online programme

about

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), with support from The Prince’s Foundation, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Rwanda (MININFRA), the Ministry of Local Government of Rwanda (MINALOC), the Commonwealth Engineers Council (CEC)and the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE), have been working together with a range of partners to curate an online programme on sustainable urbanisation, in the Commonwealth. The programme ran from 24 June 2020 until 02 September 2020. Click here to read a summary of the online programme.

programme

The programme set out to:

• Build on the momentum which has already been developed in response to the need for sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth. 
• Inform and strengthen a call to action on sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth through exchange of ideas and good practice. 
• In the face of the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic, to advocate for the centrality of SDG 11 in reviewing the targets and achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals. 
• Promote inter-disciplinary, cross-sector collaboration and engagement to address the challenges and unlock the opportunities presented by sustainable urbanisation across the Commonwealth. 

The programme was structured around the following key question: 

How can we collaborate more effectively to leverage the power of the Commonwealth to achieve sustainable urbanisation? 

The individual sessions focused on one or more of the following themes: 

• Building capacity and capability 
• Empowerment, governance, and leadership 
• Increasing urban resilience 
• Leveraging partnerships 
• Unlocking finance and trade 

Each session also aimed to address the following cross-cutting issues: climate change, COVID-19, gender, inclusion, and youth.

the sessions

All of the sessions have been recorded and further details of each session are available by clicking on the links below:

Launch of the Programme and launch of the Survey of the Built Environment Professions in the Commonwealth
Session recorded on 24 June 2020

Feedback from the Frontline of COVID-19
Session recorded on 01 July 2020

Planning for Rapid Urbanisation in a Post-COVID19 World
Session recorded on 08 July 2020

Decentralisation and Empowering Cities and Human Settlements
Session recorded on 15 July 2020

Upskilling Professional Capacity for Climate Change and the Recovery
Session recorded on 22 July 2020

Sustainable Urbanisation and Local Economic Development in the context of Covid-19
Session recorded on 29 July 2020

Infrastructure-led Community Resilience
Session recorded on 05 August 2020

Achieving Safe and Affordable Housing for All
Session recorded on 12 August 2020

Upscaling Delivery of Climate Responsive Design
Session recorded on 19 August 2020

Sustainable Urbanisation and Small Island Developing States – The Pacific
Session recorded on 24 August 2020

Sustainable Urbanisation and Small Island Developing States – The Caribbean
Session recorded on 28 August 2020

Towards a Call to Action, Next Steps and Programme Close
Session recorded on 02 September 2020

outputs and outcomes

By the end of the programme, we had heard from a diverse range of stakeholders and considered how we can achieve the following outputs and outcomes to inform a call to action on sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth:

Outputs

• Improved evidence-based policy and decision making
• More effective governance, inter-governmental relations, and more integrated working methods
• Improved city leadership and better delivery of key urban services to local citizens
• Improved training for urban professionals at all levels through updated curriculum and continuing professional development (CPD)
• Improved urban planning and design at national and local level, together with more effective implementation 

Outcomes

• Mitigate the negative impacts of rapid urbanisation, climate change and natural disaster in cities and human settlements
• Increase the positive benefits of urbanisation in terms of social, economic, and environmental well-being
• Improve the resilience of cities and human settlements 
• Improve the health and wellbeing of citizens
• Protect and enhance the ecosystem and the natural environment, and encourage low-carbon development
• Improve economic development in cities and trade between cities in the Commonwealth

acknowledgements

The organisers would like to extend their thanks to all the contributors for their support in the creation of this online programme. If you are interested in the issues raised and/or would like to become involved in a Call to Action, please contact us at: info@commonwealthsustainablecities.org

all images are credited to: Johnny Miller, https://unequalscenes.com/

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