Connected City Summit
This year, the Committee Annual Event will be held on the 28th of June 2016 in the City of Liverpool under the title “Connected City Summit”.
The UCGL Committee of Digital and Knowledge-based Cities -chaired by the City of Bilbao- and the Wireless Broadband Alliance have signed an agreement to work closely together on the development of Connected City initiatives. The first initiative in the framework of this collaboration is the “CONNECTED CITY SUMMIT” which will take place on the 28th June 2016 in Liverpool (UK), as part of the WBA Wifi Global Congress at the International Festival for Business 2016 and with the support of the City of Liverpool and its Mayor.
The Connected City Summit aims to develop, share and promote thought leadership and practical frameworks for the social and economic development and sustainable operation of the Connected City ecosystem for the long term benefit of all stakeholders.
The Connected City Summit expects to gather over 100 cities representatives including founding members of the WBA Connected City Advisory Board, New York, San Francisco, New Delhi and San Jose. The Summit will also provide you the opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities in your own cities, as well as hear the latest developments from global leaders in wireless and SMART technology.
More information and registration: www.uclg-digitalcities.org/en/annual-event/liverpool-2016
The Committee collaborates with the Uraía Platform in the organization of its second workshop in Nicosia
We inform you that as founding members of the Uraía Platform for the innovation in the municipal management, from the Committee we are collaborating in the organization of the second capacity building activity of the Uraía Platform, an initiative led by UN-Habitat and the Global Fund for Cities Development (FMDV).
The workshop will be held on 19 and 20th of April 2016 in Nicosia (Cyprus) in the framework of the CEMR Congress.
This year, the activity focus its work on the impact of SMART technologies in the municipal budget, and more specifically how, through technological innovation, municipalities can increase their revenue by improving local tax collection, while reducing expenditure thanks to energy efficiency policies.
The objective of the workshop is to exchange experiences on initiatives that used SMART technologies to improve tax recovery and increase energy efficiency and how these experiences produce an impact on municipal budget and are transformed into better services to all citizens.
The workshop will result in a document that will seek to capitalize on the exchanges, case studies, challenges, opportunities and views shared by decision makers who face similar situations regarding the pressing need to address the citizen’s demands in more innovative ways. Getting more resources yes, but also spending less, and better.
The workshop will combine plenary sessions and more in-depth debates in working groups, as well as a technical visit to SMART experiences of the Municipality of Nicosia.
The most intense part of the activity will take place on the 19th April and will count on with the part of the Uraía Partners, but being open, with no cost, to other cities interested in taking part previous approval by the Uraía´s Secretariat. Uraía will be able to finance the travel and three nights’ accommodation for 10 participants from developing countries. To request your registration and make a petition for scholarships you may contact directly mariana.nascimento@uraia.org
The 20th April will take place as part of the CEMR Congress, and will be open both for the registered participants to the workshops and the registered participants to the Congress which will begin on the 20th in the afternoon. You may find all the registration information to the CCEMR in the following link www.cemr2016.eu.
The workshop is addressed to representatives from local governments, network of cities, research centres, international organizations, and private sector companies. The working languages of the workshops are French, English and Spanish.
Please click on the links below to access the following reference documents:
• Registration form
• Concept note Nicosia Workshop
Workshop - SMART technologies and the municipal budget
In 2016 the Uraía Platform will focus its work on the impact of SMART technologies in the municipal budget, and more specifically how, through technological innovation, municipalities can increase their revenue by improving local tax collection, while reducing expenditure thanks to energy efficiency policies. A capacity building workshop will be organized on 19 and 20th of April 2016 in Nicosia (Cyprus) in the framework of the CEMR Congress. The activity will result in the collaborative production of a set of guidelines, summing up the experiences and point of views of participants.
Background
Once a year, the members of Uraía meet up to discuss a topic that is priority in their agenda and jointly elaborate guidelines, collect practices and assess projects with common elements of interest. In 2014, the Platform partners met in Santander (Spain) to exchange experiences, discuss needs and define the strategic priorities and activities of Uraía. In 2015, the Platform met in Oslo (Norway) to discuss partners’ experiences on SMART projects led in collaboration with private companies. Based on the experiences of the participants, the Platform elaborated a document on ‘Public-Private Partnerships for SMART City Management. Recommendations for local governments to prepare and implement SMART PPPs”.
In its 2016 upcoming gathering, Uraía aims to identify the trending topics and challenges regarding the current use of SMART technologies and its impacts on the municipal budget. In short, Uraía is interested in exploring how technological innovation can help cities to increase municipal revenue by improving tax collection and generate savings through energy efficient policies. But even more important, how these increased municipal resources are transformed into better, more efficient and inclusive public services.
Goals and topics
Goals
The objective of the workshop is to exchange experiences on initiatives that used SMART technologies to improve tax recovery and increase energy efficiency and how these experiences produce an impact on municipal budget and are transformed into better services to all citizens. The workshop will offer an opportunity for cities to discover available SMART solutions that can have a significant impact on the municipal budget and get inspired by their peers’ experiences.
The workshop will result in a document that will seek to capitalize on the exchanges, case studies, challenges, opportunities and views shared by decision makers who face similar situations regarding the pressing need to address the citizen’s demands in more innovative ways. Getting more resources yes, but also spending less, and better.
Topics
The sessions of the workshop will discuss the impact on the municipal budget of the introduction of SMART technologies. More specifically, the exchanges will focus on how SMART technologies can:
- Increase municipal revenue by improving tax collection (electronic payment, transparency, tackling informality, creating trust in the public sector...)
- Generate savings through energy efficiency policies (energy production, municipal buildings, public lighting, household energy provision and consumption, etc.)
Methodology
The workshop will combine plenary sessions and more in-depth debates in working groups, as well as a technical visit to SMART experiences of the Municipality of Nicosia.
The first day of the event will be for exclusive participation of Uraía partners and invitees, targeting a number of 40 experts and decision makers, with a spread of 50% European and 50% from outside of Europe. Participants will include representatives from local governments, network of cities, research centres, international organizations, and private sector companies. Participation is by invitation only and will have to be previously approved by the Secretariat. The activity has no costs for participation. Uraía will be able to finance the travel and three nights’ accommodation for 10 participants from developing countries.
The second day session will be opened to all the other participants in the CEMR Congress. Please note that participation at the CEMR Congress needs to be considered separately but that Uraía participants can have reductions regarding the Congress fees, to be considered in a separate basis. More than 30 sessions will be organized during the Congress on the 20th, 21st and 22nd, on the following topics: Governance & Leadership; Economy & Finance; Business, Technology & Innovation; Society & Culture; Environment, Climate & Energy; Cooperation & Partnerships; EU Integration. More information on the program of the Congress here: http://www.cemr2016.eu/.
8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns
The 8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns will be hosted by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the Basque Government, Bizkaia County Council and Bilbao City Council, with the involvement of Udalsarea 21 - Basque Network of Municipalities for Sustainability, and the support of Araba County Council, Gipuzkoa County Council, Donostia/San Sebastián City Council and Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council.
The flagship European conference on local sustainable development will bring together local and regional government representatives, European and international institutions, multilateral organisations, members of the research community, business leaders, and civil society. It will build on the legacy of the previous conferences in Aalborg (Denmark, 1994 and 2004), Lisbon (Portugal, 1996), Hannover (Germany, 2000), Seville (Spain, 2007), Dunkerque (France, 2010), and Geneva (Switzerland, 2013). The conference will demonstrate the urgent need for actions by local governments in shaping Europe’s future.
Through the Aalborg Charter and Commitments, thousands of local governments in Europe have committed to enhancing the sustainability of their urban areas. The 2016 conference will allow participants to capitalise on the growing momentum for actions that transform cities into truly sustainable areas. The Sustainable Development Goals and the results of COP 21 in Paris will be reflected in the discussions, as well as the emerging Urban Agenda for Europe and the upcoming UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development HABITAT III.
The Basque Country reflects the capacity of European cities to transform, having changed from being focused on industry to embracing a modern service-based economy. Its newly adopted Environmental Programme for 2020 shows a firm commitment to improving the environment and aligns with current European and international strategies on job creation, enhancing standards of living, and building a low-carbon economy.
More information: http://conferences.sustainablecities.eu/basquecountry2016/
Habitat III United Nations Conference
Habitat III is the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to take place in 2016. The United Nations General Assembly decided to convene, the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, to focus on the implementation of a “New Urban Agenda”, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul in 1996.
More information: unhabitat.org/habitat-iii
UCLG WORLD CONGRESS 2016
The United Cities and Local Governments Congress, otherwise known as the “Summit of Local and Regional Leaders”, is the highest governing body of the World Organization.
Held every three years, the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders has acquired, during the course of previous editions, a strong and enviable reputation within the international community. This high‑calibre event remains referential and one of
the most anticipated meetings for local and regional leaders and decision makers.
It brings together over 3,000 representatives of towns, cities, metropolises and regions, civil society, the business world and academia from around the world to interact with their colleagues from across the globe.
The Summit is also the occasion where all members of UCLG are able to exercise their rights, influence the global development agenda and guide the UCLG work plan for the next three years.
The Third World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders will take place from 12 to 15 October 2016 and will be hosted by the city of Bogotá, Colombia’s capital.
More information: www.bogota2016.uclg.org
Uraía's publication about SMART Public-Private Partnerships is already available
Uraía is releasing its first publication: 'Public-Private Partnerships for SMART City Management. Recommendations for local governments to prepare and implement SMART PPPs'. The Committee has collaborated in the elaboration of the publication.
The publication 'Public-Private Partnerships for SMART City Management. Recommendations for local governments to prepare and implement SMART PPPs' is now available for download.
The document is the result of the discussions held during Uraía’s first capacity-building Workshop which took place in Oslo (Norway) last June. The working paper elaborated in collaboration with the participants who attended the workshop - including representatives of local governments, city networks, service and technology providers, civil society, international organizations and research institutes from Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa - gathers general recommendations on city-business cooperation in the field of SMART projects and is based on the participants’ experiences.
After introducing the context of Uraía and the Oslo Workshop, the document explores the main characteristics of SMART PPPs as compared to more conventional PPPs. In the following, the Recommendations are divided into three sections, following the logic of the project implementation:
Phase 1 – institutional prerequisites
Phase 2 – Partnership negotiation
Phase 3 – Project implementation and management
A series of case studies give concrete examples of SMART PPPs implemented by the municipalities of Porto Alegre (Brazil), Johannesburg (South Africa), Agra (India), Sousse (Tunisia) and Valencia (Spain), drawing on their experiences and lessons learned. Additionally, interviews with experts and local government representatives give valuable insights to all relevant project phases of SMART PPPs.
The Recommendations were presented at the UCLG’s 2nd Seminar on Modernizing Municipal Management taking place on October 1–2 in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Uraía team would like to thank the contributors and the workshop participants for their valuable inputs to this document, and sincerely hopes that it will constitute a reference work for local and regional governments in the field of SMART Public-Private Partnerships.
The document can be downloaded in English HERE,Spanish HERE and in French HERE.
More information: www.uraia.org
Climate Summit for Local Leaders
On December 4, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of the City of Paris and Michael R. Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change – in partnership with the global networks of cities and local governments for climate action – will co-host the Climate Summit for Local Leaders, a global meeting of over a thousand mayors on climate change.
The Climate Summit for Local Leaders is being held in the framework of the 21st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21), being celebrated in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015. COP21 aims to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate change, with the goal of keeping global warming below 2°C. The conference is expected to attract close to 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates representing national and subnational governments, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.
The Climate Summit for Local Leaders will highlight and build on the efforts of the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of cities pledging to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resilience to climate change, and track their progress transparently. It will showcase major climate initiatives supported by local and subnational governments and increase the visibility of our constituency at COP21.
The meetings of the UCLG World Council and Executive Bureau will also be held in Paris during COP 21.