Opinions, ideas and knowledge you can apply to local and regional sustainable development.

Explore this blog to learn from local leaders, municipal staff and experts from around the world.

ICLEI Links: 22 April 2016

Welcome to the latest edition of ICLEI Links, our roundup of sustainability-related news and commentary from around the web! City Stories An Urban Food Forest Takes to the Waterways ‘We have lost the science of building cities’ – meet Joan Clos, the unofficial world leader for cities Cutting Edge Green Buildings in London, Stockholm and 

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Resilience and Sustainable Development Goal 11

SDG 11: A Stimulus for Integrated and Inclusive Resilience In adopting Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11), which aims to make cities “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, national governments signaled an important shift in the global approach to sustainability. Cities are now clearly recognized as key players in reducing global emissions, addressing climate change vulnerability 

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China’s New Opportunity: Water Funds

By Daniel Shemie, Kari Vigerstol, Mu Quan, Wang Longzhu The Nature Conservancy What do the Chinese cities of Harbin, Ningbo, Qingdao and Xuzhou have in common? They are all water stressed, but they are also perfectly positioned to lead the country toward a more sustainable water future. While China encompasses almost 20 percent of the 

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ICLEI Links: 15 April 2016

Welcome to the latest edition of ICLEI Links, our roundup of sustainability-related news and commentary from around the web! City Stories 7 Proven Principles for Designing a Safer City More Before-and-After Photos of the World’s Best Street Designs The Santa Fe Strategy: How Small Cities Can Act on Climate and Inequality Why Bike Share is 

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Updates on #CitiesIPCC Campaign

Reporting from the IPCC 43rd Session in Nairobi:  On the morning of Tuesday 12 April, the IPCC43 Plenary continued deliberations on Agenda Item 8.1 on Special Reports, which started in the late evening of the day before. Around 12:00, the IPCC Chair announced that a Contact Group will be formed with a mandate to make 

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Day 1 at IPCC 43rd Session in Nairobi and updates on #CitiesIPCC Campaign

This post aims to provide a snapshot from the first day of the 43rd Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC43) held in Nairobi on 11-13 April, in particular in relation to #CitiesIPCC Campaign. 1- Representatives of the #CitiesIPCC Campaign attending the IPCC 43rd Session include Yunus Arikan from ICLEI, Emmanuaell Pinault from 

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ICLEI Links: 8 April 2016

Welcome to the latest edition of ICLEI Links, our roundup of sustainability-related news and commentary from around the web! City Stories Building Healthy Cities Barcelona’s Not-At-All Sexy But Highly Effective Scheme to Cut Emissions Norway’s Plan To Get Rid Of Cars Involves A New Billion-Dollar Bike Highway “We Can’t Keep Building Higher Walls”: So How 

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ICLEI Links: 1 April 2016

Welcome to the latest edition of ICLEI Links, our roundup of sustainability-related news and commentary from around the web! City Stories How Much Money U.S. Transit Systems Lose Per Trip, in 1 Chart – Data and analysis on the subsidies provided for public transit systems in US cities. All public transit systems lose money, but the 

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ICLEI around the World: Steve Gawler, Regional Director, Oceania

Q. What is one important particularity of working with local governments in the Oceania region?  One important thing to bear in mind is that the Oceania region is effectively 2-3 distinct regions. Australia and New Zealand, as developed countries, are fairly similar, with similar cultural backgrounds. But they have different geographies and histories, so it’s 

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Paradoxes of a Smart City – Part 1: Efficiency Increase vs Absolute Consumption

In a previous blog post, the ICLEI Smart Cities team explored three smart cities examples and argued that smart cities are not about technology but about defining their sustainable development path. We also proposed that cities in practice have moved on from the question “what is a smart city?” to “what works for us and 

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