Category: Integrated urban development

Early warning systems and disaster preparedness to protect against forest fires and preserve biodiversity

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The kickoff event aims at introducing the participants to the thematic working group ‘Biodiversity and Environmental Protection, as well as presenting two examples on best practices from Germany and Lebanon on the deployment of early warning systems for forest fires. There is an ever-growing need to strengthen decentralised cooperation between the MENA region and Germany on the dissemination of good practices peer advisory in this thematic field.

At a regional level, the land resources of the MENA region suffer from three main challenges: aridity, recurrent drought, and desertification. Major causes of land degradation are forest fire, deforestation, inappropriate agricultural techniques.  Land degradation in MENA is due to wildfire especially that forest management is weak, and that residential developments are spreading to mountainous and vegetated areas. Wildfires are often originated due to human carelessness, to the lack of their consideration to the environment and the climate change.

This event is an opportunity to showcase the progress achieved by local disaster management offices as well as promoting peer learning for additional improvement of the local and national capacities. Sharing practice-oriented experience facilitates transferring, sustaining and innovating effective applied solutions. The event’s objectives are as follows:

  • Initiate a practice-oriented knowledge exchange between urban practitioners in the field of biodiversity and environmental protection.
  • Facilitate peer learning on state-of-the-art technology to increase resilience and improve disaster preparedness related to forest fires.
  • Foster development of concrete projects ideas related to forest fires prevention.
  • Raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and the value of ecosystem protection, risk factors, and the protection and preparedness tools.

Date: Monday, 09.08.2021

Time: 11:00-13:30 CEST

Event language: English, Arabic, German (tbc)

Agenda and Registration

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

Contact: muna.shalan@giz.de

Covid-19 and Urban Mobility

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Summary of the Connective Cities Virtual Dialogue Event in partnership with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and UN-Habitat and hosted by the City of Wiesbaden – Germany , 19, 20 and 22 July 2021
 

1. Covid-19: A major turning point for urban mobility

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to fundamental changes in urban mobility worldwide. Some impacts are short-term, especially during lockdowns. Others are long-term changes in the way urban mobility and traffic will operate in the future.

One of the main responses of governments worldwide to the pandemic was to restrict circulation of people. However, municipalities still had to guarantee the mobility of essential workers and goods. There was also a shift in behaviour, with citizens changing their regular modes of transport for reasons of safety and hygiene. Modes of transport which allow for physical distancing, such as walking, cycling and private cars are now favoured, whereas there is a decline in the use of public and shared transport. Lockdown restrictions further contribute to the rise in e-commerce and delivery services, posing particular challenges for last mile freight distribution.

Having experienced reduced traffic and less pollution during lockdowns, the motivation to promote more sustainable urban mobility has grown for many local governments. Investing in measures such as active mobility infrastructure, safer and more accessible public transport and low-emission transport options are in accordance with the imperative aim of economic recovery, as infrastructure investments may lead to job creation and private investment in diverse economic sectors.
 

2. Focus on local public transport, bicycle traffic and urban logistics

During the three-day event, 55 participants, including representatives of municipal administrations and enterprises, civil society, business and academia from over 15 countries, discussed how they could shape the future urban mobility in terms of

  1. Local public transport: Local public transport operators around the world face an unprecedented decline in passenger numbers and, consequently, severe revenue losses due to the restrictions imposed to control the pandemic. In many cities, financing models had to be reconsidered and it is necessary to regain passengers’ trust and maintain the attractiveness of services.
  2. Bicycle traffic: The pandemic has underlined the need for more bike-friendly cities and can be an opportunity to rethink urban space and the role of cycling in urban mobility. Many municipalities promote active travel.
  3. Sustainable urban logistics: With growing e-commerce and an increasing number of goods deliveries in cities, freight movement within cities has to be adapted.

In her opening speech, Stefanie Holzwarth from UN-Habitat emphasised that “we have a window of opportunity to learn from this pandemic and to build back better by making our mobility systems more resilient and responsive to crises. We should aim to get out of this stronger and ready to address climate change, air pollution and road fatalities, because the world cannot accept any further delays!” Sergio Arredondo from the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Municipal Associations (FLACMA), speaking on behalf of UCLG, reminded participants that it was not enough to continue to provide local transport services; they have to be provided in a healthy and safe manner. Around the world, municipalities were witnessing a bicycle revolution – which has to be reflected in future urban development and design. In a welcome speech, Bettina Gies from the event’s host city of Wiesbaden said that international exchange on urban mobility was crucial, because agile and active solutions were needed to tackle current and future urban mobility challenges.

After presenting thirteen examples of good practice in the areas of public transport, bicycle traffic and urban logistics, municipalities, civil society and private sector participants shared their related challenges, discussed them in peer-to-peer learning processes and jointly developed potential solutions. The challenges presented ranged from reducing e-commerce-related waste in the city of Taoyuan (Taiwan) and increasing citizens’ acceptance of bike lanes in Cuenca (Ecuador) to making public transport more attractive in terms of speed in Yerevan (Armenia) and increasing mutual appreciation and respect between different road users in Wiesbaden (Germany).

“A day in the world” – a virtual project that gives courage

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The in-person meetings of the school partnership between Osterode in Germany and Kaolack in Senegal, which were postponed due to the pandemic, were replaced by a video project. The students recorded on video scenes from their everyday lives and how the COVID-19 pandemic is being tackled. They used the footage to produce a film entitled ‘A day in the world’.

2021 State of Cities Climate Finance

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The 2021 State of Cities Climate Finance Report examines the current state of urban climate investment, the barriers to reaching the needed investment levels, and the steps to overcoming these challenges. Produced by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (the Alliance), the report contributes to the Alliance’s mission to mobilize city level climate finance at scale by 2030. The report also contributes to the Leadership for Urban Climate Investment framework initiative hosted by the Alliance, which aims to create a strong global architecture for subnational climate finance and tracking.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges for cities globally. Cities have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, with high mortality and infection rates and staggering economic losses. Many residents have and continue to endure months of pain. Job losses, most especially among women and young people, have led to stunning increases in poverty and hunger, threatening decades of development gains.

The pandemic recovery, however, opens a once in a generation opportunity to build sustainable, clean, inclusive, green cities that are fit for an imminent, unprecedented wave of urban growth. How we design power generation, transport and buildings in cities will be decisive in getting on track to achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The report delivers its findings in two parts:

  • The Landscape of Urban Climate Finance (Part 1). Authored by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance Secretariat (Climate Policy Initiative) in partnership with the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, Part 1 presents for the first time a comprehensive estimate of global urban climate finance. The Landscape was developed by tracking all sources of climate finance flows to urban areas and estimating urban climate investments in the buildings and transport sectors. Part 1 also presents some of the Alliance’s activities to address barriers to investment.
  • The Enabling Conditions for Urban Climate Finance (Part 2). Authored by the World Bank, Part 2 analyzes enabling frameworks and presents solutions for mobilizing climate finance for low-carbon, climate-resilient urban development pathways. It seeks to provide a common level of understanding of the terminologies, knowledge, and themes used by climate policy and climate finance practitioners, city-level urban planners, and municipal finance officials.

The Executive Summary summarizes the key findings from both Parts, including the current context for city-level climate action, estimated urban climate finance flows, the enabling conditions needed to mobilize more finance, and steps to address the urban climate investment gap.

Bizerte – pioneering municipal energy efficiency in Tunisia

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Bizerte municipality in Tunisia has set an ambitious vision to transition into a smart municipality by 2050.  The municipal plan integrates smart components into the development of future projects, namely in the management of mobility, energy, building and housing, public services, and integrated management. In order to concretize this vision, the municipality has partnered with a wide spectrum of stakeholders including representatives of civil society (the Association Bizerte 2050, the association Hippo Dirutus), development agencies, research institutions as well as companies and regional representatives of the private sector. As part of the action plan towards this vision, the municipality has successfully piloted a number of projects including the energy retrofitting of municipal building and improving energy efficiency in municipal vehicular fleet.

Towards Climate Neutrality in Lviv

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Lviv has the vision to become a climate neutral city. Starting off with the systemic implementation of energy solutions, Lviv has developed a concept of energy efficient districts Sykhiv and Ryasne. Now Lviv is moving towards climate neutrality with a Positive Energy District concept within a SPARCS project. 

Karak in Jordan: local actions for climate protection

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In line with the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of Jordan for 2030, Karak municipality has committed to a 14% reduction of the municipality’s greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions with an aim to counteract climate change. Besides the capital city Amman, Karak municipality is the first municipality in Jordan to construct renewable energy projects and is committed to a sustainable future for the city. This objective is expressed through the actions agreed upon in the city’s Sustainable Energy & Climate Action Plan (SECAP), focusing not only on reducing the energy consumption through energy efficiency, or producing more clean energy, but also on improving the existing infrastructures in the city.

Capacity building for gender equality at the local level

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Local governments and their local government associations play a large role in advancing gender equality at the local level through policy and programming. Local government associations also play a core role in awareness raising on and implementation of gender equality measures

The study aims to provide an overview and an inventory, highlighted by concrete cases, of what is happening in the field of promoting gender equality in the international work of the UCLG membership.

With this publication the CIB Working Group Secretariat explored how UCLG’s political gender strategy can be included in the many of projects and programmes. At the same time, it provides instruments and tools that will help UCLG members to implement gender strategies in their work. The brochure consist of guidelines, technical tools as well as twelve case studies, composed to demonstrate how local government development cooperation projects can concretely improve gender equality at both the local and regional level.

Space-blind strategies don’t work for COVID-19

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The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently analysed how cities have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soo-Jin Kim, Head of the OECD’s Urban Policies and Reviews Unit, calls for locally-adapted solutions now and for the post-COVID era.

Since March 2020, local health authorities have often dominated the headlines. Citizens’ trust in local politicians has significantly increased. Which role have municipalities played so far in responding to the COVID 19 crisis?

Soo-Jin Kim: Since the very beginning of the pandemic, municipalities have not waited for national governments to tell them what to do – they started to act immediately. They have deployed a range of measures to inform the public about necessary measures, ensure that people comply with social distancing and lockdown rules, support the shift to tele-working and take care of the most vulnerable such as the elderly and the poor. They have also worked to keep basic public services running, including the health system, and help the local economy survive the crisis. So I would describe municipalities as ‘essential workers’.

In addition, regardless of the crisis, we should not forget that municipalities are always key public actors. Subnational governments are responsible for an average of 40 per cent of all public spending across OECD countries. In federal states such as Germany or Switzerland, it’s even 50 to 60 per cent!

Municipal energy efficiency projects in MENA

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By 2030, the population in the MENA-region is expected to increase to 487 million people, 63 per cent of whom will live in cities and their surroundings. The expected population growth will increase the energy demand thus increasing the risk of future energy constraints.

Within the ambit of the learning process on municipal energy efficiency projects in MENA, the virtual dialogue event was held on the 18 – 20 May 2021. The dialogue event aimed at promoting the exchange of expertise on good practices for planning and implementing energy efficiency projects.

The virtual dialogue event was attended by 23 municipalities joining from Algeria, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Turkey. Working in groups, participants exchanged ideas, worked in collaboration, and developed project concepts addressing local needs and opportunities for energy efficiency in their cities. Throughout the dialogue event, participants showed high commitment to the program with a level of excitement that was particularly evident on day 3 of the event dedicated for peer advisory on challenges and developing project ideas.

The virtual dialogue event had the following direct outcomes:

  1.  Formation of a regional Community of Practice (CoP) that included 23 different municipalities from five countries in MENA in addition to Germany.
  2. Establishment of institutional relationships among municipalities with shared vision to achieve energy transformation and efficiency.
  3. Enrichment of the capacity of more than 23 municipal representatives in the field of energy efficiency project development and the showcasing of 21 different good practices from MENA, Germany, Southeast Europe, Southampton and South Africa.
  4. Successfully enabling the peer-to-peer advisory among different municipalities during group activities, in the main sessions, and during offline times.
  5. Development of 7 energy efficiency project ideas that are ready to be expanded into fullscale project proposal.

This report documents in detail the dialogue event.