CITYNET at High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (Kitakyushu) - More Action and Commitment

The High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (HLS-ESC) was initiated by 16 East Asia Summit (EAS) member countries (consisting of 10 ASEAN member states, Australia, China, India, Republic of Korea and New Zealand). The event brought together national and local government representatives and various other actors to look towards realising sustainable city development.

Possible replication and scaling up of the practices were highlighted, particularly in integrated solid waste management as one of the most serious environmental challenges facing urban areas in Asia. The importance of participation from the private sector, supportive policy frameworks by national governments and economic incentives, awareness-raising, and baseline data for GHG measurement were amongst others that were discussed. The need to improve urban air quality management, more actions on sustainable planning and adapting to changing climate were also covered. Local governments also presented their progress of commitment on achieving ESC. The EMS model cities are to be selected by participating countries this year to further meet the objectives of the programme.
The 2nd HSL-ESC was organised with support from IGES and Kitakyushu City on 15 and 16 March 2011 to continually foster partnership and transfer good practices and policies on ESC development. Members of CITYNET, Balikpapan, Surabaya (who have signed an agreement with Kitakysuhu), Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Iloilo and TEI (Thailand Environment Institute) attended the meeting. The Programme Director of CITYNET, Bernadia Tjandradewi presented the case study of CITYNET in bridging local governments and community for safe and inclusive cities with the focus on CDRI (Climate Disaster Resilience Initiative). The key success factors of CDRI include the integration of the programme in on-going plans and activities (for funding, etc.) a participatory approach, the creation of tasks forces within the local governments and coordination with various departments, among others. At the plenary, Tjandradewi also highlighted how CITYNET could be the ideal partner to support the EAS model cities, such as through training and capacity building, technical assistance under the framework of city-to-city cooperation, information sharing, as well as cross country learning. She emphasised the role of the CITYNET national chapters in four countries.

For more details about the seminar’s outputs including the chair’s summary, please see: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/kuc/activity110315.html