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.

Bristol City Leadership Summit: Interview with Dejan Crnek

Dejan Crnek, Vice-Mayor of Ljubljana (Slovenia), talks about the importance of transformative actions to change cities, as well as about the key role of innovation to achieve sustainable cities.

Bristol City Leadership Summit: Interview with Fabrice Roussel

Fabrice Roussel, Vice-President of Nantes Métropole and Mayor of La Chapelle-sur-Erdre (France) explains how the city is working to change because, as he says, “the fight against climate change is all about changing cities”.

Gothenburg: “Giving Finance a Color”: Green Bonds and sustainable urban development

The City of Gothenburg hosted a session at the Cities & Regions Pavilion – TAP2015 at COP21 on Thursday, 3 December. Entitled “Gothenburg: Green Bonds and sustainable urban development,” the session examined the challenges and opportunities for cities to finance sustainable urban development with green bonds. Green Bonds are a financial tool designed to counter 

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Transformative Change in Transport Systems

On Thursday, 3 December 2015 at the Cities & Regions Pavilion, the City of Oslo and KS, the Association of Norwegian Local and Regional Authorities, hosted a session entitled “Transformative Change in Transport Systems” that explored the transition to zero-emissions communities through transformations of transport systems and smart urban planning. Nick Godfrey, Head of Policy 

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CCAC: “We have the proven technologies”: Tackling Short-Lived Climate Pollutants

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) hosted a session at the Cities & Regions Pavilion – TAP2015 at COP21 on Thursday 3 December.  Entitled “What cities can do to improve climate and clean air,” the session allowed participants to share experiences on reaching climate and clean air objectives through the targeting of short-lived climate 

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Nantes: Non-state Actors: A Chance for Climate

How do you maintain the clarity of a message that reflects diverse scales of actors and contentious agendas? According to Ronan Dantec (Councilor, City of Nantes) the best way to do this – and ensure that your words become more than just a slogan – is to live your message. By reducing 50% of its 

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TAP Talk: Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs Speaks on Fossil Fuel-Free Future at Cities & Regions Pavilion

On 3 December, the Cities & Regions Pavilion hosted Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, USA, for a TAP Talk on the possibilities for a fossil fuel-free future. Professor Sachs was joined by Mayor Karin Wanngård of Stockholm, Sweden and Mayor Monica Fein 

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Bristol City Leadership Summit: Interview with Thomas Hermann

Thomas Hermann, Mayor of Hannover (Germany) is asked about the power of transformative actions to change cities, and the role of innovation to achieve low-carbon and sustainable cities.

WRI: An Economic Case for Compact, Connected and Coordinated Cities

World Resources Institute (WRI) hosted a session at the Cities & Regions Pavilion – TAP2015 at COP21 on Tuesday 2 December. Entitled “Better Cities in a New Climate Economy,” the session shared the results of the New Climate Economy (NCE) cities work, which underscores the important role that well-planned urbanization can have on economic, social, 

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