What is Urban-Act?
The Urban-Act project is a multi-partner project to strengthen collaborative climate action in the Asia-Pacific across five programme countries: China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand. Funded by Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI), the focus is on enhancing the capacities of city governments to meaningfully engage in climate change dialogue, action, and implementation.
The Melbourne Centre for Cities are working closely with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (ESCAP) to deliver this program, in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC), the TU Dortmund and the University of Stuttgart, as well as national consortium partners in each of the 5 partner countries.
Urban-Act Regional Training Programme
The Urban-Act Regional Training Programme is a hybrid (in-person and online) city climate action training course for local governments in the Asia Pacific region. The training programme is being delivered by the Melbourne Centre for Cities and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific, and in collaboration with the Urban-Act project partners.
Delivered in three masterclass-style modules (one in-person and two online) across 2024, the training programme is designed to increase knowledge of national and city stakeholders on low-carbon and resilient urban development, climate sensitive planning and inclusive urban climate action.
The key objectives of the training programme are to:
- Increase the understanding and knowledge of local, sub-national and national participants to build integrated climate action for low-carbon and resilient cities.
- Increase the understanding of key innovations and emerging topics on action for low-carbon and resilient cities.
- Build and enhance partnerships and relationships within the training programme cohort, Urban-Act project partners, and with relevant organizations, institutions, and experts.
The training programme is built on the knowledge that – as practitioners embedded within highly diverse and localised urban contexts – participants will have unique experiences and in-depth ‘day to day’ familiarity with climate impacts, mitigation strategies, and innovative coping and adaptation mechanisms.
The 2024 training cohort includes 12 cities across the five project countries: Antipolo (Philippines), Bacolod (Philippines), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Coimbatore (India), Khonkaen (Thailand), Medan (Indonesia), Padang (Indonesia), Panaji (India), Phuket (Thailand), Shanghai (China), Shimla (India), and Tagbilaran (Philippines).
Over the course of the programme, the 12 participating cities will be developing urban climate resilient project proposals over the coming months, in collaboration with their national governments and partner organisations, and with the support of the Urban-Act project team. These proposals will then be presented at a synthesis workshop at the UN’s biannual World Urban Forum 12 in Cairo, Egypt in November 2024.
Dr Alexei Trundle and Amelia Leavesley at the first in-person training session of the Urban-Act Regional Training Programme, held at the UN Asia Pacific Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand – 12 June 2024.
