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Local actions driving global change
WHAT’S TRENDING
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ICLEI CityFood harvest: What we’re bringing to World Food Day
World Food Day, on 16 October, lands with new urgency to work together for better food and a better future. Answer the call to collaborate across governments, sectors, institutions, and communities, our global ICLEI CityFood Program and network cities are advancing actions for healthy people, landscapes, and climate. After all, cities thrive when their food systems do.
Growing sustainable urban food systems
16 October marks World Food Day 2025, calling for global collaboration to create a peaceful, sustainable, prosperous, and food-secure future. ICLEI works across levels of government, sectors, and communities to transform food systems, enabling everyone to access healthy diets, building resilient cities in harmony with the planet.
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Three ways youth are influencing local food systems
International Youth Day – on 12 August – is a chance to reflect on how youth are advancing multilateral cooperation…
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Cultivating food access: How cities are fostering equitable and resilient urban food systems
Food is a cornerstone of health, dignity and wellbeing—yet many cities face challenges in ensuring access to healthy, affordable, and…
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Ten ingredients to stir up urban agrifood systems transformation
What happens when around 100 stakeholders from five continents come together to discuss urban agrifood systems transformation? In September 2024, the…
Healthy cities
Daily environments shape our health. By aligning housing, transport, green space, air, food, and social ties, cities cut heat and pollution, boost activity and connection, and deliver wellbeing at scale.
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Put mental health at the heart of city decisions: A call to action for World Mental Health Day
On 10 October, World Mental Health Day, is a reminder that urban environments, climate resilience, and social connections profoundly shape…
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Heat is rising. Here’s how cities are rising to respond.
Feeling the heat? So are our cities, and they’re taking action. On Heat Action Day, we spotlight how local and regional…
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São Paulo’s sustainability vision linking health, resilience and food access
As São Paulo’s thermometers marked record-breaking temperatures last year, the heat wave refused to relent, with March 2024 hitting nearly…
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Climate change is impacting urban health. Here is why and how we should measure it
The 2015-2016 Zika outbreak in South America showed how increasing temperatures and growing populations expose urban areas to considerable health risks….
The road to COP30
Looking ahead to Belém, Brazil, local and regional governments have a unique opportunity to engage with their national governments, shift the trajectory of the climate emergency, and push for inclusive, multilevel climate action.
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Belém, Brazil’s largest Amazonian city, to host COP30
As the world turns its attention to Belém for COP30, ICLEI is raising up the voices of cities in the…
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What NDCs 3.0 are (and aren’t) saying about multilevel, inclusive climate action
With only 27 new NDCs submitted by June 2025, covering just 21% of global emissions, are governments actually delivering on…
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Can local climate dialogues really shape national climate action? The Town Hall COP Initiative is trying to prove they can
ICLEI’s Town Hall COP Initiative is emerging as a powerful model to make climate action truly locally led, transformation-oriented, and,…
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From Bonn to Belém: How national commitments and cities together can deliver a climate-ready future
Under the umbrella of Daring Cities 2025 Bonn Dialogues, this event highlighted the importance of partnerships to deliver not just…
Sparking sustainable energy
Local and regional governments are driving the transition to sustainable energy, aiming for net-zero emissions and climate neutrality.
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Keeping cities cool: Local solutions to the global heat challenge
As demand for cooling continues to soar, local and regional governments are looking at both technological and design solutions.
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Serious gaming to create a real impact on the energy transition
By leveraging simulation, play, and interactivity to generate learning outcomes, serious games have been used in various sectors, including healthcare,…
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How Gyeonggi-do is tackling the Republic of Korea’s persistent sustainable energy challenge
Amidst slow national progress in the sustainable energy transition with RE sources, Gyeonggi-do stands out as a proactive subnational leader.
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Supporting energy equity: The role of energy efficiency in tackling energy poverty and burden
The Malmö Commitment pioneers are exploring how targeted energy efficiency measures can support energy equity, demonstrating how these measures can contribute…
Youth Voices
ICLEI’s guest op-ed and blog series designed to amplify the perspectives of young climate leaders across the globe.
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Turning play into participation: Building child-friendly, climate-resilient cities
Building child-friendly cities is a climate adaptation strategy. In Austria, Graz and Feldbach prove it works.
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Youth are taking climate stock. Here are ten ways cities can act with them.
To truly harness youth leadership, local and regional governments must go beyond consultation, co-creating processes where young people set agendas,…
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The role of Youth Councils in Brazilian local governance and how cities can unlock their potential
This guest op-ed article explores how Youth Councils in Brazil are consolidating themselves as powerful tools for shared governance, co-creation,…
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Mind the gap: How youth fall between presence and power in urban governance
This guest op-ed article argues that youth participation in urban governance must move beyond symbolism to real power, especially in…