International Youth Day on 12 August recognizes young people as drivers of change. How can local and regional governments effectively engage them? From energy mentoring programs and youth councils to video campaigns, here are cases for inspiration on how ICLEI Members include youth voices in climate action and a checklist for city leaders to get
Panelists and organizers for “Nothing about us without us: How to engage young people in co-creating sustainability policies?” included (left to right) Olga Krajewska, ICLEI Europe; Fruzsina Vargha, Sfântu-Gheorghe, Romania; Chilando Chitangala, Lusaka, Zambia; Jose Nicolas Arenas, Envigado, Colombia; Vlora Makolli, Together in Association, Sweden; Anne Louise Meincke, Cities4Children Alliance, Denmark; and Coline Blache, ICLEI
Photo: Malmö Mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh signs the Malmö Commitment on Inclusive & Equitable Communities during the ICLEI World Congress held 11-13 May, 2022 in Malmö, Sweden. In the wake of the ICLEI World Congress in Malmö which wrapped up on 13 May, a broad cross section of cities and regional governments spanning multiple continents
If there is anything to be learned from the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protest in France, is that social innovation should accompany environmental policymaking. Policies will have little effect without the acceptance and understanding of the people directly affected by the changes. Much of the climate change discourse centers on wide-scale economic, social and cultural change –
By Matteo Bizzotto, Communications Officer, and Hannah Rothschild, City-Business Collaboration Officer China’s rapid industrial and economic growth has come at the cost of soaring carbon emissions and negative environmental impacts. However, after becoming the world’s largest annual emitter, the country is now working hard to ensure that natural resources are preserved and ecological balance is
More than 200 million people in Africa live in slums, making it a major issue for cities growing at a rapid pace. With the Sustainable Development Goals – in particular SDG 1 and SDG 11 – national and local governments are looking for new ways to build inclusive and resilient cities for all, including the urban
by David Lammers, MSc Environmental Studies and Sustainability Studies, Lund University “Resilience is also required to respond to bad policy decisions”. This statement by William Cobbett, Director of the Cities Alliance, opened up a session on a very challenging aspect of urban development: achieving inclusiveness, particularly with regards to the urban poor. Cobbett framed two problematic
“Transformative optimism” underlies the actions that local and subnational governments are taking to build a low-carbon and resilient world. It also describes the dedication among national governments that has led to significant advancements in global sustainability policy in recent years. This morning, at the opening plenary of Resilient Cities 2016, Ashok Sridharan, Lord Mayor of Bonn