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Dear readers,
The year 2020 has presented enormous challenges to all cities around the world. In the Covid-19 pandemic, cities have been, and continue to be, at the forefront of the fight against the infection on the ground, maintaining services for citizens and limiting the local economic impact. At the same time, the number of challenges that concerned cities before the Covid-19 pandemic have not diminished: climate crisis, social division, growing urbanisation. The year 2020 has made it clear: integrated, participatory and resilient urban development for all is more important than ever.
The international exchange of experiences between municipal practitioners worldwide was strongly influenced by current events: none of the Connective Cities activities that had been planned for the year 2020 at the beginning of the year finally took place as envisioned. All face-to-face events were rescheduled, redesigned and adapted into virtual formats. Furthermore, with the “Covid-19 Municipal Response Dialogues”, additional exchange opportunities on local crisis response were launched from June onwards.
The last few weeks have once again shown how great the need for cities to learn from each other is. New thematic learning processes were launched on the topics of municipal water asset management and sustainable land use planning. The Covid-19 Municipal Response Dialogues, the virtual week, the regional events and the closing event of the series for the year 2020 made it very clear how much cities worldwide can and want to learn from each other. The Covid-19 Municipal Response Dialogues showcased 115 good practices and actively engaged 800 municipal professionals from around the world.
Thank you very much for all your contributions and your active participation in the Connective Cities exchanges in 2020.
Best regards,
Your Connective Cities Team
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