Organizer: Cathy Oke
Format: Online, Evening
Abstract:
Innovate4Cities of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) is focused on the research and innovation most critical to drive climate action in cities. This initiative grew out of the 2018 Cities and Climate Change Science Conference in Edmonton Canada, and operates under the guidance of GCoM’s Research and Innovation Technical Working Group (R+I TWG). In the three years since Edmonton, in collaboration with the Connected Cities Lab, University of Melbourne and Ironbark Sustainability, the R+I TWG have developed regional research and innovation “snapshots” for city climate action, based on priority needs determined by cities, city networks, scientists and private sector entities, through a series of data gathering processes and analyses. These snapshots link to the Global Cities Research Action Agenda (GCRAA) priorities (determined at Edmonton 2018), which include: better generation of city scale data, public procurement methods to prioritize sustainability, water management in cities, climate relevant data for and on vulnerable communities, urban planning for informal settlements, creating closed loop waste systems, and community-based innovation in food systems. In this workshop leading city decision makers, urban innovation researchers and city climate action practitioners will present their perspectives of and priorities for urban sustainability challenges for cities in the Oceania region. A rapid synthesis processes will follow, whereby the audience will be asked to progress action on the identified gaps in city action ambition. Participants will be tasked with identifying collaborative, multidisciplinary responses at the scale and speed required to meet global commitments to action on climate change.
Themes: Knowledge-to-Action