Marrakech City Academy

From February 13-16, 2024, UrbanShift will host a City Academy for Africa in the dynamic City of Marrakech, Morocco. Co-hosted by key national and subnational authorities in Morocco, and supported by global and regional experts and local champions, this event will engage urban practitioners from across the region in four days of in-depth, interactive learning on critical issues related to sustainable and integrated urban planning.

The Marrakech City Academy will deliver the following two courses:

• Urban Biodiversity: The Urban Biodiversity course, delivered by World Resources Institute, will be a practical training focusing on tools to help deliver initiatives or projects to increase urban biodiversity. It will start by exploring the use of data to guide decisions related to how to prioritize areas and types of interventions in cities to increase biodiversity. The subsequent days will focus on how to get biodiversity projects financed. The training ends with a site visit to illustrate the course content. Training will be interactive, including applications, tools, case studies and presentations from participants, discussions, and games.   

• Accessing Urban Climate Finance: The ultimate goal of this course, offered by ICLEI, is to increase the capacity of city-level actors to mobilize and access climate finance for their net zero emission and climate resilient projects. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the potential funding sources, financing instruments (traditional and innovative), as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.  

Speakers and Agendas

Urban Biodiversity: Agenda

• Expert Speakers (in person):  
  • Cristina Gómez Garcia-Reyes, Lead, Net-Zero Nature-Positive Cities, WEF 
  • Julieta Lahud Vega, Programme Officer, Nature Based Solutions, UNEP WCMC 
  • Jessy Appavoo, Head, UrbanShift, C40 Cities 
  • Conrad Crees, Projects & Events Officer, UrbanShift, C40 Cities 
  • Andre Almeida da Vila, Officer, Innovative Finance, ICLEI World Secretariat 
  • John-Rob Pool, Manager, Knowledge and Partnerships, UrbanShift, WRI
  • Ted Wong, Research and Project Associate, Data & Tools, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
  • Saif Shabou, Urban Data & Analytics Associate, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
• Participant Speakers (in-person): 
  • Sabelo Nkosi, Senior Manager: Biodiversity Planning 
  • Karam Amzil, National Project Coordinator, Marrakech Sustainable City Project 
  • Amal Nadim, Head, Environment, Energy and Climate Change Unit 
  • Kaoutar Caidi, Junior Project Manager, Development and Maintenance, La Palmeraie de Marrakech 
  • Bouaichi Abdelghani, Vice Mayor, Environment and Quality of Life 
  • Martine Uwera, Programme Manager, Rwanda Urban Development Project II  
• Expert Speakers (online):  
  • Ingrid Coetzee, Director: Biodiversity, Nature & Health, ICLEI Africa 
  • Ursula Wellman, Manager: Biodiversity and Nature, ICLEI Africa  
  • James Vause, Lead Economist - Nature Economy 
  • Ronja Bechauf, Policy Analyst, Economic Law and Policy Program, IISD  
  • Loredana Scuto, Programme Officer – Urban, IUCN 
  • Lizzie Marsters, Environmental Finance Manager, Cities4Forests, WRI 
  • Natasha Collins, Project Manager, Conservation Finance, Cities4Forests, WRI 

Accessing Urban Climate Finance: Agenda

• Expert Speakers:  
  • Asma Jhina, Senior Advisor - Climate Finance, City Resilience and Inclusive Action, Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM)
  • Basma Zouari, Urban Development Specialist, European Investment Bank (EIB)
  • Francisco Macedo, Senior Program Associate, Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA)
  • Lennart Fleck, Programme Manager, Public Finance and Economic Development, UN-Habitat
  • Nan Zhang, Programme Management Specialist, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
  • Mike Brown, Senior Advisor, Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) (online)
  • Quentin Roquigny, Investment Officer, UNCDF
  • Viola Follini, Project Manager, UrbanShift, C40 Cities
  • Mohammed VI Foundation, TBD
• Participant speakers
  • Alberta Watta Abu, Finance Officer, Bo City Council
  • City of Marrakech/RADEEMA, TBC
  • Moroccan national government, TBC

For those interested in deepening their learning on these subjects--and more--in advance of the Marrakech City Academy, we encourage exploring the UrbanShift Online City Academy to find free, self-paced, online courses that provide in-depth education on eight essential urban planning topics.