The scale of the action necessary to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to tackle climate change requires local action. Adequate financing is vital to ensure the feasibility of local sustainability projects, yet at present there is a significant gap between the level of funds available for sustainable urban development and the level of funds deployed. This webinar, the first of three on the topic of financing, shared an overview of the information needed to successfully access financing for sustainable urban development activities. Through presentations by experts, the webinar helped to cut through the complexity of international finance to provide participants with practical information on the requirements to access funding, as well as the best financing schemes available.

Water is and has been crucial in designing urban spaces and informing urban planning. Approaches towards flood management have changed over time, with the previous focus being on keeping water out of the city, and the more recent approach turning towards natural water management and integrated strategies for dealing with flood risks and promoting urban resilience. Crucial to this process of adapting to floods is the knowledge transfer and cross-cultural exchange of best practices in integrated water management amongst cities. It is with this purpose of encouraging inter-city learning that the IUC programme presents the practical experience of three cities in dealing with different kinds of flood risk through nature-based solutions and other innovative measures.

Managing wastewater is becoming increasingly challenging with urban populations growing at an unprecedented rate and infrastructure development often not keeping up. This requires government authorities and public utilities to become more creative and innovative in their approach to wastewater management and in developing solutions that are locally fit for purpose, ecologically sound and that meet the needs of the residents as well as those of the relevant technical and political stakeholders. Innovation in this sector requires a mind shift away from viewing wastewater as ‘waste’ and rather seeing and treating it as a valuable resource. To demonstrate this, the webinar presents two municipal examples from Aarhus (Denmark) and Nagpur (India), as well as an inspiring example from Japan.

Cantabria and Chihuahua have come together to exchange on diverse issues such as biomedicine, agriculture, and tourism. Chihuahua is particularly interested in learning from Cantabria’s experience of developing a region-wide innovation strategy.

This second publication of the International Urban Cooperation (IUC) financial series aims to give an overview on financial sources at national level that are available for urban development, helping to understand the range of options accessible on the market, and inspire the exploration of innovative solutions. In addition to presenting traditional approaches and forms of municipal finance, this study also seeks to outline innovative solutions for revenue mobilization for local and subnational governments, using case studies for illustration.

Greater Kansas City (USA) is one of the first North American regional members of the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM). As the region spans many political boundaries, its focus is on using strong, genuine collaboration, which brings together diverse stakeholders and leaders to build regional climate plans and achieve sustainability and emission reductions.

The region of Iskandar Malaysia joined the Global Covenant of Mayors on 29 November 2017. The region has developed and secured widespread individual and public sector support for a robust Low Carbon Society Blueprint and locally tailored Action Plans to guide them to ambitious emission reductions.

Esta tercera publicación de la serie sobre financiación del Programa Internacional de Cooperación Urbana (IUC) tiene por objeto proporcionar una visión general sobre mecanismos innovadores de financiación. Aunque las formas tradicionales de financiación municipal no dejan de ser importantes, los nuevos instrumentos financieros y la implicación del sector privado se han convertido en elementos esenciales. A pesar de ello, la experiencia demuestra que, incluso no existiendo un problema de solvencia crediticia, la mayoría de los gobiernos locales y regionales desconocen la existencia o bien no se atreven a emplear herramientas de financiación poco convencionales. El propósito de este manual es recopilar los sistemas de financiación innovadora más habituales, aplicados también en economías emergentes e ilustrados con estudios de caso.

This publication is an introduction to the overview on Green Building from European perspective. This study is a result of a research conducted by the International Urban Cooperation - Latin America and the Caribbean (IUC-LAC) . This documentation is inspired by the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the work that seeks to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the urban level.

Descripción general de las principales actividades y resultados de IUC-LAC. Presenta: cronograma del programa; descripción general de la cooperación de ciudad a ciudad; descripción general del Pacto Global de Alcaldes por el Clima y la Energía; y invita a participar en las plataformas de conocimiento y capacitación del programa.