2016/10/26     Dresden, Germany

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

Reporting by Atiqah Fairuz Salleh, Communications and Advocacy

There needs to be a mechanism in place for better engagement at the local level for cities to take part in the global conversation on urban resilience, and to ultimately urbanise in a sustainable manner. This was an important point raised by Dan Lewis, Chief of the UN Habitat City Resilience Profiling Programme. Speaking to about 200 guests at the City Hall of Dresden, Dan Lewis delivered the keynote speech at an event kicking off the UN Day celebrations in the Saxon capital.

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

Jointly organised by UNU-FLORES, together with the City of Dresden, the German United Nations Society – for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia e.V. (DGVN), Technische Universität Dresden, UNICEF Working Group Dresden, Local Agenda 21 for Dresden e.V., Lions Club Dresden Agenda 21, and the World Trade Center, the UN Day programme in Dresden commenced with the UN Spotlight Talk on “Resilient Cities” Monday evening.

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

The UN Spotlight Talk was attended by officials from the federal, state and city levels, professors, researchers, activists, and students. Detlef Sittel, Deputy Mayor for Order and Security, City of Dresden, and Prof. Reza Ardakanian, Director, UNU-FLORES, welcomed guests, before handing the floor over to Dan Lewis. Addressing the topic “Urban Resilience – Linkages to the UN”, Dan Lewis spoke on resilience and the New Urban Agenda, recently adopted at the Habitat 3 conference in Quito.

Dan Lewis began by defining urban resilience as the “ability of any urban system to absorb and recover quickly from the impact of all plausible shocks and stresses and maintain continuity of functions”. It follows that the New Urban Agenda is a “three-pronged” integrated approach to sustainable urbanisation, namely through urban planning and design, legislation and governance, and urban economy and municipal finance.

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

This set a fitting premise for the panel discussion that followed. Dan Lewis was joined on stage by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wende, Leibniz Institute for Ecological Urban and Rural Development and Professor of Urban Development at TU Dresden, and Raoul Schmidt-Lamontain, Deputy Mayor for City Development, Buildings, and Traffic, City of Dresden. Moderated by Rachel Shindelar, UNU-FLORES, the lively discussion centred on what urban resilience meant and especially for Dresden and how the local and global agendas may be linked. While Dresden as a city has a good basis to be resilient, there is still work to be done. Knowledge is out there in Dresden and beyond and needed are concrete strategies to prepare for shocks. By involving stakeholders, as the New Urban Agenda has done, the dialogue is opened for designing continually better solutions. While there may be scepticism around the measurability of indicators in the Habitat 3 document, the normative framework and technical support that comes with it nonetheless plays an enabling role in urging national governments to adopt robust sustainability frameworks. Still it is a good start in the right direction as cities now have a baseline, upon which they can evaluate their respective action plans.

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

A highlight of the event was an award ceremony, where the 17^th Agenda 21 Awards for local projects promoting sustainable development were conferred by the Local Agenda 21 for Dresden e.V. and Lions Club Dresden Agenda 21. Out of over 300 local projects submitted, three emerged victorious. The Local Agenda 21 for Dresden e.V. Prize was awarded to the project “MOVE IT! Filmfestival für Menschenrechte und Entwicklung + Jugendfilmprogramm MOVE IT! Young” by Akifra – Aktionsgemeinschaft für Kinder- und Frauenrechte e.V.. The Lions Club Dresden Agenda 21 Prize was awarded to the project “Buchkinder Dresden”. Finally, the public choice award went to the project “Ab in die Mitte – Die ABC-Tische des Umweltzentrums Dresden e.V.”. It was noted that over the years the shortlisting of nominees becomes increasingly more difficult, which is a positive sign that the level of activism in sustainability at the local level is growing.

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

On 28 October, the public is cordially invited to a hands-on fair at the World Trade Center Dresden, where UNU-FLORES is also based. Under the slogan “Discovering Sustainability – 17 Goals for a Better World”, schoolchildren and the public alike can learn about the United Nations, its tasks, and goals onsite. There will be various information stands and hands-on activities in the inner courtyard. During the week, partners will also be visiting schools.

Image: Ronny Zeidler/DREWAG

For the detailed programme, please see the UN Day event page.