Advocacy
UrbanShift at World Forum on Urban Forests: Leveraging urban biodiversity & forests to create inclusive and equitable cities
This session, held during the World Forum on Urban Forests, will bring together leaders to discuss their experience in creating sustainable and resilient cities through urban nature-based solutions.
Building sustainable cities means creating spaces where people can easily and safely meet their daily needs, find green and open areas for recreation, such as urban forests, and unleash their full potential.
Integrated urban planning is a powerful tool to bring forests back to cities and do so equitably and inclusively. Cities around the world, from Ushuaia in Argentina to Freetown in Sierra Leone, are pursuing integrated planning and people-centered approaches to ensure that designers, citizens and local authorities collaborate to create vibrant, green and inclusive communities.
This session will convene city representatives, urban development practitioners, and forestry experts who operate at the intersection of integrated urban planning, nature, green infrastructure, and food and agriculture systems. The speakers will share best practices regarding how urban planning can effectively integrate urban forests and biodiversity to foster the creation of healthy, inclusive, and equitable urban environments.
Speakers:
- Sharon Gil, Head a.i., Cities Unit, UN Environment Programme
- Thomas Hofer, Team Leader, Senior Urban Forestry Officer, FAO
- Jaime Pumarejo, Mayor of Barranquilla, Colombia (TBC)
- Suzanne Ozment, Senior Associate, Natural Infrastructure, Cities4Forests, WRI
- Eike Sindlinger, Associate, Food and Agriculture Systems Business Leader, Arup
- Ingrid Coetzee, Director, Biodiversity, Nature & Health, ICLEI Africa and Global Cities Biodiversity Center
- Mariana Orloff, Senior Manager, Urban Development, UrbanShift, WRI
- Aloke Barnwal, Coordinator, Sustainable Cities Program, GEF
Leveraging urban nature to create inclusive and equitable cities
As cities continue to expand their built environment, maintaining equity and inclusion becomes even more critical. Join us to learn about the challenges and opportunities of using nature as a tool to build more inclusive cities.
Peer to Peer Exchange on Urban Nature-Based Solutions
Representatives from Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia convened in Barranquilla, Colombia, to learn from the city’s experience of implementing successful urban nature-based solutions projects.
What does a green city look like?: Equitable, connected, and nature-positive
During the ClientEarth Summit, UrbanShift's John-Rob Pool joined Aditya Bahadur of the International Institute for Environment and Development and Caroline Watson of C40 Cities for a discussion on creating more sustainable, livable cities.
Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities
This synthesis of the World Resources Report recommends seven transformations to create a new dynamic for durable, cross-sectoral, city-wide change and provides a roadmap to more equitable access to core urban services.
