Resilient Cities 2018 – The Global Forum on Urban Resilience

Resilient Cities 2018 – ICLEI Global

Resilient Cities 2018 – The Global Forum on Urban Resilience

With the scale of resilience challenges for cities and citizens growing, governments are pressed to open up the dialogue with other national government bodies and international organizations as well as their citizens, the most important resource of cities. Resilient Cities, organized by ICLEI, the leading global network of more than 1,500 cities, towns and regions committed to building a sustainable future, and building on the Talanoa Dialogue, coming forth from the Bonn-Fiji Commitment of COP23, the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference happening last year in Bonn, offered in its 9th edition a forum for international climate stakeholders to track progress on the resilience targets of SDG 11 and implementing Agenda 2030, exchange knowledge and determine what further climate actions need to be taken to make our cities more resilient and develop a new and sustainable type of urban development, reconnecting men and nature rather than defending men from nature.

We are not standing at the crossroad of climate change but at the edge of opportunity to build a future that is safer, cleaner and more resilient, and a future that is more prosperous.

– Patricia Espinoza, Executive Secretary, UN Climate Change, Bonn, Germany; Co-Patron of Resilient Cities 2018 at Resilient Cities 2018 (Bonn, Germany)

The 9th Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation featured more than 400 participants and 37 sessions, making the Congress an outstanding platform for learning, sharing ideas, and creating solutions.

Resilient Cities 2018 welcomed participants from over 50 countries to Bonn including mayors and vice mayors from the Municipality of Gitega (Burundi), Lautoka City Council (Fiji), City of Bonn (Germany), Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (Ghana), Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Indonesia), Mocimboa da Praia Municipal Council, Ilha de Moçambique Municipal Council, Pemba Municipal Council and Quelimane Municipal Council (Mozambique), City of Cauayan (Philippines), and uMhlathuze Local Municipality (South Africa).

If you’re interested in getting access to the newest information on the what, how and when of urban resilience from high-level players who spoke at Resilient Cities 2018 such as Patricia Espinoza (UNFCCC), Ashok Sridharan (City of Bonn), Peter Head (The Ecological Sequestration Trust) and Ina Schieferdecker (Fraunhofer IAIS; WBGU), just have a look at the sessions highlighted light blue within the conference schedule below and further down the page, when I’m going to release summaries with key messages took out of the protocols that I’ve written as part of ICLEI’s Rapporteuring Team for Resilient Cities 2018.

Conference Schedule

Resilient Cities 2018 Session Summaries’ Release Schedule

Day 1 – 26th April, 2018

Opening Plenary – Resilient Urban Futures: Where We Are and Where We Need to Go (P1)

Released: 2018-05-04

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Monika Zimmermann, Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Bonn, Germany

Welcome and opening remarks:

• Ashok Sridharan, Mayor, City of Bonn, Germany; First Vice President, ICLEI Global Executive Committee (2015 – 2018) / Co-Chair and ICLEI special messenger to UNFCCC and carbon Climate Registry; Co-Patron of Resilient Cities 2018

• Franz Marré, Head of Division „Water, Urban Development, Mobility“ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Bonn, Germany, on behalf of Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary to BMZ

• Gino Van Begin, Secretary General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

International agenda on resilient cities:

• Patricia Espinoza, Executive Secretary, UN Climate Change, Bonn, Germany; Co-Patron of Resilient Cities 2018 – Implementing the Paris Agreement together with local & subnational governments

• Don Iveson, Mayor, City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (video intervention) – CitiesIPCC: How data can best inform political decision

Resilient Cities in 2018: Opportunities and challenges:

• Dakota Fisher, Resilience Program Analyst, State of Louisiana’s Office of Community Development, New Orleans, USA – Louisiana, Isle de Jean Charles: The first community-scale, climate induced resettlement project in American history

• David Jácome Polit, Chief Resilience Officer, Municipality of Quito, Ecuador – Prepared for the future: Quito’s resilience strategy and how it relates to SDGs implementation

• Peter Head, Founder and CEO, The Ecological Sequestration Trust, London, UK – Realizing a global transition to resilient development paths by 2030

• Ina Schieferdecker, Director, Fraunhofer-Institut für Offene Kommunikationssysteme (FOKUS), Berlin, Germany; Member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) – Can digital cities be resilient?

Brokering New Partnerships & Stimulating Private Sector Engagement for Resilience (A2)

Released: 2018-05-09

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Stephan Zimmerman, Disaster Risk Management Specialist, The World Bank, Brussels, Belgium

Presenters:

• Caroline Schaer, Researcher, UNEP DTU Partnership, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark – Sustainable framework to build long-term flood resilience for SMEs in Mumbai/ Unlocking the climate adaptation potential of MSMEs in the Global South

• Peter van der Keur, Senior Scientist, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark – Operationalization of insurance value of nature based solutions. An Urban living lab approach

• Risa P. Goldstein, Partner, Goldstein Partnership Architects & Planners, Maplewood, NJ, USA;

• Alexander D’Hooghe, Senior Partner, Org. for Permanent Modernity, Boston, USA – Jersey City: 6 Key Resiliency Planning Documents

• Ernest Arthur, Metropolitan Chief Executive, Cape Coast, Ghana – Together for a clean Cape Coast

 

Assessing Urban Risk and Vulnerability and Prioritizing Action (B2)

Released: 2018-05-11

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Janice Barnes, Global Resilience Director, Perkins+Will, New York City, USA

Presenters:

• Stephan Zimmerman, Disaster Risk Management Specialist, The World Bank, Brussels, Belgium – The CityStrength Diagnostic

• Po-Lin Chen, Postgraduate Student, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Chinese Taipei – Vulnerability and adaptation of coastal cities to sea level rise

• Risto Veivo, Development Manager, Climate, Environment Policy and Sustainable Development of City Group, City of Turku, Finland – Climate risk assessment and adaptation planning as part of SECAP

• Angela Connelly, Research Associate, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; and

• Matt Ellis, Climate Resilience Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Environment Agency, Bristol, UK – Greater Manchester risk assessment

• Grit Martinez, Senior Fellow, Ecologic Institute, Berlin, Germany – Framework for collective risk assessment and local cultural resilience

 

Day 2 – 27th April, 2018

Driving Transformative Climate Change Adaptation in Cities through Nature-based Solutions (P2)

Released: 2018-05-16

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Holger Robrecht, Deputy Regional Director, ICLEI Europe, Freiburg, Germany

Interviews: What cities need to implement nature-based solutions – Representatives from local governments introducing their adaptation policies which are based on nature-based solutions:

• Joshua Wycliffe, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Housing and Environment, Suva, Fiji

• Marie Angelique C. Go, Administrator, City Government of Zamboanga, Philippines

• Giovanni Fini, Coordinator, Environmental Quality Unit, City of Bologna, Italy; Co-Chair of EU Urban Agenda Partnership on Land-use and Nature-based solutions

Special Messages: Why nature-based solutions are key to resilience?:

• Kobie Brand, Director, ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center; Regional Director, ICLEI Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

• Jonathan Hughes, Global Councillor 2016-2020 of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Edinburgh, UK; Chair, IUCN Urban Alliance on behalf of Zhang Xinsheng, President of IUCN

Panel discussion: Multiple opportunities for nature-based solutions to transform cities into resilient communities:

• Matthias Braubach, Technical Officer, World Health Organization (WHO) European Centre for Environment and Health, Bonn, Germany – Serving the nature, serving the people: How NBS are supporting urban health and livable communities. What international organizations like WHO can contribute.

• Christos Fragakis, Deputy Head of Unit, Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, DG Research and Innovation, Brussels, Belgium – Discussing how nature-based solutions could become innovative means for inspiring urban transformation and healthy and sustainable living.

• Gerry Muscat, Head of Urban Development Division, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg – Money makes the world go around … or can help transforming cities. How the Investment Banks like the EIB can support nature based solutions.

• Giovanni Fini, Coordinator, Environmental Quality Unit, City of Bologna, Italy; Co-Chair of EU Urban Agenda Partnership on Land-use and Nature-based solutions – How can cities be included in a multilevel governance structure for nature-based solutions? The example of the EU Urban Agenda partnership on Nature-based solutions

 

Standardized Support Tools for Urban Resilience, Integrating Resilience Planning into Local Decision-Making (D3)

Released: 2018-05-18

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Peter Bosch, RESIN Coordinator, TNO, Utrecht, The Netherlands Barnes

Presenters:

• Eva Streberová, Climate Adaptation Expert, City of Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

• Matt Ellis, Climate Resilience Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Bristol, UK

• Albert Nieuwenhuijs, Researcher, TNO, Utrecht, The Netherlands

• Daniel Lückerath, Researcher, Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin, Germany

• Efrén Feliu, Climate Change Manager, Tecnalia, Derio, Spain
  

 

CitiesIPCC: Science for Effective City Climate Action and Resilience Building (E2)

Released: 2018-05-23

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Julie Greenwalt, Urban Environment Specialist, Cities Alliance, Brussels, Belgium 

Presenters:

• Maryke van Staden, Director, Carbonn Center; Program Manager, Low Carbon Cities, ICLEI World Secretariat, Bonn, Germany

• Anthony Socci, Senior Lead on International Resilience & Adaptation Policy, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., USA

• David Dodman, Director, Human Settlements, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, UK

• Lykke Leonardsen, Head of Program, Resilient and Sustainable City Solutions, City of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

 

How Resilient Is Your City? City Resilience Profiling Tool (F2)

Released: 2018-05-25

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Amaia Celaya, Normative and Operations Coordinator, City Resilience Profiling Programme, UN Habitat, Barcelona, Spain

Presenters:

• Craig Laird, Communications and Content Editor Specialist, City Resilience Profiling Programme, UN Habitat, Barcelona, Spain

• Anna Karaan, Urban Resilience Officer, UN Habitat, Barcelona, Spain

• Carimo Tagir Assimo, Mayor, Pemba Municipality, Pemba, Mozambique 

 

Day 3 – 28th April, 2018

Measuring Urban Resilience and Evaluating Impacts (G4)

Released: 2018-05-30

Contributors

Facilitator:

• Joseph Wladkowski, Head of ICLEI Global Capacity Center, ICLEI World Secretariat Bonn, Germany 

Presenters:

• Pourya Salehi, Urban Research Team, ICLEI World Secretariat, Bonn, Germany – Utilizing a convenient resilience measurement framework: A guide for local and sub-national governments

• Christian Kind, Senior Project Manager, Adelphi research GmbH, Berlin, Germany – Developing a framework for urban climate resilience in German municipalities

• Susanna Kankaanpää, Climate Expert, Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority, Helsinki, Finland – Monitoring and evaluation for urban adaptation

• Gwendolen B. White, Chair, Commission on Sustainability, City of Bloomington, USA – Tracking progress on community resilience and sustainability efforts in Bloomington, Indiana

• Brian App, Director, Chemonics International Inc., Washington D.C., USA – Measuring resilience progress of coastal cities in Mozambique

 

Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM): We want to hear your voice! (H5)

To be released: 2018-06-01

 

 

• Program Overview
• Program Book
• Session Descriptions (.pdf)
• Thematic Streams
• Congress presentations will be available on the ICLEI website by the end of May
• Stay connected by follow @ICLEI_ResCities and tweet using the hashtag #ResilientCities
• Read more about Resilient Cities 2018 on ICLEI’s City Talk blog

All images used in this post and all other posts within the Resilient Cities 2018 – The Global Forum on Urban Resilience series are property of ICLEI.

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