Connective Cities
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
NEWSLETTER - EDITION No. 55, December 2022

Dear Readers,

we look back on a challenging year 2022. Shortly after the Corona pandemic had lost its greatest threat due to more accessible vaccines and milder virus types, Russia started its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. This dramatically exacerbated the emerging energy and food crises. Moreover, the consequences of climate change were becoming increasingly visible, with new negative records: heat waves and persistent drought in India, Pakistan, China, Central and Southern Europe with devastating forest fires, even more severe droughts at the Horn of Africa leaving over 20 million people hungry, extensive flooding in Pakistan, Australia and South Africa, glacial melting and sea level rising, and violent hurricanes in the northern hemisphere.

We have addressed these challenges as best we can. In the Connective Cities and Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management joint working group "Risk-Informed Urban Development in Sub-Saharan Africa" participating cities are working together to be better prepared for weather extremes. Her work was also presented at the UCLG World Congress in Daejeon.

We have continuously documented processes of change and good practices, which have emerged from our events - also in video form. They show how municipalities are jointly pushing forward climate-friendly, more equitable and resilient urban development, how risk management and crisis communication succeed, and how modern energy efficiency, digitalization, mobility and waste management concepts get implemented. Three practices are featured in this newsletter. 

Furthermore, a new learning process on "Action for Cooler Cities: Ways to Reduce Carbon in Buildings and Improve Outdoor Thermal Comfort" successfully kicked off this month. 35 experts from 27 municipalities and 10 countries are already involved.

Together with the German Association of Cities, we are supporting 30 German cities in providing aid supplies to their Ukrainian partner municipalities. The aim is to provide the Ukrainian people with the most basic necessities this winter in an unbureaucratic way.

As the year is coming to an end, we wish you a peaceful holiday season. We look forward to joining forces with you again in 2023.

Your Connective Cities Team

Review
Flood risk management and the importance of municipal preparedness
Finding solutions together - Connective Cities at the UCLG World Congress 2022 in Daejeon, South Korea

Examples from the Ahr Valley (Germany), Durban (South Africa) and Ca Mau (Vietnam) kicked off an intensive discussion between 20 experts from nine countries. "Risk management needs to be better integrated into overall development and environmental planning." - was one of several outcomes of the collegial consultation.

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Action for Cool Cities - Pathways for carbon reduction in buildings and improvement of outdoor thermal comfort
Connective Cities Kickoff Event of the Learning Process on 30 November and 1 December 2022

With 35 participants from 27 municipalities and 10 countries from South Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the MENA region and Germany, the two virtual sessions were well attended. As an introduction to the exchange of experiences, good practices from six cities were presented and the benefits of the approaches were discussed in detail. More workshops will follow.

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Insights
Protecting viticulture and tourism against the impacts of climate change
Eltville am Rhein (Germany) and Tunuyán (Argentina) agree on a climate partnership

Eltville am Rhein (Germany) and Tunuyán (Argentina) and their respective regions – Rheingau and Mendoza – are internationally well-known for their viticulture and as attractive tourist destinations. Both partner municipalities are also affected by drought, heat and flooding. With the broad participation of research institutes and municipal experts, they will now work together to better protect their unique heritage landscapes against the consequences of climate change.

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Communication is a key factor in the success of local vaccination campaigns
Bogotá and Stuttgart optimised their vaccination campaigns by evaluating international experience and data

Based on the exchange between the experts from the two cities, a list of recommendations on vaccine communication for municipalities was developed. The tips will remain relevant because they are also applicable to many other topics of municipal communication. 

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Voices from Connective Cities – Sahab Municipality

Sahab in Jordan is a prize-winning municipality. In this video, the representatives of the municipality (Haneen Hassouneh and Ali Assaf) share with us the municipality’s success stories on sustainable energy provisions and promotion of energy efficiency, digitalisation, good governance and transparency as well gender-consideration in urban development.

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Municipalities stand together!
GERMAN MUNICIPALITIES SEND RELIEF GOODS TO THEIR UKRAINIAN PARTNERS – SUPPORTED BY CONNECTIVE CITIES

In September 2022, 30 German municipalities and their Ukrainian partner municipalities jointly considered how they could provide support to the Ukrainian people in the face of the cold winter.  In order to better cope with challenges and create short communication channels, Connective Cities – together with the German Association of Cities – organises regular virtual exchange sessions. Many coordinated aid deliveries followed. We stand with Ukraine!

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Outlook
Hosting a SDG Partnership Conference in 2023
Call for German Municipalities

The Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) of Engagement Global will again support up to three German municipalities to organise a "SDG Partnership Conference" in 2023. The aim is to share different perspectives and experiences on the 2030 Agenda with partner municipalities from all world regions. Participants will work out ideas for further cooperation and develop activities for a partnership-based implementation of the SDGs. The deadline for applications is 20 January 2023. 

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