Implementation of the Habitat Agenda    Setting up an Urban Observatory     A Guide to Joining The Global Urban Observatory Network (GUONet)         Better information … for better cities             THE HABITAT AGENDA [1]   We commit ourselves to implementing the Habitat Agenda, through local, national, sub-regional and regional plans of action and/or other policies and programmes drafted and executed in cooperation with interested parties at all levels and supported by the international community.… [37]     All partners of the Habitat Agenda, including local authorities, the private sector and communities, should regularly monitor and evaluate their own performances in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda through comparable human settlements and shelter indicators and documented best practices…. [240]     Such [indicators and best practices] information, which should be available and accessible to all, will be provided to the United Nations, taking into account the … need for reporting procedures to reflect diversity in regional, national, sub-national and, in particular, local characteristics and priorities. [241]       The Urban Observatory System   In sustainable development, everyone is a user and provider of information considered in the broad sense. That includes data, information, appropriately packaged experience and knowledge. The need for information arises at all levels, from that of senior decision-makers at national and international levels to grass-roots and individual levels. [Chapter 40, Agenda 21]   Purpose The urban observatory system is a worldwide information and capacity-building network established by the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) to help implement both the Habitat Agenda and Agenda 21 at the national and local levels. The purpose is to help governments, local authorities and civil society: Improve the collection, management, analysis and use of information in formulating more effective urban policy Understand how cities work as social and economic systems and to use that knowledge for more effective national and local action planning Strategy Coordinated by the Global Urban Observatory (GUO), the urban observatory network objectives are: To stimulate broad-based consultative processes to help identify and integrate urban information needs To help build capacity for the collection, management and policy applications of urban information, focusing on indicators and best practices To provide information and analyses to all stakeholders for more effective participation in urban decision-making To share information, knowledge and expertise using modern information technology and infrastructure These objectives are to be realized through a global network of local, national and regional urban observatories (LUOs, NUOs and RUOs) and through partner institutions that provide training and other capacity building expertise. By providing a framework of guidelines, tools and technical assistance, the GUO encourages capable institutions to become urban observatories and to work with urban policy-makers and civil society to improve our urban environments.       Local Urban Observatories (LUOs) Success or failure of urban policy is determined mainly by its responsiveness to local priorities. The GUO therefore encourages the designation of Local Urban Observatories (LUOs) as city-level institutions: To involve local policy-makers and organizations of civil society in dialogue To generate information on local themes and problems To encourage policy responses to locally felt needs and priorities As a local platform for policy information, an LUO will typically: Work with partner groups to develop and apply appropriate indicators, indices and evaluation mechanisms for the urban area and its communities Maintain management information systems and undertake evaluations and impact analyses at the request of local authorities and partners groups Build capacity for the generation, management, analysis and dissemination of urban information, including empirical information, on a regular and consistent basis and to apply the information in decision-making Identify conditions, trends and priority issues through research and consultative processes involving local officials and organizations of civil society Propose options for harmonizing sectoral policies and strategies in the context of the local plan of action Cooperate with other Local Urban Observatories in sharing resources, exchanging substantive and methodological knowledge and disseminating information to the national, regional and global levels Assist other local urban observatories in developing their capacity to collect and use urban indicators Analyze and share lessons learned from ongoing experiences and good practices with other Local Urban Observatories Maintain a local Internet homepage and a newsletter for providing civic society with information on the city and for reporting on activities of the LUO and its partner groups Produce a biennial State of the City report, including comparative analysis of indicators and presentation of best practices.     Setting up a LUO Establishing an LUO does not imply the creation of a new body. In most cases, an existing entity can take on the LUO functions: the city planning department, a university, an NGO or any other capable organization in the public or private sector. Observatories may be a single entity or a multi-partner arrangement. They will have strong links to the policy-making process within the city. Suggested steps for local authorities or civic groups to establish an LUO: Form a local steering group that will set the process and modalities for designating a LUO Inform the GUO at UN-Habitat about your intentions in order to profit from the experiences other LUO applicants had during their forming process. Conduct consultations (meetings, seminars, workshops) among local policy-makers, professional associations, representatives of non-governmental and civic organizations to: Bring policy-makers, practising professionals and the community together to exchange views Identify and raise awareness of local conditions, trends and issues and establish local priorities Identify key urban indicators and types of expertise required to gather and analyze indicators data Assess capacity of existing entities to: Carry out urban indicators data gathering and analysis and to establish benchmarks for monitoring of urban conditions and trends; Identify and/or learn from good practice in urban management and document possible best practices for sharing with other LUOs Involve all interested groups in the generation, analysis and management of relevant in formation for local-level policy development, implementation and policy impact monitoring and evaluation Designate a LUO from among competent entities that will: Develop its work programme and biennial budget Identify and programme its own capacity building needs Seek local budgetary and other sources of funding Continue consultative processes Start the formal application process to become a LUO recognised by UN-Habitat in order to fully benefit from the GUO network and let others benefit from your inputs.         National Urban Observatories (NUOs) The GUO encourages the establishment of National Urban Observatories (NUOs) to monitor national trends and conditions and to inform national level policy and decision-making. NUOs could take many forms: as part of an existing national consultative structure or agency; as a national coordinating body for LUOs; as secretariat to the National Habitat Committee (NHC), established in most countries in preparation for the Habitat II Conference; as part of an academic or research institution, NGO or professional association. NUOs serve as consultative bodies on national policy. The first goal of the NUO will be the formulation of a national urban policy framework, if that does not already exist. To these ends, it is recommended that NUOs: Conduct broad-based consultations to review or to formulate the National Plan of Action (NPA) in light of the commitments and recommendations of the Habitat Agenda and priorities expressed through consultative processes Propose a national urban policy framework to guide the implementation of the NPA and the formulation and implementation of Local Plans of Action (LPAs) Propose options for harmonizing sectoral objectives, based on urban indicators and best practices analysis Provide a coordinating framework for the collection, analysis and application of urban indicators at the national and local levels Organize, in conjunction with other partners, national best practice competitions and exhibitions Organize training programmes, for policy makers and technicians at the national and local levels, on the generation and use of empirical information Maintain an indicators programme to monitor implementation of the NPA Coordinate the assessment and provision of capacity-building resources for the implementing, monitoring and evaluating NPA and of LPAs Organize, with relevant partners at all levels, networks for training and peer-to-peer learning among agencies, local authorities and civic organizations engaged in improving the living environment Maintain an Internet homepage for providing civic society with information on the national urban policy and for reporting on activities of the NUO and its partner groups Produce a biennial State of the Nation’s Cities report, including comparative analysis of indicators and presentation of best practices     Setting up a NUO As with LUOs, establishing an NUO does not imply the creation of a new body. In most cases, there will already be an entity capable of taking on the NUO functions: the national planning department, the urban development ministry, a university or national urban/social research institution, an NGO or a public or private sector think tank. A NUO may be a single entity or a multi-partner arrangement. Suggested steps by national Government or civic group to establish an NUO: Form a national steering group that will set the process and modalities for designating an NUO Conduct consultations (meetings, seminars, workshops) among policy makers, local authorities, professional associations, representatives of non-governmental and civic organizations to: Bring policy-makers, practising professionals and civic society together; Establish national priority needs and identify issues of national policy Identify key national urban indicators and Best Practices for benchmarking the review and updating of the NPA Assess capacity of existing national entities to: Coordinate monitoring and evaluation of progress in implementing the NPA through benchmarking with indicators and best practices Support networking and Internet connectivity between LUOs and the national Government Organize training programmes in the use of information for policy-making at the national and local level Coordinate national and local indicator programmes to monitor implementation of national and local plans of action Designate an NUO from among competent entities that will: Develop its work programme and biennial budget Identify and programme its own capacity building needs Seek national budgetary and other sources of funding Continue consultative processes     Regional Urban Observatories (RUOs) Regional (international) organizations, including the regional offices and commissions of the United Nations system, international umbrella NGOs, networks of research and training institutions and others are encouraged to organize urban observatory functions on a regional basis. Regional Urban Observatories (RUOs) can be organized on a strictly geographical basis, on the grounds of a shared eco-system, or other common social, cultural, administrative, political, environmental concern. RUOs are set up to: Hold regional consultations on common issues, including transboundary issues and issues derived from shared ecological, administrative or cultural systems Sponsor regional workshops on the development and adaptation of region-specific tools, guidelines, methods and indicators Organize, in conjunction with other partners, national best practice competitions and exhibitions Contribute to development and dissemination of training materials in languages of the region Coordinate training for trainers in national and local capacity-building institutions Assist NUOs and partners in the region with the collection, compilation and analysis of indicators data and best practices Facilitate the sharing and exchange of lessons learned among countries and cities of the region Coordinate regional urban research programmes Identify regional correspondents and focal points for technical cooperation and research Report on new development, opportunities and constraints to the GUO for the inclusion of region-specific issues and priorities in inter-governmental processes Produce a biennial State of the Region’s Cities report, including comparative analysis of indicators and presentation of best practices       Setting up a RUO Regional Urban Observatories have an explicit international dimension. The functions of RUO should therefore be anchored with an entity, association or network with clear international outlook and a fairly comprehensive coverage of the region through existing networks. An RUO could be located within an existing public or private sector institution, a leading university or research institution or an umbrella NGO. The institution does not necessarily have to have a physical location. Depending on the region's degree of connectivity, the RUO may reside in cyberspace without physical location. As in the case of LUOs and NUOs, the RUO must claim the attention of, and interact with, policy makers. Suggested steps by national Government or civic group to establish an RUO: Form a regional steering group that will set the process and modalities for designating an RUO Conduct consultations (meetings, seminars, workshops) among high level national policy makers, associations of local authorities, professional associations, representatives of non-governmental and civic organizations in the region to: Bring policy-makers, practising professionals and civic society together Establish regional priority needs and issues Identify key regional urban indicators and Best Practices for benchmarking the review and updating of progress in implementing the Habitat Agenda through NPAs and LPAs Assess capacity of existing regional entities to: Support networking and Internet connectivity among NUOs Organize regional training programmes in the gathering and analysis of information and in the use of information for policy-making Coordinate national indicator programmes to monitor the regional implementation of the Habitat Agenda Designate a RUO from among competent entities that will: Develop its work programme and biennial budget Identify and programme its own capacity building needs Seek national budgetary and other sources of funding Continue consultative processes       The Global Urban Observatory (GUO) At the global level, the Global Urban Observatory (GUO) synthesizes information from all urban observatories to provide a worldwide assessment of urban conditions and trends. This assessment is summarized every two years in The State of the World’s Cities [2] series. The Global Urban Observatory is developing guidelines, methods, databases and software in support of the work of urban observatories. Through its networking functions, the GUO helps coordinate capacity-building, training and technical assistance resources for monitoring progress in improving people’s living environments and for expanding the base of knowledge. Some tools and benefits provided by the GUO network: Grants for technical equipment and support tools for website development are available to Local Urban Observatories located in least developed countries Training on using the urban indicator toolkit for data collection and analysis Training on GIS software and provision of GIs software (to a limited extend, upon special agreement) Information about urban development trends and activities through its Urban Observer newsletter Training on how to use the results of the urban indicators data for fund raising activities Conferences of the network members for information exchange and city-to-city networking Access to internet resources available at UN-Habitat's website including urban indicators databases Your data will be used for evaluations done for the global reports published biannually by UN-Habitat (Global Report on Human Settlements, State of the World Cities Report) For more information about the GUO and our latest activities, visit our website or write an email or letter to: Global Urban Observatory Email: guo@unhabitat.org Internet: http://www.unhabitat.org/guo/ Tel.: +254-2-623119 Fax: +254-2-623080 UN-Habitat, P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi, Kenya [1] Numbers in [brackets] refer to paragraph numbers in the official version of the Habitat Agenda. [2] The first summary of The State of the World’s Cities Report 2001 is avaliable online at http://www.unhabitat.org/en/latest_publications.asp. You can also order a print version of the report using online order form available at that website.