UEF ’97 Summary Meeting Report |
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Shanghai Meeting of the Urban Environment Forum Reaches
New Levels of Cooperation Among Cities and International Programmes from
around the World
In Istanbul in 1996, on the eve of Habitat II, development practitioners
from over 75 cities, and more than 20 international support programmes
with which they worked, gathered to discuss how to best implement the Urban
Environment Agenda. The meeting provided a rare and important opportunity
for the participants to review jointly their evolving common agendas for
action, their experiences in implementing these agendas, and their growing
collective know-how. This review provided impressive evidence of
the wide range of ongoing initiatives and accomplishments in urban environmental
management world-wide, and of the resources and expertise, local and international,
which have been mobilised and effectively applied. At the conclusion
of the meeting, the participants requested that such a gathering become
an annual event, and that it be formalised as an Urban Environment Forum.
In 1997, close to 300 development practitioners gathered in Shanghai, China
for the first Annual Meeting of the Urban Environment Forum (UEF ’97),
from 6 - 8 October. The meeting was co-hosted by the Administrative
Centre for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA 21) and the Shanghai Office for Implementing
China’s Agenda 21 (SOICA 21), and was facilitated by the United Nations
Centre for Human Settlements and the United Nations Environment Programme
on behalf of the Forum members.
During the three day meeting, over seventy cities and more than forty
international support programmes examined how cities improve their urban
environment and how programmes can support cities in these efforts.
| Participating Cities
Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), Accra (Ghana), Amman (Jordan),
Anhui (P.R. China), Asuncion (Paraguay), Bangalore (India),
Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing (P.R. China), Benxi (P.R. China),
Blantyre (Malawi), Bucharest (Romania), Calcutta (India),
Chengdu (P.R. China), Chennai (India), Chizhou (P.R. China),
Colombo (Sri Lanka), Concepcion (Chile), Cotonou (Benin),
Dafeng (P.R. China), Dakar (Senegal), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania),
Dodoma (Tanzania), Durban (South Africa), El Alto (Bolivia),
Essaouira (Morocco), Gaza (Palestine), Guangzhou (P.R. China),
Haifa (Israel), Harare (Zimbabwe), Huainan (P.R. China), Ibadan (Nigeria),
Ismailia (Egypt), Kathmandu (Nepal), Katowice (Poland),
Kristiansand (Norway), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), La Habana (Cuba),
Lagos (Nigeria), Lima (Peru), Lusaka (Zambia), Manila
(Philippines), Maputo (Mozambique), Moscow (Russia), Moshi
(Tanzania), Mwanza (Tanzania), Naga City (Philippines), Nakuru
(Kenya), Nampula (Mozambique), Nanchang (P.R. China),
Nanjing (P.R. China), Panzhihua (P.R. China), Paris (France), Pasig
City (Philippines), Pokhara (Nepal), Pretoria (South Africa),
Recife (Brazil), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Seoul (Republic of Korea),
Shanghai (P.R. China), Shenyang (P.R. China), Shenzhen (P.R. China),
Shuwaikh (Kuwait), Taiyuan (P.R. China), Tanga (Tanzania),
Tianjin (P.R. China), Tongchuan (P.R. China), Tokyo (Japan), Tromso
(Norway), Tunis (Tunisia), Turku (Finland), Wuhan (P.R. China),
Wujin (P.R. China), Xi’an (P.R. China), Zanzibar (Tanzania) |
Intensive dialogue among a very wide variety of cities underlined not
only common problems such as air pollution, water supply and waste management,
but also the tremendous potential of learning from each other’s experiences.
One common understanding which quickly arose was the crucial role of broad-based
participatory planning in all aspects of dealing with these urban environmental
problems. Following this, a range of international support programmes
introduced the ways in which they support cities’ common efforts to tackle
these tasks. This unique gathering demonstrated the strength of the
newly evolving approach to international cooperation which focuses on the
advancement of collective know-how.
| Participating Programmes
ACCA 21 (P.R. China), APEC Sustainable Cities Initiative (Canada),
Arab Towns Organisation (Kuwait), Awareness and Preparedness for
Emergencies at Local Level (APELL) (France), Baltic Municipal Environmental
Audit (MEA) Project (Finland), Capacity Building for the Urban Environment
(The Netherlands), Cities’ State of the Environment on the Internet
(CSoEI) (Norway), CITYNET (Japan), Exnora International (India),
Federation Mondiale de Cites Unies (France), Foro Ciudades para la
Vida (Peru), German Delegation of Industry and Commerce (P.R. China),
Healthy Cities Project (Switzerland), Human Settlements Working Group
Programme (HSWG) (Kenya), Integrity in Urban Governance Programme
(Germany), International Centre for Sustainable Cities (Canada ),
International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) (Japan), Local
Agenda 21 Campaign (UK), Localising Agenda 21 Programme (Kenya),
Managing the Environment Locally in Sub-Saharan Africa (Melissa) (South
Africa), Medcities Network (Israel), Metropolitan Environmental
Improvement Programme (MEIP) (U.S.A.), Natural Resources Systems
Programme (U.K.), Sustainable Cities Initiative, USAID (USA),
Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) (Kenya), Sustainable Cities Project
(U.K.), Training for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Conurbations
(Germany), UEF Secretariat (Kenya), United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Japan), United Nations Environment Programme, Human
Health and Well Being (Kenya), Urban Environmental Training Materials
Programme (Germany), Urban Management Programme (UMP) (Cote d’Ivoire),
Urban Management Programme (UMP) (Malaysia), Urban Management Programme
(UMP) (Kenya), Urban Waste Expertise Programme (UWEP) (Philippines),
Urbanisation and Human Settlements Programme, CEDARE (Egypt), World
Association of Cities and Local Authorities (WACLAC) (Switzerland),
World Bank (U.S.A.), World Conference on International Cooperation
of Cities and Citizens (Japan), World Health Organisation (WHO) (Switzerland)
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The meeting focused on two areas of priority concern to the Forum members
- monitoring progress and leveraging of resources. Ms. Bebet Gozun,
National Program Coordinator of MEIP’s Manila project, introducing the
first topic, emphasised the importance of being able to measure progress
in environmental management and local governance. Subsequent discussions
showed how useful such indicators are in improving cities’ abilities
to more effectively manage sustainable development.
The second topic, leveragingof resources, is one of the frontier areas
in development support today, and the Forum members were fortunate to have
the experience of two very different countries. Mr. Shi Han, Deputy
Director for International Affairs of the Administrative Centre for China’s
Agenda 21 (ACCA 21) reported on China’s commitment to the principles of
sustainable development, and on the country’s pioneering work in integrating
environmental concerns into national and local development planning.
He noted that due to the sheer size of his country, leveraging of resources
is a crucial concern. Mr. Peter Kimm, Associate Assistant Administrator
of USAID’s Global Center for Environment, developed this theme with examples
from his agency’s many years of experience in leveraging resources from
the private sector. These keynote presentations stimulated lively
and energetic debate, which was carried forward in small groups to allow
for maximum exchange.
By the end of the meeting, the value of this kind of forum was firmly
understood. In the final discussion, cities and programmes considered
how the UEF could be strengthened and carried forward. Detailed proposals
for doing this focused on the information-sharing process, on documentation
of experiences, on expanding UEF membership, and on organising future activities.
It was agreed that a global meeting of the UEF will take place every two
years, while regional or topic-focused meetings will be organised by UEF
partners during the intervening period - for example, UMP would host a
meeting in Africa or Asia. Results of these regional meetings will
then be reported at the global meeting within a framework consistent with
the UEF principles. The Secretariat also agreed to support a regional
or topic-focused interim meeting. The Coordinator of the Urban Environment
Forum, Mr. Jochen Eigen, remarked in his closing report that the meeting
was highly successful not least due to the excellent support of ACCA 21
and SOICA 21, and the City of Shanghai. He confirmed the important
role of the UEF in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Habitat II Agenda,
and expressed his hope that the UEF will bring the benefits of environmental
planning and management - real and visible improvements in living conditions
- to urban populations all over the world, and especially the urban poor.
Meeting
Introduction
The 1997 Annual Meeting of the Urban Environment Forum opened on World
Habitat Day, an annual occasion when governments, communities and individuals
around the world reflect on the state of their cities and their visions
for the future. The special theme for World Habitat Day 1997, Future
Cities, followed from the Habitat Agenda, a global call to action which
offers a positive vision of sustainable human settlements. This Agenda
was adopted by all United Nations Member States in Istanbul in 1996.
The 1997 World Habitat Day address emphasises that “The actual job of
creating sustainable, healthy urban centres requires a wide range of actors,
starting with city officials and cutting through various strata to all
aspects of civil society”. It was therefore particularly appropriate
that the annual meeting of the Urban Environment Forum (UEF) opened with
the very purpose of bringing together key actors concerned with sustainable
urban development.
The Urban Environment Forum grew out of the ‘Implementing the Urban
Environment Agenda’ meeting, which took place on the eve of Habitat II
in Istanbul. This exceptionally successful meeting played a key role
in showing the international development community the extent of EPM activities
taking place in cities today. A huge range of innovative and effective
EPM practices are in place, and have been tested out in on-the-ground operations.
The meeting also provided a platform for international support programmes
to present themselves, and to explain the complementarities which exist
among their diverse activities. It was an excellent example of the
UN doing what it does best, bringing together different actors within a
well thought out and organised framework to develop ideas, build on linkages
and work towards a common future. Since the Istanbul meeting, the
Forum has been widely reported and discussed, stimulating visions of new
approaches to international cooperation. These approaches emphasise
the advancement of our collective know-how rather than the provision of
ready solutions. In this way the Urban Environment Forum has gained
recognition not only from cities and programmes but also from governments
and international organisations as a key instrument for implementing Agenda
21 and the Habitat Agenda. Within the UN system, for example, the
UEF has been formally identified as a ‘major break-through’ in integrating
local activities and international support. Its important role for
Agenda 21 and the Habitat Agenda was recognised in reports to the UN Commission
on Human Settlements, the Governing Council of UNEP, the UN Commission
on Sustainable Development, and the special session of the General Assembly
on Agenda 21.
The 1997 Annual Meeting of the UEF brought together not only those participants
who attended the initial meeting in Istanbul, but also a large number of
new cities and programmes. In all, more than 300 participants representing
74 cities and 40 programmes gathered again to address common approaches
to better urban environmental planning and management. Together,
they brought the UEF to a new level, realising its extraordinary potential
to help cities to achieve sustainable development.
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