Category: Location development

Inclusive nature tourism trails for the deaf, disabled and blind

Posted on by erik

In recent years, the tourism industry has been expanding its offerings by providing more inclusive and sustainable options. However, access to tourist attractions is still a major challenge for the deaf, visually impaired and people with disabilities. Even people with temporary injuries or mild sensory impairments often find it difficult to relax and fully enjoy their vacation experiences. This guide aims to address these challenges by updating currently available tourism guidelines and incorporating contemporary design standards for inclusivity. It is one of the outputs of the working group ‘Destination management organisation in tourism in the MENA region’.

Arabic version:
مسارات سياحية طبيعية شاملة للصم والمعاقين والمكفوفين

Tourism promotion strategies in municipalities

Posted on by erik

Adopting innovative tourism strategies can help municipalities boost their economies and promote sustainable development. These strategies often focus on leveraging local culture, history, natural resources, and new technologies. Municipalities in the MENA region are capitalizing on their unique cultural, historical, and natural assets while incorporating modern technology and sustainability practices to attract a wide range of tourists. During an insight session held on the 9th September 2024, representatives of municipalities from Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia and Lebanon have learned about and discussed effective tourism promotion strategies. This session focused on two key areas, namely innovative tourism promotion strategies, improving existing tourism activities and sustainable tourism practices to prevent destination decline. Participants have learned about digital marketing techniques, methods for identifying and showcasing their unique selling points, and strategies for creating compelling tourism narratives that resonate with potential visitors. The session delved into effective collaboration strategies with local businesses and tour operators to create a cohesive tourism ecosystem.

A good practice example was presented by the secretary general of the municipality of Sidi Jedidi in Tunisia by sharing insights into the local touristic attractions and the promotion strategies they have implemented that included community engagement. Through story-telling, Nablus municipality representatives have engaged the participants in a captivating virtual visit to their city in Palestine.  These presentations have sparked a lively discussion between the participants that included several elements of peer learning, particularly on the solutions developed as part of the working group which include:

  1. Local handicraft protection and promotion policy – Al Aizariya Municipality, Palestine
  2. Designing touristic trails and envisioning an eco-touristic village – Kufranja municipality, Jordan
  3. Assisting and guiding Kfarmatta municipality (Lebanon) in establishing the rules of procedures for Al Hima zone and the establishment of a Local Development Office.
  4. Tourism promotion Strategy in Nablus municipality, Palestine.

Recording of the insight session on Connective Cities platform (in Arabic).

Local Development Strategy Guidebook

Posted on by erik

This guidebook is an outcome of the working group ‘Local development strategies for municipalities in MENA’. It outlines a comprehensive methodology for municipalities to develop strategic sustainable planning with a mid- and long-term vision.

The objectives include:

  • Strengthen Resilience and Capacity
  • Enhance Participatory Strategic Planning
  • Define Long-Term Development Strategies
  • Improve Local Services
  • Develop Project Card Templates

The manual also addresses the importance of having up-to-date data to improve the accuracy of analysis and decision-making processes. This includes staff training on data collection and interpretation methodologies.

Kufranja municipality – city of oxygen in Jordan

Posted on by erik

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

A Strategy for Climate-Sensitive Urban Development in Garowe, Somalia

Posted on by erik

Connective Cities has supported the development of a bottom-up strategy for climate-resilient urban development, known as the Climate-Sensitive City Development Strategy (CSCD). This involved a participatory methodology for identifying and analyzing key entry points for municipal action. Garowe was the first pilot project where this methodology and the design of the CSCD strategy were tested. We are pleased to present this strategy to you here.

Connective Cities was commissioned by the GIZ project “Promotion of social and economic inclusion of extreme poor IDPs and residents of host communities in Puntland, Somalia” (SEIPP) to support the development of an integrated climate protection concept (adaptation and partial mitigation) for the city of Garowe, Puntland, Somalia. SEIPP is dedicated to promoting the socio-economic integration of extremely poor internally displaced persons and residents of host communities in Puntland, Somalia.

If you have any questions about the methodology or are interested in discussing it, please contact Paulina Koschmieder: paulina.koschmieder@giz.de

Lörrach plans Germany’s first timber-built commercial area

Posted on by erik

In 2020 the town of Lörrach purchased the 8.5-hectare Lauffenmühle site which had formerly been home to a textile factory. The purchase was made possible by urban development grants worth €9.1 million from Germany’s federal government and the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Following discussions with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the idea arose of creating a timber-built climate-neutral commercial area on the site.

The historic factory buildings on the site and their stone facades are not protected monuments, but the project still plans to repair and retain their basic structure in order to utilise them for new commercial purposes. By doing this, the project hopes that people will be able to identify with the project, particularly in the surrounding areas.

The project can serve as a model for other municipalities in Germany and around the world, providing that entire commercial areas can be built of timber.

For more impressions, take a look at our Good Practice website!

Resilience in Times of War – Municipal Exchange between Ukraine and Germany

Posted on by erik

Discover innovative strategies for rebuilding infrastructure and fostering resilience in Ukrainian municipalities amidst the aftermath of Russian aggression. Join us in exploring the outcomes of the Connective Cities’ Project Planning Workshop, ‘Resilience in Times of War – Municipal Exchange between Ukraine and Germany.’ Held from November 28 to 29, 2023, in Munich, Germany, this workshop brought together over 35 participants, including representatives from 12 Ukrainian municipalities. Through dialogue and experience sharing, attendees delved into key focus areas such as sustainable energy development, local and regional economic growth, and strategic/urban planning. Learn from the insights of esteemed guest speakers and delegates from Kosovo municipalities, as they offer perspectives on German and international municipal experiences, paving the way for collaborative efforts in rebuilding and fortifying Ukrainian communities. 

All presentations can be found here: https://community.connective-cities.net/en/group/215/topics

Kufranja ‘the city of Oxygen’

Posted on by erik

As part of the activities of the working group “destination management organization and product design in tourism”, Kufranja municipality in Jordan has hosted a workshop on ecotourism and designing touristic trails’. The workshop was attended by key actors in this field including representatives of the tourism ministry in Ajloun governorate, the Royal Society for Nature Conservation, and Bookagri.com which is an agritourism experiences and destinations development company. The tourism expert, Hanane Haber, has provided an overview of the principles of establishing sustainable tourism in Kufranja municipality that is known as “the city of oxygen”.

Strengthening the Partnership between Local Cities and Tourism Industry

Posted on by erik

Tourism is one of the most affected economic sectors globally due to COVID-19, with declining numbers of visitors severely impacting local economies. There have been business closures, job losses, a rise in unsustainable alternative income sources, and the loss of government revenue from tourism. However, the dire situation has also led many tourism-dependent countries to explore new opportunities as part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy. These include new products such as eco-tourism, technology-based/ digital tourism, innovative marketing, and domestic tourism. Amidst this challenging situation and potential opportunities, there is a need to look for a strategy and projects to support the tourism industry.

We are pleased to invite you to the first workshop of the virtual series on COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery: Strengthening the partnership between Local Cities and Tourism Industry on 15th September 2021 at 16:00 – 18:00 CEST.

The event is aimed at international municipal actors from local administrations, civil society, business and academia who are working on the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and looking for innovative strategies for a post-pandemic future.

Connective Cities’ COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery will support participating urban practitioners in devising ways to help the tourism industry survive. It will provide a broad knowledge sharing and peer learning platform with like-minded municipal actors and local government policymakers who work on tourism recovery planning. Additionally, the Connective Cities Community provides access to relevant global expertise on tourism to support the planning and recovery process.

The kick-off event on September 15 offers the opportunity for several urban practitioners and the tourism industry to work on COVID-19 tourism recovery through peer learning and preparing potential proposals for soliciting funding. As a starting point, various scenarios from municipalities from five countries – Nepal, Botswana, Cape Verde, Romania, Uganda, and Cambodia – will be introduced.

Further workshops of the series are planned for the 20th of October and 16th of November 2021 (to be confirmed).

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

COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery Kick-Off Event:

Date: 15th of September 2021

Time: 16:00 – 18:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Venue: Connective Cities Community (online)

Event Language: English, simultaneous translation: Arabic, Portuguese, (Romanian tbc.)

Contact: Paulina Koschmieder     paulina.koschmieder@giz.de

Integrated Implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Cities and City-Regions

Posted on by erik

GIZ and the authors in this publication series observe increasing spatial and functional interrelations between cities, settlements and their surrounding rural areas and argue that the city-regional scale is highly relevant and call for paradigm shifts towards urban and regional planning, financing and implementation across sectors, stakeholders, administrative borders and governmental level. The studies and discussion papers in this publication series cover a diverse set of cityregional challenges and solutions gathered around the focus areas “Integrated Implementation of Global Agendas”, “Metropolitan Governance”, “Integrated Territorial Development for Strengthening Urban-Rural Linkages – including City Region Food Systems”, “Urban Resource Management and Climate Change”, “Digitalisation and Urban Development – Smart Cities” and “Regional Economic Development and Innovative Business Regions”. The studies and discussion papers aim at promoting the local implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Agreement and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) which acknowledge the mutual dependencies between cities and regions as key potentials for inclusive and sustainable development.

The GIZ publication provides an overview of studies, discussion papers and digital sources related to urban and metropolitan issues from the perspective of German development cooperation.