Tag: Governance

Categories
Pacific

Building Capacity of SIDS for Local Economic Development in Kiribati, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands

Building Capacity of SIDS for Local Economic Development in Kiribati, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Local economic development, governance, capacity building 

ORGANISATION(S)

CLGF, LED consultants, LGA and Local Authorities of participating countries together with members of the wards who are going to implement the project. 

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

Small Islands in the Pacific face daunting challenges posed by their small size, narrow production and export bases, limited resources and capacity constraints. These challenges are exacerbated by climate change, urbanisation and now COVID 19. To get out of poverty and hardship people are looking for local solutions to generate economic activities in order to improve standard of living. The overall objective of the project is to create and increase the sustainability of local economic development at the local level through the strengthening of LGAs and Local Authorities and supporting their interaction with communities. The project was designed to build the capacities of small island states for local economic development. It involves an action learning program delivered in each participating country plus providing some mentoring for project implementation. The action learning program provided opportunities for local experts in the country to address issues regarding local economic development and provided tools for assessing local economic development opportunities. Click here to find out more about the project. 

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Cities and human settlements are responsible for ensuring delivery of essential services including water, sanitation, healthcare, education, public transport, and housing, upon which their citizens depend.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.“ 

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF): https://www.clgf.org.uk/

Categories
Africa Asia Pacific

Urban Data Collection in India

Urban Data Collection in India 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Urban planning, technology/data, governance 

ORGANISATION(S)

Indian Institute for Human Settlements in partnership with University of Cape Town and Connected Cities Lab. 

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

In the Indian context, data on urbanisation is not released at an adequate spatial and temporal resolution. While data is collected by various government agencies, however, it is collected relatively infrequently and is not released at a fine-grained resolution that allows researchers to understand urban inequalities, vulnerabilities, risks and exposure. This prevents policymakers, practitioners and researchers from formulating adequate policies and theory to deal with the challenges raised by urbanisation in these contexts. In order to address this, the Urban Informatics Lab and the Geospatial Lab at IIHS have been collaborating to develop open source, scalable methods to generate fine-grained data on India’s cities. This approach combines publicly available administrative data along with satellite data, using geo-spatial analysis techniques to develop new methods as well as new datasets that shed light on urban inequalities and pathways to sustainability. Further, IIHS are developing an Urban Observatory on Bangalore to disseminate this data. This approach is further being amplified through a set of partnerships across the Commonwealth – with the Connected Cities Lab, Australia and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. 

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Cities and human settlements are responsible for ensuring delivery of essential services including water, sanitation, healthcare, education, public transport, and housing, upon which their citizens depend.” 
  • “Universities, research, technology, innovation, and knowledge sharing will be at the heart of ensuring sustainable cities and human settlements of the future.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.”   

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS): https://iihs.co.in/

Categories
Africa

Rethinking Public Finance for Children in Uganda

Rethinking Public Finance for Children in Uganda 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Youth, Governance, Public service delivery, Financing, SDGs 

ORGANISATION(S)

Government of Uganda – The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, with UNICEF Uganda 

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

Uganda’s relatively young population, where close to 60% of the population below 18 years of age, and over 75% below the age of 35 years, is central to it’s country’s development towards a middle-income country. Traditionally having relied on donor funding for investment in social services, which is now in decline, there is a recognition of a need for greater transparency and accountability, and more efficient implementation. Value for money is now a priority, to ensure that with existing resources, integral services for child welfare and development can be maximised. The government is taking steps to improve monitoring of the impact of investments on social outcomes, having set up the Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit to provide a framework to inform better spending decisions. Click here for more information.

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Well managed cities and human settlements are drivers of economic development, centres of innovation and entrepreneurship, and sources of trade and employment that are vital for the livelihoods of their citizens, 60% of whom are under 30.”
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.”
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.”

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

UN-Habitat: https://unhabitat.org/

Categories
Asia

Mapping Vulnerability and Resilience in Malaysia

Mapping Vulnerability and Resilience in Malaysia  

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Good Governance, Technology, Resilience, COVID-19 

ORGANISATION(S)

Think City

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

Despite the socio-economic toll of public health interventions cited by numerous academics, there had been a lack of investigation into the inter-related nature of the COVID-19 impacts and how vulnerability and community resilience would play out spatially. This project aimed to tackle the lack of analysed data in Malaysia, to aid decision-making and raise awareness amongst the public regarding the different levels of impacts associated with Covid-19. A GIS (Geographical Information System) multi-criteria analysis was developed to model the relative social, economic, and health impacts and risks of the pandemic, with the overall aim of identifying vulnerable communities in Malaysia. The mapping tool can be found here. Key challenges included the lack of granular data to accurately map and identify specific sites of vulnerability, as well as ensuring that the data would not be outdated in the face of new reported cases and research produced each day. This exercise demonstrated the crucial role of data in addressing the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and gaps in developing adaptive response plans and policies. The development of the mapping tool led to an urban policy paper titled ‘Mapping Vulnerability and Resilience: A decision support tool for policymakers’, which dissected the findings and made key policy recommendations based on the spatial and demographic inequality found through the analysis. The policy paper can be found here. 

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • Cities “are vulnerable to external shocks and natural disasters and are dealing with both the immediate and long-term effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic.” 
  • Universities, research, technology, innovation, and knowledge sharing will be at the heart of ensuring sustainable cities and human settlements of the future. 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.”  

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

Think City: https://thinkcity.com.my/

Categories
Pacific

Localising the 2030 Agenda Through Sustainable Urban Resource Management in Fiji

Localising the 2030 Agenda Through Sustainable Urban Resource Management in Fiji 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Waste management, capacity building, governance, SDGs 

ORGANISATION(S)

UNESCAP, UNHABITAT, JICA, CLGF, Ministry of Local Government, Nasinu Town Councils and members of different groups from communities in Nasinu including representatives from the informal settlement and business community.

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

Many people in the Pacific continue to move to towns and cities resulting in significant and unsustainable use of resources, environmental degradation, waste and pollution. This set of challenges is particularly problematic for poor and vulnerable populations with limited access to basic infrastructure and services as well as decent livelihoods especially linked to eco-systems and natural resources. These challenges were addressed in this project through strengthening the capacities of local governments and other key urban stakeholders to implement the 2030 Agenda in the area of urban resource management. This project has a long-term aim of engaging a broad range of urban stakeholders to be able to identify and then implement ways of improving waste management outcomes of the Nasinu Town Council and the community. The focus is to integrate processes such as participatory, evidence, multi stakeholder’s governance and capacity building as precursors to well informed actions. The project helps to build the skills of the Nasinu Town Council and the community members in good local governance practices and procedures to improve solid waste management in Nasinu. The project set up and manage a local multi stakeholder’s coalition who were provided with tools and resources to enhance their ability to plan and implement SDGs, collect, analyse and disseminate data and encourage stakeholders to work together. Click here for more information.  

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Cities and human settlements are responsible for ensuring delivery of essential services including water, sanitation, healthcare, education, public transport, and housing, upon which their citizens depend.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.”   

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF): https://www.clgf.org.uk/

Categories
Asia

Kita-2-Kita Programme: Empowering Urban Poor Communities in Selangor, Malaysia

Kita-2-Kita Programme: Empowering Urban Poor Communities in Selangor, Malaysia 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Good Governance, Housing, Urban Poor, COVID-19, Technology, Public Service Delivery 

ORGANISATION(S)

Think City, Afrik Nexus, Selangor State, Menteri Besar Incorporated, Pemodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad, Lembaga Perumahan dan Hartanah Selangor, Perumahan Hartanah Selangor, Citi Foundation 

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

In the Klang Valley (Greater KL), Malaysia, nearly 1 in 4 residents live in public housing which has many major issues that need to be addressed such as old housing stock and infrastructure, lack of social mobility and empowerment, poor job security and other related systemic challenges. The K2K programme has been designed in response to Covid-19 to test ways to engage with the community during movement control restrictions and deliver aid efficiently and transparently. The project has wider aims to reduce residents’ cost of living, improve standard of living and strengthen management systems in urban poor communities within Malaysian public housing schemes. A digital platform links residents with aid and support services in an efficient and transparent way that also generates community insights. In addition to food aid delivery, the programme is now focussing on relieving mental stress, building social cohesion and skills development. The programme delivery combines both traditional and digital methods of implementation.  

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • Cities “are vulnerable to external shocks and natural disasters and are dealing with both the immediate and long-term effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.” 

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

Think City: https://thinkcity.com.my/

Categories
Africa

Embedding Sanitation and Hygiene in Town Planning in Babati, Tanzania

Embedding Sanitation and Hygiene in Town Planning in Babati, Tanzania 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

WASH, Governance, Planning, Capacity Building, Data  

ORGANISATION(S)

WaterAid Tanzania as project lead; the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) for lead on research; Babati Town Council (BTC) to lead locally and link with communities; the Babati Water and Sanitation Authority (BAWASA) for technical expertise; and Manyara Regional Secretariat to supervise the implementation of research.  

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

In 2019, Babati had neither proper wastewater management system nor sanitary solid waste disposal. The main challenge to address this was the reluctance of authorities to invest and work with other actors on sanitation and hygiene. This was partly due to the common misconception that sanitation has to be done with a sewerage system, with very large capital costs, even though the town relied on on-site sanitation. An action research programme took stock of the situation through a formative research, data collection with city authorities and communities, a political economy analysis and a Shit-Flow-Diagram. The results were used for a scenario planning workshop which brought together many town actors to identify which options for sanitation and for hygiene were possible and preferable. Local authorities of secondary cities can find themselves constrained when considering sanitation: their size and the typical engineers’ training seems to mandate sewerage, which is very expensive to install and maintain. This attitude can create paralysis and prevent any meaningful investment in infrastructure improvements. This project has shown a method to accompany authorities in finding out which greater range of options is available to them and prioritise investments. Click here for more information.

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Cities and human settlements are responsible for ensuring delivery of essential services including water, sanitation, healthcare, education, public transport, and housing, upon which their citizens depend.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.”   

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

WaterAid: https://www.wateraid.org/uk/

Categories
Africa

Strategic Planning in eThekwini, South Africa

Strategic Planning in eThekwini, South Africa 

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Governance, planning, resilience, finance, capacity building, SDGs 

ORGANISATION(S)

eThekwini Municipality

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

In many countries across the world the challenge for sustainable urbanisation is that different spheres of government often work in silos which leads to a lack of coherence in planning and implementation at the local level. In an effort to address this South Africa created a District Development Model in 2019. The Model ensures all three spheres of government work together, with communities and stakeholders, to plan, budget and implement in unison. The Model aims to improve the coherence and impact of government service delivery with a focus on 44 Districts and 8 Metros. Alongside the District Development Model, eThekwini has created an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) which takes the vision from the Model to generate implementational mechanisms at the institutional level. It includes capacity building workshops and mentoring for long term strategic development as well as aligning the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the IDP outcomes. In the first year of the IDP there were 60 SDG indicators without associated projects, in the second year there were 48 and in the third year only 40 which highlights significant progress. To find out more about the IDP click here.  

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens” 
  • “Cities and human settlements are responsible for ensuring delivery of essential services including water, sanitation, healthcare, education, public transport, and housing, upon which their citizens depend.” 
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.”  

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

eThekwini Municipality

Categories
Pacific

Reaching Diverse Communities with Artificial Intelligence: The Talanoa Project in Auckland, NZ

Reaching Diverse Communities with Artificial Intelligence: The Talanoa Project in Auckland, NZ

CROSS-CUTTING SECTORS

Good Governance, Inclusion, Urban Planning, Public Service Delivery, Technology

ORGANISATION(S)

Beca Ltd

PROJECT OVERVIEW

New Zealand is a highly diverse society made up of different ethnicities and cultures, characterised by different languages and customs. Engaging and consulting with communities and the public is promoted under planning legislation in New Zealand and is becoming increasingly important for decision-makers as they look to bolster the robustness of their decision-making. Through this pilot project, Beca Ltd sought to understand how communities that historically do not participate in traditional engagement techniques would engage through a digital platform allowing them to participate in a time, place, and language they are comfortable with. The Talanoa Project was launched as an investigation into an innovative engagement tool to connect with Auckland’s Samoan community, the ‘silent majority’. Beca Ltd wanted to understand if using artificial intelligence (AI) technology could break through cultural barriers and if it should be embedded as a trusted method within our wider engagement strategies and plans as public feedback is sought to inform development projects. Click here to find out more.

RELEVANCE TO THE CALL TO ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

These examples have been chosen because of their relevance to the Call to Action, as shown by the direct quotes provided below. To view the Call to Action click here.

  • “Sustainable urbanisation demands collective action – genuine multi-level governance – to empower, enable and support cities and their citizens.”
  • “Cities and human settlements are responsible for ensuring delivery of essential services including water, sanitation, healthcare, education, public transport, and housing, upon which their citizens depend.”
  • “Sustainable urbanisation requires a commitment to good governance, integrated planning, effective service delivery together with fiscal and political empowerment.”

THIS EXAMPLE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY

Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP): https://www.commonwealth-planners.org/