The Commonwealth Association of Architects, through the Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Initiative, partnered with UN-Habitat on a major programme to strengthen urban climate resilience in Belize and Zambia. Running from 2025 to 2027, the initiative piloted a competency-based approach to building long-term institutional capacity for climate-resilient urban development. It responded to the rapid urban growth and climate vulnerability facing both countries, alongside shortages of trained built environment professionals and institutional systems able to address these pressures effectively.
Working with national ministries, local authorities, universities and professional associations, the programme focused on embedding resilience skills within institutions rather than relying on one-off training. It supported the development of competency frameworks, training programmes, training-of-trainers models and collaborative learning networks designed to strengthen governance, planning and pro-poor climate action over time.
An important first step took place in March 2026, when stakeholders from Belize and Zambia came together through a virtual Expert Group Meeting, followed by an in-country workshop in Belmopan, Belize. The four-day training workshop strengthened capacities in governance, public policy, stakeholder engagement, data use and resilience diagnostics, and brought together ministries, local councils, universities and professional bodies to support more coordinated and climate-resilient urban planning in Belize.
