Several projects have helped to make the community of Keda in Georgia greener by enabling innovations in infrastructure and transport and raising citizens’ awareness of available energy efficient (EE) and renewable energy (RE) solutions.
Category: Integrated urban development
Tianjin Daqiuzhuang Eco-City: green, ecological and low carbon
Daqiuzhuang has traditionally been an important industrial site, especially for the steel industry.
The Sino-German Tianjin Daqiuzhuang Eco-City has developed an overarching indicator system with 20 ecological indicators, 50 percent of which are from the areas of energy saving and emission reduction. Modern concepts and technologies from Germany serve as a reference and the Energy and Climate Protection Management System (EKM) of the German Energy Agency (DENA) as a basis. The modern indicator systems for regional development of the China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, the Xiong’an New District and the Beijing Municipal Administrative Centre are also used as a basis. The Eco-City indicator system is divided into three areas: green ecology, liveable life and innovative production; of which 11 are control indicators and 9 are leading indicators. The indicator system thus guides the construction and development of the Eco-City throughout its life cycle.
Tackling drug addiction and drug use through an innovative partnership
Drug addiction or drug use disorder is a major issue facing our cities and in fact, all parts of societies. During South Africa’s toughest lockdown, an innovative partnership with the city government, academics, NGOs, businesses, the police led to the setting up of a rehabilitation centre inside the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium for homeless people with drug use disorder called Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre.
Early warning systems and disaster preparedness to protect against forest fires and preserve biodiversity
The virtual kick-off event of the Biodiversity and Environmental Protection Working Group of the Connective Cities network in MENA was held on the 9th August 2021. The event aimed at initiating a practice–oriented knowledge exchange between urban practitioners in the field of biodiversity and environmental protection, facilitating peer learning on state-of-the-art technology to increase resilience and improve disaster preparedness related to forest fires, fostering development of concrete projects ideas related to forest fires prevention and raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity and the value of ecosystem protection, risk factors, and the protection and preparedness tools.
Two examples on the deployment of early warning systems for forest fires from Lebanon (SBR experience in forest fires prevention in Shouf Biosphere Reserve, by Mr. Nizar Hani) and Germany (Early warning system of forest fires in Lower Saxony, by Mr. Helmut Beuke) were presented. The event was attended by 20 municipalities joining from Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, and Germany. The participants showcased the progress achieved by local disaster management offices and engaged in peer learning for additional improvement of the local and national capacities. In addition, the participants shared practice-oriented experience, which facilitated transferring, sustaining and innovating effectively applied solutions.
A second virtual session for this working group will be held on the 8th September 2021, showcasing good practice examples from Hannover-Germany and Menjez-Lebanon on municipal leadership and commitment to improve biodiversity protection and successful local actions in the field of biodiversity management.
Pop-up bike lanes: long-term opportunities for green urban development after the Covid-19 pandemic?
The event series “Insight Sessions: Post-COVID Urban Futures” is part of this year’s Connective Cities COVID programme and facilitates a regular, open exchange on relevant topics of the post-COVID-19 era for municipal practitioners and relevant experts worldwide. Different topics of sustainable urban development during and after the COVID-19 pandemic will be discussed and innovative approaches in this regard will be shared in brief and concise virtual exchange formats. The aim of these events is to provide impulses that encourage participants to reflect on their progress so far and think about innovative solutions. The open discussion rounds will take place on Wednesdays once every three weeks.
We are pleased to invite you to the fourth event in the series on “Pop-up bike lanes: long-term opportunities for green urban development after the Covid-19 pandemic?” on Wednesday, September 8th, 2021, from 15:30 to 17:00 CEST.
They appeared suddenly: bike lanes separated by yellow markings and conspicuous warning bars, replacing parking lanes, parts of the roadways or even the entire right lanes on busy roads. Following the example of the Colombian capital Bogotá, dozens of kilometers of new bike lanes have been built in cities around the world after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bike lanes allow urban residents to get more physical activity and offer hope for a shift towards a more sustainable urban mobility and transportation and a reduction of CO2 emissions in cities. As a result, many users want the pop-up bike lanes to remain in place after the pandemic and urban researchers and practitioners value them as a great opportunity for a more climate friendly and healthy urban development and a paradigm shift in urban mobility in the post-COVID era.
However, there is also criticism on the new bike lanes. Motorists fear more congestion and longer travel times with increased traffic after the COVID-19 pandemic, as the pop-up bike lanes lead to fewer lanes are available for cars. This would also contradict the plan to improve air quality. This would also contradict the plan to improve air quality. There are also fears of more accidents when cars and bicyclists meet in close quarters. As a result, the cities of Berlin and Munich, for example, have had to contend with lawsuits against the preservation of pop-up bike lanes.
In this session insights into good practices of cities and the challenges they are facing will be presented. Discussions on the pop-up bike lanes and their long-term preservation will be stimulated and urban practitioners worldwide will exchange and be made aware of the opportunities of more bike lanes for green urban development in the post-COVID era.
To register for the event and stay updated on the agenda, the announcement of speakers and further details of the session please follow:
Date: Wednesday, September 8th
Time: 15:30-17:00 CEST
Event language: English (translation tba)
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Contact: angela.beckmann-wuebbelt@giz.de
Towards a gender-sensitive city
Without a gender-sensitive approach to urban development in the post-COVID era, the pandemic could have far-reaching effects including the risk of widening gender inequalities in various areas such as public health, urban participation, and social life. At the same time gender mainstreaming tools and good practices of gender-sensitive recovery strategies already exist, which, if used effectively, can mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 and contribute to an increased gender equality.
We are pleased to invite you to the Kick-off event of our COVID Cluster “Gender sensitivity in the pandemic” on Thursday, September 2nd, 2021, from 15:00 to 17:00 CEST. The event promotes the exchange of challenges and good practice in the planning and implementation of urban gender-sensitive recovery measures by focusing on the following topics:
- Gender-sensitive urban planning and development
- Urban approaches combating domestic violence
- Gender responsive urban mobility
The kick-off event brings together municipal representatives and urban practitioners to present and discuss their challenges and good practices and to develop new project ideas through peer-learning and exchange. The kick-off event will set the ground for the formation of different working groups which will aim at further developing these project ideas by peer-to-peer exchange formats and with the support of relevant regional and international experts.
To register for the event and stay updated on the agenda, the announcement of speakers and further details of the session please follow:
COVID Gender Cluster Kick-off | Connective Cities Network (connective-cities.net)
We are looking forward to welcoming you in the event!
Date: Thursday, September 2nd, 2021
Time: 15:00-17:00 CEST
Event language: English (translation tba)
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Contact: franziska.loibl@giz.de
Beyond Climate
When planning and investing in infrastructure projects, innovative cities bundle together a larger set of overarching objectives in the social, economic, environmental, health and governance realms. Integrating multiple benefits in climate infrastructure projects tends to enhance their political and financial/ fiscal viability, scalability, and replicability. Identifying and planning for benefits during early project development stages increase the project’s success, both in delivering positive environment and human-centred impacts, as well as in mobilising political buy-in and connecting with finance.
This report aims to show that project preparation facilities (PPFs) can and should aid in integrating climate action with other, highly synergetic development and cooperation objectives.
Sustainable Urban Energy Planning – Road to Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy powered municipalities
Approximately 90 experts and urban practitioners from more than 30 municipalities within 9 countries of Southeast Europe, gathered to discuss major opportunities and challenges convoked by the shift towards greener energy consumption around the world. As major countries of the world come out with bod statements of reaching climate neutrality by 2050, all of us need to keep up the pace and start acting on the promised shift. The Dialogue event held during the week of 17-21 May focused on discussions of energy efficient solutions, innovative renewable energy sources as well as on getting some new insights into the EU Green Deal.
This event offered a virtual platform to discuss these challenges and supported municipalities in developing locally adapted solutions for climate challenges, specifically those related to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
During these 5 days of asynchronous and synchronous digital meetings participants listened to inspiring Keynote presentations from leading European scientists and shared insights with peers.
This report is the detailed documentation of the event.
The city of Krusevac during the pandemic
Krusevac, a city in the heart of Serbia, took multiple actions during the pandemic to protect its approximately 58,000 inhabitants. The city’s crisis management included preventive measures. For instance, disinfectants in 200 large canisters were placed throughout the city and made available to the population free of charge, and the public enterprise “Veterinary Station Krusevac” disinfected public facilities. Furthermore, public health was an integral part of crisis management. Namely, the municipality of Krusevac built a temporary hospital with 150 beds in a sports hall to treat people with mild disease progression. In addition, a larger hospital with 500 beds was built after the first wave to be prepared for the second wave of the pandemic.
For an effective and fast implementation of the COVID measures, not only the involvement of different stakeholders, such as the Serbian military, public enterprises, and the political administration of the city, but also the protection of vulnerable and at-risk groups was vital. Therefore, Krusevac organised and coordinated a volunteer service. Volunteers packed and distributed 62,175 food rations to pensioners, single parents during the first three months of the pandemic. Moreover, the city provided taxis to deliver food and medicine to people in need.
By now (as of July 2021), about 45 percent of Krusevac residents are fully vaccinated. In the coming months, the municipality will mainly focus on keeping interest in vaccination high in order to achieve herd immunity.
The city of Krusevac is also working on sustainable and inclusive mobility concepts, for example by building new bicycle paths.
Further Information:
Presentation: CITY OF KRUSEVAC [PDF, 5mb]
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Veranstaltungsaufzeichnung in Englisch (Präsentation Krusevac beginnt bei der Minute 92:00): „Infection Chain Tracing in Southeast Europe (SEE) and Caucasus“ (Nur für Registrierte auf der Connective Cities Plattform)
Contact
Dusan Todorovic,
Head of the Department of Defense and Emergency situations
dusan.todorovic@krusevac.rs
Wiesbaden: sustainable urban logistics
The increasing number of delivery vehicles is congesting our city centers and is causing more CO2 emissions. In the Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden (Germany), the situation was getting so bad that the city had to take action. The city government introduced the Green City Master Plan. One focus of the plan: Urban Logistics. Learn in our video how the city brought together different stakeholders and how delivery and pick-up traffic were optimized by a team of urban logistics experts.
Watch video at YouTube: https://youtu.be/-evOxsOsyn0
More information: Nachhaltige Stadtlogistik Wiesbaden (in German)