Category: Cities and climate change

Transforming primary school “Lovćenski Partizanski Odred”

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Revitalizing an essential community hub

The Primary School “Lovćenski Partizanski Odred” in Cetinje, Montenegro, has been a cornerstone of education in the community since 2004. Serving 600 students, the school building was constructed as part of a larger plan, which, due to budget limitations, was only partially completed. While the main building was in use, the absence of a sports hall and outdoor facilities, combined with outdated infrastructure, hindered the learning experience.

In 2018, a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation and the Old Royal Capital Cetinje set out to change this. The joint venture aimed to upgrade the school with a new sports hall, enhanced outdoor spaces, and significant energy efficiency improvements, ensuring a safer, more sustainable environment. This transformation, strengthened by Connective Cities’ knowledge-sharing platform, showcases the power of international collaboration in advancing sustainable urban development.

Connective Cities learning process and knowledge exchange

The Connective Cities network, which fosters sustainable urban practices through peer learning and collaboration, has been an invaluable resource in the transformation of Cetinje’s schools. In October 2023, representatives from Cetinje—Marija Mrvaljević, the City Chief Architect, and Marija Proročić, Secretary for Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection—participated in the Connective Cities Learning Process on Renewable Energy Options at the Municipal Level, in Tbilisi, Georgia. During this event, they presented the school renovation project, gaining valuable insights and technical expertise from other European and German cities facing similar urban challenges. This exchange has been essential in adapting the project to international standards of energy efficiency and sustainable design.

Through the Connective Cities platform, Cetinje has successfully integrated key renewable energy solutions into the renovation of local schools. The municipality installed solar energy systems on school buildings, significantly improving energy efficiency and reducing electricity costs. Additionally, energy-efficient lighting and enhanced insulation were implemented to further decrease energy consumption. These initiatives not only advance Cetinje’s sustainability objectives but also serve as a model for other municipalities seeking to implement similar solutions.

Turning polluted streams into green-blue corridors

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For the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, the world looked very different when it was participating in the Connective Cities learning process on urban development adapted to climate change between 2019 and 2021. The war in Ukraine began in 2022 and has forced a fundamental shift in priorities for municipal administrations. However, the renaturation of small rivers, which Vinnytsia began as part of the learning process, remains an important project for the city as it forms a key element of its sustainable future.

Recognition of environmental, urban planning and social potential

The city, with its population of around 370,000, is located 260 kilometres to the south-west of Kyiv with 64 small rivers and streams flowing through it. Their potential has long been underestimated. The locals referred to them simply as “stinking streams”, they were frequently full of rubbish or routed underground and the water quality was dreadful. Today, the municipality understands the environmental, urban planning and social potential these watercourses and their banks provide – as blue-green corridors, local areas for recreation and for protecting and promoting biodiversity. “To begin with we really had no idea what renaturation of a water course involved. We thought removing all the rubbish from the streams would be enough,” recalls Yanna Chaikovska, director of the municipal Institute of Urban Development in Vinnytsia.

Connective Cities at WUF12

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Under the notion ‘initiate change from home: locally, together, and now’, WUF12 was convened in Cairo- Egypt on 4  – 8  November 2024. Connective Cities and its network members have organized and participated in several activities with various thematic focus areas.

As a thriving knowledge-sharing network, Connective Cities was showcased during an intellectual panel that included representatives of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, VNG International, the Arab Urban Development Institute, and Metropolis. The discussion delved into examples of utilizing digital tools and innovative approaches for growth and collaborative knowledge-sharing to advance inclusive and resilient urban development on a global scale.

Handing Over Ceremony for the Climate-Sensitive City Development Strategy for Garowe

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On September 25, 2024, the Garowe Municipality officially received the Climate-Sensitive City Development Strategy (CSCD), developed in collaboration with GIZ and the RACCA Working Group. This strategy offers practical solutions to pressing climate challenges in areas such as mobility, waste management, water resources, and green spaces.

Event Highlights:

  • Presentation of key sectors for climate-friendly urban development in Garowe.
  • Discussion on sustainable measures to improve urban infrastructure.
  • Formal handover of the strategy plan to the municipality, promoting the implementation of climate-friendly projects in Garowe.
  • Expert exchanges and collaborative discussions aimed at ensuring a resilient future for the city.

The ceremony marked the transition from planning to implementation, empowering Garowe in its efforts to become a sustainable and climate-resilient city.

We invite you to read the full publication and documentation of the event to explore the insights and strategies discussed in detail.

Jerash in Jordan: Incremental steps towards success

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Known as “Pompeii of the Middle East”, Jerash in Jordan is a tourist destination due to its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins. It is a rapidly urbanizing city that is experiencing population growth, accompanied by challenges such as housing shortages, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, and the integration of refugee population. As the city struggles with these complex issues, the municipality has been pursuing innovative and sustainable solutions that prioritize the well-being of its residents while fostering environmental stewardship and economic prosperity. Represented by the local development unit, the municipality has actively participated in many of Connective Cities regional and global activities, enabling it to take away ideas for  local projects in the areas of gender-sensitive local economic development, waste management and plastic recycling, paving the way towards becoming a zero-waste municipality. In 2021, the municipality established a sorting station with financial and technical support from the GIZ to construct a waste sorting facility. The municipal waste management team has successfully managed the segregated waste operation during the past years. The operation is sustainable and the revenue from selling the segregated products is covering the operational costs.

More sustainable than demolition

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Public buildings from the 1960s and 70s are a common feature of many cityscapes around the world. Today, they no longer meet the 21st century’s technical, energy and aesthetic requirements, and are frequently demolished and replaced with new buildings. However, they have great potential for reducing emissions in the construction sector, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation. Thanks to their flexible floor plans, buildings from the 1960s and 70s – the modernist period – can be adapted to today’s requirements, often with additional benefits for cities and their inhabitants. It is high time we preserved these buildings, and used the grey energy embodied within their concrete and steel in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable way.

This paradigm shift was the focus of the ‘2nd Hands on Public Buildings’ discussion event held on 24-27 September 2024, hosted by Connective Cities, in cooperation with the Berlin Senate Department. Around 30 municipal practitioners from Germany, Kenya, Montenegro, the Palestinian territories, Zambia and Ukraine, came together to discuss approaches to, and challenges inherent in, sustainably repurposing public buildings from the 1960s and 70s, and to develop some project ideas.

Urban Thinkers Campus in Amman, Jordan

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Connective Cities co-organized the Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) that was held for the first time in Amman-Jordan. It aimed at generating insights and discussions to inform urban policies and strategies, fostering sustainable and inclusive urban development. Topics under focus were affordable/adequate housing, green infrastructure, and sustainable mobility. With representation from Jordanian and German municipalities, the Ministry of Transportation, NGOs, and academia, the UTC served as an inclusive forum for meaningful dialogue among urban researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, aimed at fostering constructive urban change.
 

Kragujevac – renewable energy in district heating

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‘ENERGETIKA’ Kragujevac, a state-owned company specialising in steam generation and air conditioning, has taken an important step towards environmental protection. In 2021, the old coal-fired boilers were replaced by modern gas-fired boilers, which have been in operation since the 2022/2023 heating season. This conversion has significantly reduced the plant’s environmental impact.

In a further project for the next three years, it is now planned to use the waste heat from a data centre located near the ‘Aerodrom’ boiler house heating plant and feed it into the district heating network using a heat pump. The data centre is planned for two expansion stages and the first has been in operation for less than two years. The currently installed cooling capacity of the 2 modules is 4.4 MW. The expansion of the data centre to 4 modules is expected to double the cooling capacity, which is planned for the coming years. The cooling system is designed for redundant operation.

By using the waste heat from the data centre in Kragujevac and other measures to increase energy efficiency in the hot water system, a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be achieved.

The initiative highlights the importance of continuous improvement through the exchange of expertise and experiences, ensuring medium to long-term success.

Heat in the City

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“Heat in the City” is the first Deep Dive learning project run by Connective Cities. Through the “Deep Dive” model, the Connective Cities platform allows municipalities to assign two or three staff spend two to three years as part of an international group focusing on a global issue which is relevant to cities.

2023 was the warmest year since weather records began. Heat accumulated with great intensity in cities, leading to the formation of “heat islands”. In the period from 1986 to 2005 German cities experienced twice as many days with temperatures of 30°C or more than in surrounding areas. Without wide-ranging countermeasures, this number could increase tenfold by 2100. Hot weather particularly affects vulnerable groups such as older people, children, the sick, homeless people and people who work outdoors.

From mid-2023 to mid-2025, six municipalities are joining forces for the Connective Cities “Heat in the City” Deep Dive. Together they are analysing the impacts of heatwaves and how heat islands form in their cities, and they are developing solutions tailored to local conditions. The cities involved are Lüdenscheid and Heidelberg (Germany), Aswan (Egypt), Nairobi and Mombasa (Kenya), and Lviv (Ukraine).

At a meeting in Nairobi in March 2024 the delegates undertook detailed work to identify the challenges their cities face and started developing a strategy to manage them. By the end of 2024 they aim to implement pilot projects which can be scaled up at a later date. At a third in-person workshop in Heidelberg from 3 to 6 June 2024 they expanded on their pilot projects and drafted action plans for implementing the projects.

This documentation presents the results to date in detail.

Kufranja municipality – city of oxygen in Jordan

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This is the first video in the second edition of ‘Voices from Connective Cities’. Dr. Anwaar Bani Salman, Head of Planning and studies at Kufranja municipality in Jordan talks about the competitive advantage of the municipality in agri- and eco-tourism due to its unique nature and high percentage of green cover. She highlights the benefits of peer learning particularly from Madaba municipality on the topics of local development strategies, proposal writing, and forging partnerships with stakeholders from different sectors. She noted that the moral support that she received from Connective Cities network helped her overcome various challenges such as fear of failure.

Watch video at YouTube: https://youtu.be/q6TZawYNglY

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Further information: Municipal Business Incubators in Madaba