Dear Readers,
municipalities around the world are facing major challenges. In addition to the COVID-19 crisis and the consequences of climate change, Russia's war in Ukraine has been raging for almost six weeks now, destroying the livelihoods of people in Ukraine and already leading to a wave of refugees in many cities in Europe and beyond. The impact of this war has also another regional dimension and a global dimension that is threatening regional energy supplies as well as the global economy and may lead to food shortages in many regions.
Resilience, the ability to respond quickly and in an agile way to external shocks, to absorb them, is becoming increasingly important for people and communities alike. Solidarity and social cohesion are key elements of resilience. In this issue, we would like to highlight a few examples of the many ways in which social cohesion can be expressed and how it can be strengthened between the citizens and the city administration.
These examples range from gender-sensitive urban planning, to the promotion of social entrepreneurship in the MENA region, to successful crowdfunding of social projects in Sefton, UK, to free internet in poorer neighbourhoods in Kibera, Kenya, to relieving pressure on hospitals in Al-Bireh, Palestine, and the development of an app in the Polish city of Poznan that involves the citizens in the development of the city in a variety of ways.
Get inspired!
Your Connective Cities Team
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