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  • Montpellier to host the Euro-Africa Water Days

    Montpellier to host the Euro-Africa Water Days

    Montpellier is hosting a two-day summit to review and debate water-related challenges faced by African and European cities – and their most innovative solutions.

    The Euro-Africa Water Days, to which the City Diplomacy Lab at Columbia Global Centers | Paris is a scientific partner, will be held on October 9 and 10 in Montpellier, France.

    Representatives from international organizations, nations, local governments, cities, academia, civil society organizations, and businesses from Africa and Europe will discuss the challenges and opportunities related to local water management. Plenary and roundtable topics include peace, governance, gender, climate risks, urbanization, and urban and peri-urban agriculture. Discussions will be held in French.

    The Water Days are hosted by the City and Metropolitan Governments of Montpellier. They are part of the Euro-Africa Montpellier Biennial (October 9–15), featuring more than 70 initiatives to discuss the present and future of cultural, scientific, and economic cooperation between Europe and Africa.

  • Flourishing African Cities: a program for undergraduate students worldwide

    Flourishing African Cities: a program for undergraduate students worldwide

    The Fall 2023 Global Columbia Collaboratory Flourishing African Cities: Urban Development, Food Systems, and Clean Energy is a free, not-for-credit, virtual global program exploring African cities’ path toward sustainability and resilience. The program welcomes currently enrolled undergraduate students from around the world.

    Through seminars, working groups, and interactive sessions with NGOs working in the field, students will reflect, ideate, and collaborate to learn, discuss, and raise awareness about innovative ways African cities address global challenges and local priorities. 

    Applications are now open until Friday, September 8, 2023, and reviewed on a rolling basis until the program is full.

    Apply here

    The Fall 2023 Collaboratory is offered by Columbia University’s Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement in partnership with Columbia Global Centers | Nairobi and the City Diplomacy Lab.

  • Urban peace dialogues at the 2023 UNECE Forum of Mayors

    Urban peace dialogues at the 2023 UNECE Forum of Mayors

    An official side event to the 2023 UNECE Forum of Mayors, this international initiative aims to discuss and energize cities’ engagement to achieve SDG 16.

    The City Diplomacy Lab at Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the United States Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, the Nicosia Initiative promoted by the European Committee of the Regions, and the European and French Chapters of Mayors for Peace are hosting an official side event to the 2023 UNECE Forum of Mayors.

    The event, entitled “Urban Peace Dialogues: When Mayors Become Architects of Peace,” is scheduled for October 3 from 13:15 to 14:45 at the H200 auditorium at the Palace of Nations in Geneva. As the title suggests, the event’s primary goal is to initiate a global conversation to identify and discuss the unique added value of mayors and municipalities in achieving and maintaining peace and stability.

    Moreover, the event intends to kickstart a global review of the role of cities in the achievement of SDG 16 and their consequential integration in international efforts for peaceful coexistence.

    The goals of the event include:

    • To foster multilevel dialogue on urban violence and conflict prevention.
    • To raise awareness related to the innovative value of conflict prevention practices in urban areas.
    • To create a united front of cities actively involved in participatory conflict prevention practices.

    Program

    Date: October 3, 2023, at 13:15 – 14:45 CEST

    Place: H200 Auditorium, Palace of Nations, Geneva

    Language: English

    Opening remarks:

    • Mr. Peter B. Kahn, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

    Round table (in alphabetical order):

    • Ms. Alba Barnusell, Mayor of Granollers and Chair of Mayors for Peace’s European Chapter
    • Mr. Mathias De Clercq, Mayor of Ghent and Vice President of Eurocities
    • Mr. Albertino Ramaël, Deputy Mayor of Vitry-sur-Seine and representative of Mayors for Peace’s French Chapter
    • Mr. Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga
    • Ms. Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, Mayor of Malmö
    • Dr. Tobia Zevi, Deputy Mayor of Rome

    Q&A session, opened by Ms. Benedetta Oddo, Coordinator, Nicosia Initiative

    Closing remarks:

    • Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, Founding Director, City Diplomacy Lab at Columbia Global Centers | Paris

    Download the press release

    Watch the recording


    Gallery


    The event is part of the activities of the City Diplomacy Lab as a UNECE Center of Excellence on City Diplomacy and Sustainable Urban Development and a continuation of the roundtable it organized in April 2022 at the Palais des Nations in partnership with the Permanent Missions of the United States and Italy.

  • A new partnership to empower South African cities through city diplomacy

    A new partnership to empower South African cities through city diplomacy

    The City Diplomacy Lab and the South African Cities Network (SACN) join forces to advance sustainable urban development in South Africa.

    Over the past two decades, South Africa has emerged as a driver of city diplomacy on a global scale due to institutional innovation by its municipalities, the quality of its scholarly debate on the subject, as well as the support of national and international city networks.

    Hence, South Africa stands out for the level of awareness that city diplomacy can and should play a primary role in the current conjuncture characterized by the acute local impact of overlapping global crises.

    To enable SACN’s members to fully deploy city diplomacy’s unique political, technical, and financial resources, the City Diplomacy Lab has developed a tailored capacity-building program for them.

    This highly interactive program is being held from June to August 2023. It will enable participating cities to develop their practical skills in making city diplomacy a cross-cutting municipal tool for sustainable urban development, with thematic insights related to just transition and economic development.


    About the City Diplomacy Lab

    Launched in September 2021, the City Diplomacy Lab is a special project of Columbia Global Centers | Paris. The Lab fosters the understanding and practice of city diplomacy, which forges international collaborations between cities to promote sustainable development and peace while providing responses to challenges such as climate change, rising inequality, and migration.

    The Lab’s work, which includes applied research, capacity development, and event organization, has been officially recognized by the United Nations Regional Commission for Europe (UNECE) and awarded the designation of Center of Excellence on City Diplomacy and Sustainable Urban Development.

    In addition to the UN, the Lab engages on a daily basis with multiple municipalities around the world, city networks, universities, and other international organizations. The Lab also benefits from the resources of the network of 11 Columbia Global Centers around the world.

    For more information on City Diplomacy Lab capacity development programs, please visit this page.

    About the South African Cities Network (SACN)

    The South African Cities Network (SACN) was established in 2002 as a network of South African cities and partners that encourages the exchange of information, experience, and best practice on urban development and city management. Working together with South African cities and partners through research, knowledge sharing, peer learning, and innovation, the SACN is at the forefront of efforts to achieve the urban futures vision outlined in the Integrated Urban Development Framework [IUDF] and the National Development Plan [NDP].

    The SACN’s overall mandate is to:

    • Promote Good Governance and Management in South African cities
    • Analyze strategic challenges facing South African cities, particularly in the context of global economic integration and national development challenges
    • Collect, collate, analyze, assess, disseminate, and apply the experience of large city government in a South African context
    • Promote shared-learning partnerships between different spheres of Government to support the management of South African cities

    For more information about SACN, please visit www.sacities.net.

  • City-to-city cooperation and the 15-minute city

    City-to-city cooperation and the 15-minute city

    By Carlos Moreno

    Member of the City Diplomacy Lab’s Scientific Committee

    The conception of an urban alternative: the 15-minute city

    At the beginning of the 2000s, an all-new concept took over the reflection on cities and urban organization: the “smart city” concept. This technocentric concept promised a technological shift, a utopian intelligence where new technologies were supposed to optimize and rationalize hyper-connected cities. In 2010, it became a worldwide craze among elected representatives, town planners, and others discussing smart grids and autonomous vehicles.

    During this time, I began to take my place in the debate, reminding people of the need to think about the people who live in cities. Questioning urban functioning through the lens of my expertise in complex systems, I knew that technology could not be the solution to urban malfunctioning. Broad and complex cities’ problems couldn’t be “just monitored.”

    At the same time, environmental concerns and environmental crises skyrocketed while people’s mental health was declining – especially in big cities. It became clear that cities did not need more technology but more humanism, happiness, and oxygen.

    How can cities and territories be transformed for an effective and sustainable environmental transition? How can we rethink the functioning of urban areas? How can we ease people’s lives?

    To tackle those challenges, I searched for an urban model that is anchored in modernity by its sustainability and humanity, not its technology. It led, in 2016, to the concept of the 15-minute city, a city model that is today known all around the world.

    It proposes a new form of urban organization based on proximity. The idea is to enable each inhabitant to satisfy his essential needs (housing, work, access to healthcare, supplies, learning, and self-fulfillment) within 15 minutes of his home by active modes of transport (walking, cycling). Proximity is making people’s lives easier, more pleasant, less stressful and, at the same time, reduces the carbon footprint of urban systems. It’s an alternative to a metropolitan lifestyle that many people suffer from: time-consuming commutes, CO2 emissions, the omnipresence of the car in the urban space, air pollution, isolation, unhappiness, etc.

    Entering the world stage

    Fortunately, this urban model intrigued and then interested the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. In 2019, we started working on the implementation of the model in the French Capital.

    On the one hand, the 15-minute city went from theoretical to very practical: What could be the “Paris du Quart d’Heure”? How should we modify the current city organization? Can we close some roads to car traffic?

    On the other hand, the 15-minute city concept went from very local to global. Indeed, the concept is a proposal designed to meet the three urges our planet is facing: the ecological/environmental challenge, the economic challenge, and the social one. A few years earlier, the COP21 in Paris came to a clear conclusion: cities have become the main emitters of CO2, particularly through transport. With the support of the mayor of Paris, the proposal of the 15-minute city began to be discussed within the C40, a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis. The C40 started having an interest in the concept, given that mayors were all very concerned about the future of their cities: we discussed the coming change in cities and lifestyles, what is acceptable and what is not, and the differences between countries.

    And then… the pandemic of COVID-19 happened and so did the lockdowns all over the world. Lockdowns kind of accelerated the effective implementation of the 15-minute city but in a constrained way. The crisis also revealed how much cities were not resilient and unsuited to local living. The imposed proximity led to the development of exceptional measures: new bicycle lanes, temporary terraces in car parks, and new local services for healthy food and health.

    In this context, the answers provided by the implementation of “15-minute city” solutions were unanimously approved and the C40 even endorsed the concept as part of a post-covid policy strategy. It has also been recognized by the IPCC as a guideline to tackle the environmental crisis in cities. It obtained the support of the World Health Organization for promoting a healthy lifestyle through active travel and low air pollution. United Cities and Local Governments, UCLG, has integrated it into its Pact for the Future. UN-HABITAT promotes it as a key element in the new urban agenda and the achievement of the SDGs and gave its 2022 “Scroll of Honour to the 15-Minute city as a tribute for the improvement of the quality of life of citizens.

    All over the world, the 15-minute City was recognized as a way to transform cities, step by step, into more resilient and happy cities. The movement has not stopped growing since and a lot of worldwide cities are reconsidering their city plan to integrate proximity: Roma, Portland, Nantes, Melbourne, Milano, Mulhouse, Nantes, Toulouse, Buenos Aires, Busan, Sousse, Scotland…

    City diplomacy, pursuing a constructive debate

    Due to the crisis, the interest in this new urban organization peaks, and I am pleased that this urgent and needed debate is now open. The appetite for more liveable, people-oriented cities is driving a surge of interest in the ‘15-Minute city’. It is clear that diplomacy between cities played a key role in its propagation and adoption.

    After the emergency of the pandemic, we are entering a new phase of cooperation between cities around the idea of the 15-minute city. Indeed, with the support of the C40, the UCLG, and UN-Habitat, the Chaire ETI has just launched in June 2023 the “Global Observatory of Sustainable Proximities”. This global platform aims to support the implementation of proximity approaches in cities worldwide with the development of official measures and indicators. This observatory will be a global center for knowledge sharing, as much as a global network to support cities in implementation. It will convey good practices, good ideas, and federate cities.

    This “Global Observatory of Sustainable Proximities” is the result of a long-term project which we all undertook together. While the idea and concept are my own, the cooperation between the cities has played a big part in making it popular today. I am convinced that we will continue in this direction with this new space for dialogue and that it will enable us to continue transforming our cities for the better.

  • The role of city diplomacy in crisis management

    The role of city diplomacy in crisis management

    Everywhere in the world, cities are suffering the harshest consequences of this age’s multiple crises.

    Due to armed violence and climate change, as well as growing inequalities and health crises, the resilience and well-being of cities are challenged on a daily basis. It is precisely these common challenges that spark the determination of cities to join forces regionally and globally to devise and implement prompt and effective solutions. City diplomacy thus becomes an irreplaceable tool for crisis management.

    The City Diplomacy Lab joins forces with CItés Unies France, United Cities and Local Authorities (UCLG), and PLATFORMA to highlight the potential and challenges of city diplomacy in such contexts.

    Hosted by the French House of Representatives (Assemblée Nationale) on July 3, this day-long workshop will be opened by former President of France François Hollande. A distinguished lineup of mayors, representatives of international organizations and NGOs, and academics will discuss the potential of city diplomacy in times of multiple crises, outlining avenues for addressing their lingering obstacles.

    The event is in French and in person. To attend, fill out this form, to be emailed to Simone Giovetti (s.giovetti@cites-unies-france.org) and Mélanie Sabot (m.sabot@cites-unies-france.org).

    Download the draft program.

  • Cities and Climate Solutions | Food

    Cities and Climate Solutions | Food

    April 19, 2023 | Online event | 12:00 p.m. (New York) | 1:00 p.m. (Rio de Janeiro) | 6:00 p.m. (Paris) | In English

    In the face of the climate crisis, cities across the world are emerging as integral problem-solvers in the development of an effective, multi-layered response. This webinar aims to discuss some of the most impactful and sustainable urban food safety and security actions. It will take the form of an online dialogue between city officials from New York City, Rio de Janeiro, and Milan and center on how cities design and manage their food policies. The discussion will be moderated by City Diplomacy Lab Director Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi.

    The webinar is the second in a series of three entitled “Cities and Climate Solutions.” The series celebrates the leadership of cities and provides inspiration for the thousands of cities and local governments around the world committed to shaping the global response to climate change.

    Cities and Climate Solutions is a collaboration between the City Diplomacy Lab and Columbia Global Centers | Paris. This event is also co-sponsored by Columbia Global Centers | Rio de Janeiro.

    Speakers:

    Rio de Janeiro | Thalyta Ferraz is an internationalist with experience in managing research projects internationally funded and, since May 2022, stepping forward as a local diplomacy advisor at the City of Rio de Janeiro. As part of the Rio’s International Department office, she has been advocating for public policies, development, and rights-based international agenda, along with international organizations and cities’ networks, such as C-40, UCLG, UCCI, IOPD, and the Milan Pact, for which she was directly involved in the conceptualization and organization of its global forum hosted in Rio in 2022. Thalyta holds an MA in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (2015). In 2020, she concluded a four-month professional advancement fellowship at the MGG Academy (DIE/Germany), shifting areas from project to knowledge management, seeking shared problem-solving methods, conflict mediation, and supporting the co-creation, diffusion, and application of knowledge between organizations.

    New York | Milagros de Hoz currently serves as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, where she is responsible for advancing MOFP’s work in the intersection of food, environment, and climate. She works across City agencies and with local, state, and regional leaders to advance sustainable and low-carbon food initiatives and represents NYC in national and international coalitions that focus on these efforts. Milagros is also responsible for reporting on progress towards the goals set in Food Forward NYC, the city’s ambitious 10-year food policy plan. Prior to joining MOFP, Milagros worked as a research scientist at the Office of Research and Policy Innovation at the NYC Department of Social Services. Previously, Milagros focused on environmental justice, leading community-based participatory research initiatives, and managing a vast and varied portfolio of environmental health programs. Milagros received a Bachelor’s in Biology, with a concentration in plant genetics from the University of Buenos Aires, and a Master’s in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from the New School.

    Milan | Elisa Porreca is a Food Policy officer at the City of Milan. She graduated in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation and then studied food system issues at the Master Food & Society. She started working for the Municipality of Milan in 2017, focusing on a range of issues for the Milan food system, in particular the reduction of food waste and food aid systems answering to food poverty. In parallel, she contributed to the drafting and implementation of European projects on food policies and the exchange of knowledge with international cities active on sustainable food systems. She is now serving as project officer for the European Food Trails project.

    Watch the recording


    About Columbia Global Centers | Paris

    For nearly sixty years, Columbia University students and faculty have come to study, teach, or pursue their research at Reid Hall, an exceptional space in the world of international education and cultural exchange. Our public events draw on the rich resources of the Columbia campus and our local partners, creating a “third space” of intellectual exploration and research that resists easy categorization. Our workshops, lectures, and performances bring together a diverse audience to address pressing issues through creative, rigorous, and open dialogue.

    Today, Reid Hall is home to several Columbia University initiatives: Columbia Global Centers | ParisColumbia Undergraduate ProgramsM.A. in History and LiteratureColumbia’s architecture program, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination. This unique combination of resources is enhanced by our global network, whose mission is to expand the University’s engagement the world over through educational programs, research collaborations, regional partnerships, and public events.

    For more information about Columbia Global Centers | Paris, please visit https://globalcenters.columbia.edu/paris.

    About City Diplomacy Lab

    Launched in September 2021, the City Diplomacy Lab is a special project of Columbia Global Centers | Paris. The Lab aims to foster the understanding and practice of city diplomacy, which forges international collaborations between cities to promote sustainable development and peace while providing responses to challenges such as climate change, rising inequality, and migration.

    The Lab’s work, which includes applied research, capacity building, and event organization, has been officially recognized by the United Nations Regional Commission for Europe (UNECE) and awarded the designation of Center of Excellence on City Diplomacy and Sustainable Urban Development.

    In addition to the UN, the Lab engages on a daily basis with multiple municipalities around the world, city networks, universities, and other international organizations. The Lab also benefits from the resources of the network of 10 Columbia Global Centers around the world.

    The views and opinions expressed by speakers and guests do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of Columbia Global Centers | Paris and its affiliates.

  • International relations students share their take on city networks’ impact

    International relations students share their take on city networks’ impact

    What is the added value and impact of international city networks? Sciences Po – PSIA graduate students answer such a question through weekly episodes of the City Diplomacy Student Podcast.

    The podcast’s ongoing 5th season features insight into the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights, Cities4Forests, ICCAR, and Mayors for Peace. Upcoming episodes will focus on the Mayors Migration Council, the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, the Partnership for Healthy Cities, and POLIS.

     

    Launched in 2020 by City Diplomacy Lab director Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi to facilitate his students’ group work during the COVID-19 lockdown, the podcast contributes to knowledge sharing and critical thinking around the rapidly expanding practice of international city-to-city partnerships.

    Previous seasons of the podcast are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Soundcloud.

  • Cities leading the transformation: SDGs in action and the new multilateralism

    Cities leading the transformation: SDGs in action and the new multilateralism

    A round table of the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE region | 29 March 2023 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. CET | Hybrid format both in presence at conference room XIX, Palais des Nations, Geneva and online | Interpretation in English, French, and Russian.

    Approximately 75% of emissions originate from cities, whilst by 2050, urban areas are expected to house over two-thirds of the global population. Cities will therefore play a critical role in the push to achieve sustainable development. Cities are also the site of tackling complex local issues such as housing, energy, transportation, waste and water management, disaster risk reduction, air pollution, population aging, urban mobility, urban food systems, and many others. Returning the famous phrase “Think Global, Act Local” to its origin in urban planning, this session will highlight the multiple levels at which cities operate, from policies and action at the local level driving forward solutions and positive change to forging strategic international partnerships to increase their relevance and impact in global matters. The session will include senior figures from municipal bodies across the region who will share experiences on specific actions and projects undertaken to meet the relevant SDG 11 targets, as well as representatives from international strategic partnerships who will speak to this city-based ‘new multilateralism.’

    The roundtable is organized by the UNECE Forests, Land and Housing Division in cooperation with UN-Habitat Geneva Liaison Office and will feature the participation of Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, founding director of the City Diplomacy Lab, a UNECE Center of Excellence on Sustainable Urban Development.

     

    The Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE region is a broadly recognized platform that has brought together a growing number of actors and groups since its first stand-alone session in 2017.

    Representatives of national and local governments, as well as of civil society, youth, businesses, international and regional organizations, academia, and parliamentarians, will participate in and contribute to the Regional Forum.

    To find out more about the Regional Forum, please visit this page.

  • Cities and Climate Solutions | Water

    Cities and Climate Solutions | Water

    March 22, 2023 | Online event | 10:00 a.m. (Los Angeles) | 1:00 p.m. (New York) | 6:00 p.m. (Paris) | 8:00 p.m. (Amman) | In English

    In the face of the climate crisis, cities across the world are emerging as integral problem-solvers in the development of an effective, multi-layered response. This webinar will bring together the representatives of three global cities facing unique water challenges: Los Angeles, Paris, and Amman. How are these cities dealing with (or preparing to deal with) increasingly severe water crises such as drought, floods, and water pollution?

    The webinar is the first in a series of three entitled Cities and Climate Solutions. Subsequent webinars will cover food and energy. The series will celebrate the leadership of cities and provide inspiration for the thousands of cities and local governments around the world committed to shaping the global response to climate change.

    This series is a collaboration between the City Diplomacy Lab and Columbia Global Centers | Paris.

    This event is co-sponsored by Columbia Global Centers | Amman.