CHANGE: The Call to action on sustainable urbanisation across the Commonwealth has been jointly developed by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA), the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), in collaboration with the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), the Rwandan Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and The King’s Foundation, with support from the Commonwealth Engineers’ Council (CEC) and other Commonwealth organisations, governmental, professional and technical partners.
By mobilising its network, the Commonwealth has a unique opportunity to ensure that sustainable urbanisation is at the heart of our common future and is firmly rooted in Commonwealth values, as we work collectively to achieving the global goal of leaving no one and no place behind.
“Higher education has a critical role to play in tackling the issues of rapid urbanisation and climate change. From teaching architects to training town planners, from understanding the impact of urbanisation to developing technical and policy solutions, universities are helping to create a more sustainable future for our rapidly changing and expanding global populations. Universities also provide a bridge between research, policy and practice, working together with communities, the built environment professions, and local and national government. The ACU is proud to be working with our fellow Commonwealth organisations and engaging our member universities to advance sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth.”
“The Commonwealth Association of Architects are deeply concerned with the present dismal situation of the built environment directly attributed to climate change and rapid urbanisation. This is a most critical situation as many Commonwealth cities and human settlements are grappling with poverty, informality and migration. We believe that the Commonwealth is the only multilateral entity that could leverage its rich network of decision makers and practitioners. We are also confident that the Commonwealth has the potential to transform the way in which it does business to achieve an appropriate Commonwealth response to the challenges and opportunities of urbanisation.”
“Planners around the world work with communities and governments to create the cities of the future. Sustainable urbanisation is critical if we are to achieve resilient, inclusive and productive cities and, given that urban economies account for 80% of the global GDP, we need them to be successful. The CTA asks for the leaders of Commonwealth nations to ensure sustainable urbanisation is at the forefront of the recovery and future development agenda.”
“With nearly 50% of the projected increase in the world’s urban population by 2050 forecast to be in the Commonwealth, there has never been a more important time for members of the Commonwealth to work together on the issues of rapid urbanisation and climate change, exacerbated in the context of a global pandemic. City governments and leaders, and local leaders play a pivotal role in building safe, healthy and sustainable cities and towns”
In 2019 and early in 2020, consultations were held with our members, partners and other stakeholders, together with High Commissioners. This resulted in the development of a Call to Action, aimed at supporting our collective advocacy at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda.
Contributing to the development of the Call to Action, the ACU, CAA, CAP and CLGF, with the support of The King’s Foundation, the Commonwealth Engineers’ Council, and the Government of Rwanda, embarked on a 12-week webinar series to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth. This series explored the opportunities, complexities and challenges of sustainable urbanisation, shared examples of good practice, and promoted debate on how best to leverage the power of the Commonwealth to achieve sustainable urbanisation. The events attracted over 2,500 participants from over 80 countries.
The importance of sustainable urbanisation was formally recognised at CHOGM 2022 and the Heads of Government adopted a Declaration on Sustainable Urbanisation.
To accompany the Call to Action, our partners created a Good Practice Library to showcase the innovative and collaborative work that Is taking place locally to help advance sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth.
If you would like to share an example of how cities and human settlements are working with their local populations to embed sustainable development principles across cross-cutting themes, please contact us.
If you are interested in the Call to Action and would like to get involved, please contact us.