Tag: feat

The Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Coalition (CSCC) closing meeting, held on 31 March 2026, brought together partners, practitioners, Commonwealth representatives and stakeholders to reflect on the achievements of the coalition’s proof-of-concept phase and consider future directions. Opened by Commonwealth Secretary-General Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the meeting marked an important milestone in translating the Commonwealth Declaration on Sustainable Urbanisation into practical, collaborative action.

In her opening remarks, Secretary-General Botchwey described the CSCC as “a coalition in motion, moving from declaration to delivery, from intent to implementation”. She emphasised that “no single institution, no single level of government, no single sector can solve challenges of this scale alone”, highlighting the importance of partnership in responding to rapid urbanisation, climate risks and inequality across the Commonwealth.

The meeting featured presentations from the three Action Groups on Housing, Integrated Planning and Urban Finance, alongside the Sustainable Urbanisation Expert Group. These highlighted key outputs, including evidence on structural barriers to housing delivery, lessons from the Belize Rapid Planning Toolkit pilot, analysis of urban finance constraints across the Commonwealth, and insights into the role of higher education in strengthening skills for sustainable urban development.

Reflections from the Madhya Pradesh dialogue further demonstrated how Commonwealth commitments can be translated into action at state and city level. The meeting concluded with closing remarks from His Excellency Johnston Busingye, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, who noted that the Declaration “has made a very long journey” and emphasised the need to “keep this momentum going” to deliver tangible results.

The session reinforced the value of the coalition model in generating policy-relevant evidence, promoting collaboration and supporting more integrated approaches to urban development across the Commonwealth.

A recording of the CSCC closing meeting is available here:

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.