The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III),a conference that occurs once every 20 years, is an opportunity to set the agenda for global urban development for decades to come. From October 17-20, 2016, key decision makers and stakeholders from around the world will come together in Quito, Ecuador to formally adopt the New Urban Agenda—the outcome declaration of the conference—and make plans for its implementation.

WRI will be on the ground working with partners and other stakeholders to shift the discourse around implementation and providing its global expertise to enhance the conversation. WRI will be participating in numerous side, networking and parallel events, including, but not limited to, those listed below.

Habitat III Business Assembly

When: October 16, 2016 | 9:00-18:00 ECT
Where: Teatro Nacional Casa De La Cultura
Description: The Business Assembly will bring together private sector leaders and the world’s leading CSR business networks to put forward innovations and business models to generate change and accelerate action on sustainable urbanization. The parties are meant to exchange strategies with cities to improve settlements and achieve better integration.
Speakers: Holger Dalkmann, Ani Dasgupta

Towards a More Equal City: Mobilizing for Post-Quito Implementation

When: October 16, 2016 | 13:00-20:00 ECT
Where: Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Quito (Antiguo Hospital Militar); Montevideo y Luis Dávila, barrio San Juan, Quito, Ecuador
Description This parallel event will launch WRI’s new flagship report, the World Resources Report, which this year will focus on creating more sustainable, more equal cities that enable all residents to live, move and thrive through implementation of the New Urban Agenda against the backdrop of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Speakers: Ani Dasgupta, Anjali Mahendra, Robin King, Michael Westphal, Dario Hidalgo
Contact: Valeria Gelman

DESA-Ecuador/MIDUVI High Level Forum on Disability Inclusion and Accessible Urban Development

When: October 16, 2016 | 14:00-15:30 ECT
Where: Room A, UN Pavilion, Quito, Ecuador
Description: This side event aims to promote the world’s urban development to be inclusive to persons with disabilities and to contribute to the emerging “New Urban Agenda” and its implementation. The discussions and outcomes from this session will provide a set of recommendations that could make concrete contributions to Habitat III and the implementation of the NUA.
Speakers: Holger Dalkmann

Transformative Actions for Post-Quito Implementation

When: October 17, 2016 | 9:30-10:30 ECT
Where: Room R16, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: At this side event, co-hosted by WRI and ICLEI and featuring a discussion of the forthcoming World Resources Report, city decision-makers and thought leaders will connect the dots between identifying good practice solutions for creating more equal cities for all and the pathways to implementation.
Speakers: Victoria Beard, Holger Dalkmann
Contact: Alyssa Fischer

Investing in Sustainable Cities: Challenges and Opportunities

When: October 17, 2016 | 9:30-10:30 ECT
Where: Room MR19, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: This side event, featuring a panel of International Development Finance Club (IDFC) members and government representatives, will explore the role of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in supporting sustainable urban development. Recognizing that financing is a core issue of the NUA and one of cities’ biggest challenges, this event aims to identify concrete ways to mobilize resources for sustainable urban development.
Speaker: Ani Dasgupta
Contact: Giulia Christianson

Implementing and Financing the New Urban Agenda Using the Commitments to Action Model

When: October 17, 2016 | 9:30-10:30 ECT
Where: Room MR12
Description: This side event will highlight existing Clinton Global Initiative Commitment pledges and encourage the creation of new commitments that improve social cohesion and equity, create strong partnerships between civil society and government, foster economic development, advance climate resilience, sustainable transport, promote human health and more.
Speaker: Madhav Pai

Local Governments Delivering Sustainable Urban Mobility (By Invitation Only)

When: October 17, 2016 | 10:00-11:30 ECT
Where: Room S3
Description: This session will highlight innovation in sustainable urban mobility and encourage the support of local, regional, and national governments under the New Urban Agenda. The goal is to share data, knowledge and successful examples of new mobility initiatives in cities. Each session will demonstrate and inspire how to advance implementation of innovative sustainable urban transport systems to reduce personal motorisation, improve quality of life, environment, and economy. In addition, the session will discuss the review of “mobility” in SDGs 3, 7, 9, & 11 and will provide a convening opportunity in Quito for urban mobility.
Speaker: Robin King

City Innovations in Open Government

When: October 17, 2016 | 12:30-13:30 ECT
Where: Room MR19, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana "Benjamin Carrion", Quito, Ecuador
Description: This side event, featuring a panel of open government leaders in cities, will focus on the importance of innovation in open government and transparency for addressing urbanization challenges. City and CSO pioneers will share specific examples, such as participatory budgeting at the neighborhood level or opening up municipal transport data to improve the quality of service.
Contact: Brittany Lane

The Role of Cities in Fostering the Low-Carbon Energy Transition

When: October 17, 2016 | 12.30-13.30 ECT
Where: Room R16, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: As cities continue to grow, technology and behavioral changes will be strategic for achieving long-term sustainability of energy use. Local and national energy policies can be effective drivers of energy transitions if informed by solid analyses, best-practices and planning tools. This side event aims to increase confidence in policy makers, showing that it is possible to meet energy demand while effectively pursuing sustainable development.
Contact: Benoit Lefevre

 

Cities of Tomorrow: Livable, Mobile and Connected

When: October 17, 2016 | 12:30-13:30 ECT
Where: Room R13, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: To put words into action, this event will see the official launch of the “Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative” (TUMI) – a joint effort by Germany and its partners to contribute to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda by enhancing urban mobility worldwide through scaling up financial cooperation and capacity building.
Speaker: Holger Dalkmann
Contact: Daniel Günther, BMZ

Guidelines for a New Municipal Planning in Mexico

When: October 17, 2016 | 13:00-14:00 ECT
Where: Mexican Pavilion
Description: The event will be chaired by Mtra. Rosario Robles Berlanga, Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development with the objective of establishing a dialogue among a selected group of experts about the new Methodology for the Elaboration and Update of Municipal Urban Development Programs (PMDUs for its acronym in Spanish), which is currently under development together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT for its acronym in Spanish).
Speaker: Ani Dasgupta

Special Session: Transport and Mobility

When: October 18, 2016 | 8:00-10:00 ECT
Where: Room R16
Description: This Special Session will highlight the need for an integrated perspective on sustainable urban mobility in implementing and tracking actions necessary to deliver on the transport related objectives of the New Urban Agenda. The event will discuss steps towards implementation, including concept development and pilot projects, as well as enabling finance and policy options. The objective is to show the broad contribution of urban mobility to the New Urban Agenda as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement.
Speaker: Holger Dalkmann

Harnessing the Data Revolution for Urban Sustainability

When: October 18, 2016 | 9:00-11:30 ECT
Where: Urban Stage
Description: This event hosted by the US State Department will feature a debate on new tools that can be used by cities to anticipate, adapt and mitigate climate events.
Speaker: Daniely Votto

Inclusive Sustainable Transport in Support of Action on Equity and Poverty (i-Step)

When: October 18, 2016 | 12:30-13:30 ECT
Where: Room MR 10, Casa de Cultura Ecuatoriana
Description: This side event will present and discuss the results of a new SLoCaT analysis of the role of urban mobility in tacking urban inequality and poverty, particularly in less developed countries, through SLoCaT’s program on Inclusive Sustainable Transport in support of action on Equity and Poverty (i-STEP). The work addresses inter alia the equity impact of current methodologies and approaches to improving urban mobility. This event will explore ways to better align transport investments to address crucial cross cutting urban issues on poverty and equity, to strengthen linkages between the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to expand synergies among the SDG, UNFCCC and Habitat III processes, particularly in less developed countries.
Contact: Talya Enriquez Romano, SLoCaT

Let’s Dump Dumpsites – Strengthen Waste Management for Implementing the New Urban Agenda

When: October 18, 2016 | 12:30-13:30 ECT
Where: Room R18
Description: The event addresses the global challenge of providing people universal access to professional urban waste management services in order to achieve healthy, resource-efficient and climate-friendly cities. It focuses on the questions: how improper waste management affects the environment and human health, what the costs of inaction are and what actions cities can take in this regard. The diversity of the panel members will ensure a comprehensive coverage of key aspects, including technical know-how, policy issues, financing and cases from cities. Then the event will give the floor to the audience to interact with each other or with the panelists, focusing on city cases.
Speakers: Anjali Mahendra

Sustainable Transport Press Conference

When: October 18, 2016 | 14:00-14:45 ECT
Where: Press Conference Room
Speaker: Holger Dalkmann

Safe and Healthy Journeys to School

When: October 18, 2016 | 14:00-17:30 ECT
Where: Auditorio de Ingenieria Civil, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador
Description: This day-long event hosted by ICLEI on the implementation of sustainable mobility in cities will feature WRI speakers in panels on “Sustainable Transport in Latin American Cities: City Experiences” and “Safe and Healthy Journeys to School”.
Speakers: Toni Lindau, Daniely Votto

Live Laboratory: Exploring Urban Accessibility

When: October 18, 2016 | 15:00-15:45 ECT
Where: Urban Library, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador

Description: This event will be a live digital laboratory, with multiple computers running the OpenTripPlanner Accessibility tool, an open-source software platform that models block-level accessibility. People will use the tool, run the analysis and see how it can be used to monitor and plan transit systems.

Speaker: Diego Canales
Contact: Diego Canales

 

Boosting Sustainable Mobility in Europe, Asia and Latin America with City-to-City Cooperation

When: October 18, 2016 | 16:00-17:00 ECT
Where: German Pavilion
Description: This side event hosted by the SOLUTIONS Network will debate opportunities and challenges of sustainable transport and the contribution of the city-city cooperation to leverage this change and feature an open discussion with representatives of city cooperation actions and e-mobility initiatives.
Speaker: Toni Lindau

Innovative Business Models to Unlock Sustainable Investment in Cities

When: October 18, 2016 | 16:30-18:30 ECT
Where: Room MR19, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: Bringing together influential mayors, leading sustainable solution providers, and financiers, these conversations will aim to refine a common language and shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities for unlocking sustainable investment in cities, drawing on the work of the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative, a joint project by WRI, the Citi Foundation, and C40 Cities.
Speaker: Ani Dasgupta
Contact: Benoit Lefevre

Launch of the Quito Action Plan on Sustainable Urban Mobility

When: October 18, 2016 | 16:30-18:30 ECT
Where: Room MR18, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: This networking event presents key elements of SLoCaT’s Quito Action Plan for Sustainable Urban Mobility (QAPSUM), a global, open and transparent platform for all actors (e.g. transport industry, financial institutions, cities, academia, governments) which aims to transform urban mobility by contributing to safe, healthy, efficient, climate friendly and clean cities. QAPSUM is intended to deliver simultaneously on the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Speaker: Holger Dalkmann
Contact: Talya Enriquez Romano, SLoCaT

Business and Industries Roundtable

When: October 19, 2016 | 8:00-10:00 ECT
Where: Urban Library
Description: Business and industries have a key role to play supporting the development of sustainable, resilient and inclusive cities. The private sector promotes economic and social development through finance, technology and employment. The Roundtable will seek to promote awareness around the variety of roles the private sector can play to support and facilitate the implementation of NUA.
Speakers: Ani Dasgupta

Transport Day

When: October 19, 2016 | 9:00-19:30 ECT
Where: Centro de Convenciones Eugenio Espejo, Quito, Ecuador
Description: Transport Day, co-hosted by SLoCaT, WRI and others partner organizations, will bring together leaders from across the sustainable transport community towards the goals of ensuring that the action orientation of the New Urban Agenda is being emphasized and that the scaled-up implementation of mobility - and transport-related recommendations of the NUA - is actively promoted.
Speakers: Ani Dasgupta, Toni Lindau, Adriana Lobo
Contact: Talya Enriquez Romano, SLoCaT

From Rhetoric to Reality: Cities the Respond to the Needs of All

When: October 19, 2016 | 11:00-12:00 ECT
Where: Room MR17, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: This event seeks to define the concepts of equity and inclusion in the context of sustainable urbanization. The conversation around sustainable cities has long included the rhetoric of equity and inclusion, but the “who” and “how” of these concepts remains ambiguous. This lack of clarity has given rise to services and public spaces that neglect the needs of many people. As cities grow, a more nuanced understanding of the complexity of factors that create and perpetuate marginalization is needed.
Speaker: Madhav Pai
Contact: Alyssa Fischer

Transformative Strategies for the Century of Cities

When: October 19, 2016 | 13:00-13:45 ECT
Where: Urban Library, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Benjamín Carrión, Quito, Ecuador
Description: In this metropolitan century, cities are crucial for a successful transformation toward a sustainable future. This is the starting point of the new reports by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and the World Resources Institute (WRI). Through a cross-sectoral lens, WBGU’s state-of-the-art analysis emphasizes the transformative power of cities and the importance of urban governance and citizen engagement. While WBGU’s work provides an overarching framework and necessities for the city of the future, WRI’s presentation will draw from the World Resources Report (WRR) to dive deep into the issues of accessibility and sustainable mobility. The WRR will focus on strategies and practical solutions for enabling transformative change.
Speakers: Ani Dasgupta, Holger Dalkmann

Transition towards Sustainable Delta Cities

When: October 19, 2016 | 14:00-16:00 ECT
Where: Room MR19
Description: This network event aims to build networks and make the next steps on concrete actions, innovations, proposals and research, hereby building on the results obtained at the Sustainable Urban Deltas Conference, which was held in Rotterdam (May 2016). The event will bring together national and local governments, the private sector, research organizations and civil society around an (local) action agenda of innovative solutions for challenges in delta cities.
Speaker: Madhav Pai

Social Housing as a Driver of Sustainable Urban Development in Emerging Economies: Challenges of Housing Production

When: October 19, 2016 | 16:30-18:30 ECT
Where: Room R20
Description: Housing has a leading role in the New Urban Agenda, as a potential driver for sustainable urban development. The fulfillment of the recent global commitments, focused on the implementation of a New Urban Agenda, will demand a multi-scale approach towards public policies - amongst those we highlight three: people, housing and the city. In the last decades, Brazil has had significant progress in building an institutional framework and a regulatory framework that allowed the consolidation of a National Housing Policy, built democratically, coordinated with other levels of government and with the participation of civil society. This session, organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Cities and National Secretariat for Housing, aims to promote a debate and the exchange of experiences. More than presenting concrete cases, it is intended to look for strategies that contribute to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.
Speaker: Ani Dasgupta

Delivering the New Urban Agenda through Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions

When: October 20, 2016 | 8:00-11:00 ECT
Where: Room R5
Description: The Transformative Commitments of the New Urban Agenda include the commitment to sustainable and efficient transport for achieving the benefits of connectivity and reducing the financial, environmental and public health costs of congestion and air pollution. The event will be structured in two segments: The first segment will provide inputs on, technological, socio-economic and financial viability of e-mobility in different contexts and identify infrastructure and policy measures with the highest mitigation potentialIn the second segment, the training will provide practical advice on key steps towards sustainable urban mobility.
Speakers: Robin King, Madhav Pai

“Energy Efficiency Retrofits” of UN Sustainable Energy for All as Urban Solutions for Achieving Sustainable Energy in Existing Urban Areas

When: October 20, 2016 | 11:20-13:15 ECT
Where: Room GS4b, Centro de Conferencias Eugenio Espejo, Av. Gran Colombia, Quito, Ecuador
Description:This side event will introduce the UN SE4All initiative, particularly the Retrofit Work Group of the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA). The event will focus on energy efficiency of building renovation in existing urban areas and will provide tools, knowledge and technical support to cities. Individuals and organizations are invited to participate in this discussion.
Speakers: Adriana Lobo, Daniely Votto

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