Wiesbaden has taken an ambitious approach to make urban logistics more sustainable. Based on a political resolution, it has embarked on a three-phase journey, tackling delivery zones, emission-free transport and restructuring delivery services.
Category: Integrated urban development
The sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO) for Cities report
GEO for Cities aims to inform, engage and support dialogue among city decision makers and other actors involved in urban issues. The GEO-6 report identified urbanization as one of five main drivers of environmental change and also looked at the impact on cities and city residents of related challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
The GEO for Cities looks at these issues but also presents the types of solutions that can lead to environmentally sustainable and just cities. The GEO for Cities process is led by two co-chairs, guided by an Advisory Committee of organizations focused on urban and environment solutions (ICLEI, C40, Cities Alliance, IIED, ODI, IIHS, GCSE), has been drafted by around 20 expert authors and supported by the GEO Secretariat. The environmental and urban challenges outlined in this report require urgent and sustained attention from everyone involved in building or managing cities.
Some of the questions explored here concern the past and present. What are the urban dynamics that have resulted in environmental degradation and inequality? How can we overcome barriers to create a more sustainable future in different types of cities? How are cities affecting fresh water, land, biodiversity, the oceans and air? And how are changes in these dimensions of the environment affecting cities?
Other parts of the report address the future: What are innovative, ground-breaking visions for an environmentally sustainable and just future in cities for both people and nature? What are some of the pathways for transformative actions in cities and where can we find stories of success and hope? The report covers a wide range of environmental, social and economic issues while providing key starting points to take action and convert transformative visions into reality.
Invitation: “Citizen engagement in planning and implementation of sustainable mobility after Covid-19”
Connective Cities Southeast European Region is pleased to invite you to a Workshop on “Citizen engagement in planning and implementation of sustainable mobility after Covid 19”, discussing 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. The tools will cover different levels and degrees of participation.
This Planning Workshop is dedicated to
Presenting and discussing the prototype of the toolbox, selected roadmaps and tools for citizen engagement in the pandemic;
Sharing additional experiences and good practices;
Collecting ideas for publishing the toolbox (CC platform, municipality websites, research institute websites …); and
Identifying potential next steps for extending the toolbox.
The workshop will take place on
December 3, 2021 14.00-16.30 CET on the following link Sustainable Mobility Core Group | Connective Cities Network.
Please log in or sing up on Connective Cities platform to access Event and resources. Do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions.
Contact:
Dr. Irakli Samkharadze
GIZ Regional Network Coordinator Connective Cities – Southeast Europe
irakli.samkharadze@giz.de
For German experts:
Alice Balbo
Connective Cities Project Manager at the German Association of Cities
alice.balbo@staedtetag.de
Qaraoun Future Hope Project
Amidst the energy crisis that Lebanon is facing, the municipality of Qaraoun has succeeded in overcoming major impediments to the provision of renewable energy to its residents. The renewable energy project ‘PV SOLAR SYSTEM- OUR FUTURE HOPE’ has addressed local needs for renewable energy, technical and vocational education and training, as well as community awarness raising. The project has adopted an inclusive approach that ensured gender-sensitivity throughout its components.
Adopt a grandparent, the theme of solidarity in Tirana, Albania
The project ‘Adopt a grandparent’ is an initiative to help the lonely older people by providing groceries and medical care to their homes, helping those who live alone around their house, or merely accompanying them during difficult times.
Integration of nature based solutions in land use planning
The citizens of Durban are proud of their “green” metropolis. The fact that public spaces have been kept green or have been restored to their natural state is the result of a movement with its origins in the 1980s, the “Open Space Network”. In this podcast, Sabelo Nkosi, responsible for biodiversity planning at eThekwini Municpality, describes the work of the network, in which communities, science, SMEs and the city administration are equally involved. The green spaces not only provide biodiversity, they also mitigate the impacts of climate change and help people adapt more easily.
Watch the video on YouTube:
The Integrated Development Plan of Livingstone Municipal Council, Zambia
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:
Call for participation: The post-COVID City – towards greener cities
Connective Cities and its partners invite you to the sixth Insight Session, which will be held under the title “The post-COVID City – bringing together urban practitioners to work towards greener cities” virtualy on 18 October, 10:00-11:30 CEST.
The Insight Session will address the question “The city after Corona? When urban planners, climate scientists and health experts work together, the result can only be green”. The session is part of the so-called Urban October. During the month of October, UN-Habitat and partner organisations organise activities and discussions on sustainable urbanisation. The Insight Session will focus on the challenges and lessons learned in designing cities to better resist the spread of disease and redesigning urban planning to adapt to the risks of health crises.
Further information: Insight Session: The post-COVID City – bringing together urban practitioners to work towards greener cities | Connective Cities Network
Event Language: English
The Insight Session will be moderated by Franziska Loibl, Ute Maas and Tino Bosire. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Franziska Loibl (franziska.loibl@giz.de)
Ute Maas (ute.maas@giz.de)
Tino Bosire (tino.bosire@giz.de)
Municipal Energy Efficiency Projects Workshop in MENA
The international community of practice for sustainable urban development, Connective Cities in the MENA region, organized a virtual projects workshop under the topic “Municipal Energy Efficiency Projects in the MENA Region” on the 14 and 15 September 2021. The workshop was preceded by a day on financial advisory services for municipal energy efficiency projects in the MENA region.
The workshop has been a follow-up to the dialogue event held virtually in May 2021. This project workshop aimed at facilitating exchange of know-how and experience through peer learning among urban practitioners in MENA and Germany, supporting the project owners to define a roadmap and appropriate measures to progress with the development of the project ideas into bankable project proposals (technical advisory), as well as supporting consensus building among different stakeholders engaged in the planning and implementation of the project ideas, and determining future support needed to implement project ideas, which includes support from the Connective Cities network and German municipalities.
Nine Municipalities from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia presented their project ideas and had a chance to further develop them in the fields of: improving energy efficiency in municipal buildings, energy efficiency via reduction of fuel consumption in waste management and energy efficient street lighting.
A new normality: unforeseen climate-related risks
As part of the virtual series Insight Sessions: (Post) COVID Urban Futures, the event “The importance of disaster preparedness in cities and municipalities: experiences and lessons learned” took place on September, 1st 2021. The series facilitates a recurring exchange on various topics of sustainable urban development in the (Post) COVID-19 era between urban practitioners and interested parties worldwide. In the exchange formats, space is created for impulses and reflection and good practices are presented.
Considering the recent flood events in Germany in July, the session discussed global challenges and lessons learned from devastating flood events around the globe. Practitioners and experts from the field of urban planning exchanged ideas on how cities can better prepare for extreme weather events, improve early warning systems and increase public awareness of disaster risks.
Programme
In the first keynote speech “Cities and Flooding – Integrated urban flood risk management”, Abhas K. Jha, Practice Manager, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, South Asia Region at World Bank, discussed the challenges and possible courses of action in dealing with climate related risks of unprecedented and therefore unpredictable magnitude – so-called Black Swan Events. He stressed the importance of functioning (early) warning systems and their continuous further development as well as interdepartmental agreements within the authorities so that they can react appropriately in the event of a disaster.
In her keynote address “Reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience of cities to climate change impacts”, Dr. Koko Warner, UNFCC, spoke about the increasing risks worldwide due to global warming of more than 1.5 °C, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts. The importance of adaptation measures in municipalities and regions was particularly emphasized.
Both emphasized the importance of green infrastructure solutions in contrast to the expansion of grey infrastructure such as floodwalls and dikes. Sponge cities in Bangladesh were presented as an exemplary good practice, in which falling or inflowing water masses are absorbed by unsealed surfaces.
The two presentations were followed by a panel discussion of the experts William Mazibuko, Director of Disaster Management, City of Johannesburg, South Africa, Markus Sulk, Team Leader, Vocational Rescue Service, Fire Brigade Dortmund, Germany and Karma Dupchu, Director of the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology, Royal Government of Buthan on the topic “Good Practices and challenges in municipal flood risk management worldwide”.
Recording
You can find the recording of the event here: Insight Session: The importance of disaster preparedness in cities and municipalities | Connective Cities Network