continued, group members had jointly worked on the list of challenges, they considered important, such as lack of resources invested in piloting of appropriate technologies, contingency plans or in support of most vulnerable groups or even establishments such as SMEs. After compiling a comprehensive catalogue of challenges, participants were asked to focus on coming up with initiatives that would come as interventions dealing with issues indexed before. Participants were later using S.M.A.R.T. scheme for assessment of initiatives and solutions they have come forward with.

As a consequence of this series of workshops on guided peer-to-peer exchange, involved urban practitioners gained, tremendous experience in coming up with action plans, they learned methods and outlets of effective crisis communications, while also gaining some theoretical practice in potential risk and loss assessment.

Sessions in Retrospect

Working Group has met on four occasions, allowing members to present their initiatives, projects and thoughts on establishing elaborate crisis response mechanisms in their respective municipalities.

Workshop I: identification of crisis management, resilience and Covid-19 response challenges

Workshop II: analysis and definition of the challenges based on experiences, knowledge transfer and international discussion

Workshop III Crisis Management Southeast Europe (SEE): Prioritisation and solutions scan

Workshop IV Crisis Management in Southeast Europe (SEE): Identification of cities’ future initiative

The Integrated Development Plan of Livingstone Municipal Council, Zambia

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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:

https://youtu.be/EIWK5zV7FJc

More videos, interviews and podcasts

Building mental health resilience during times of COVID-19

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Since the outbreak of the global pandemic, municipalities have faced a multitude of challenges. Following prolonged lockdowns, travel restrictions, financial losses and job cuts, mental health problems have been on the rise.

Municipalities have been key players in fighting the spread of the virus and in managing the overall situation. As a result of these complex responsibilities, mental health issues, including burn out, have been observed among municipal employees, social workers, teachers, and civil society activists. Citizens have also been psychologically affected by the pandemic and are in need of support.

Connective Cities cordially invites you to participate in the virtual Public Health Cluster kick-off on “Building Mental Health Resilience during times of COVID-19” on  29 September 2021, from 15:30 to 17:30 CEST (Berlin Time).

The event will cover the following issues:

  • What are municipal challenges in the field of mental health, and why is the topic relevant?
  • What are the recommended actions to promote mental health in municipalities, also considering limited financial resources?
  • What can municipalities do to mitigate the mental health impacts of the pandemic?
  • How can different target groups be reached, including those for whom mental health is considered taboo?

The event is aimed at international municipal actors from local governments, civil society, business and academia who wish to share their challenges and good practices in the field of public health.

The aim is to present municipal challenges and practical examples and to develop new solution approaches through a joint exchange. The kick-off event lays the foundation for the formation of working groups that will further develop these solutions through collective consultation and with the support of regional and international experts.

In order to learn more about your experiences and wishes for the workshop, we kindly ask you to fill out this short questionnaire (5-7 min): Survey Mental Health | Connective Cities Network (also available in Arabic, German & Spanish). The results will be presented anonymously during the event.

To register for the workshop and stay updated on the agenda, the announcement of speakers and further details of the session, please visit our Connective Cities Community.

Please also visit our COVID 19 topic pages. Here you will find more event information, videos, good practices and publications, including on public health.

We are looking forward to your participation!

Public Health Cluster kick-off “Building mental health resilient during times of COVID-19”

Date: 29 September 2021

Time: 15:30 – 17:30 CEST (Berlin time)

Event Language: English. Translation into German, Arabic and Spanish (tbc)

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Contact: Paulina.koschmieder@giz.de

Thinking and acting beyond disasters

Posted on by erik

The COVID-19 pandemic and the occurrence of natural disasters in many parts of the world have profound implications for human lives, infrastructures, and communities. Municipalities are usually the first to respond to disasters, so adequate crisis management at the local level is urgently needed.

Connective Cities cordially invites you to participate in the virtual Crisis Management Cluster kick-off on “Thinking and Acting beyond Disasters” on 28 September 2021, from 15:30 to 17:30 CEST (Berlin Time).

The event has been designed together with urban practitioners and for the practical work in the municipalities. The following topics have been initially identified in the area of Disaster Management:

  1. Setting up systems for disaster management (measures, roles, structure, use of IT etc.)
  2. Public sensitization and communication
  3. Involvement of volunteers and civil society
  4. Creation of risk culture at the municipal and public level
  5. Disaster management in specific action areas, such as the breakdown of critical infrastructure, floods, or fire.

On this basis, the following questions will be discussed in the kick-off workshop:

  • What are typical challenges on a municipal level concerning disaster management?
  • How to prepare for disasters?
  • How to set up disaster management, even with low (human and financial) resources?

Contents & Speakers:

  • Mr. Henning Schulz, former mayor of the German city of Gütersloh, who will provide an overview of disaster management from a municipal viewpoint and report about his experiences on disaster management during the COVID-19 pandemic and innovative solutions.
  • Mr. Felix Richter, CEO of Kompetus Consulting, who has more than 20 years of project experience in management consulting for the public sector and is a former trainer for the Academy for International Cooperation (AIZ) for experts travelling to fragile countries. He will provide an overview of crises management planning and execution for municipalities – from a practical perspective.

The event is aimed at international municipal actors from local governments, civil society, business and academia who wish to share their challenges and good practices in the field of crisis management.

The aim is to present municipal challenges and practical examples and to develop new solution approaches through a joint exchange. The kick-off event lays the foundation for the formation of working groups that will further develop these solutions through collective consultation and with the support of regional and international experts.

In order to learn more about your experiences and needs concerning disaster management, we kindly ask you to fill out the following short questionnaire (5-7 min):

Disaster Managment Questionnaire (also available in German, Spanish and Arabic). The results will be presented anonymously during the event. 

To register for the workshop and stay updated on the agenda and further details of the session, please visit our Connective Cities Community.

Please also visit our COVID 19 topic pages. Here you will find more event information, videos, good practices and publications, including on crisis management.

We are looking forward to your active participation!

Crisis Management Cluster kick-off “Thinking and acting beyond disasters”

Date: 28 September 2021

Time: 15:30 – 17:30 CEST (Berlin time)

Event language: English. Translation into German, Spanish, Arabic

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Contact: Paulina.koschmieder@giz.de