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Feature: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development

31/10/2009 - Cities for Mobility eMagazine
30/10/2009 - Tackling Climate Change through Sustainable Procurement
30/10/2009 - Nine Ways to Transform New York into a City of Great Places
29/10/2009 - Barcelona moves one step closer to gender equality
29/10/2009 - Call for proposal: €1 200 000 for youth projects
28/10/2009 - Jerusalem joins Local Action for Biodiversity
28/10/2009 - UN-HABITAT Executive Director awarded for promoting urban health
27/10/2009 - UN-HABITAT and Brazil sign World Urban Forum agreement
26/10/2009 - Stray dogs problem in Bulgarian city of Sofia to be resolved in 2011
25/10/2009 - The Next Youth-Magnet Cities in the United States
24/10/2009 - Eurostat releases maps, figures and tables on EU regions and cities
23/10/2009 - Cities’ strategies for social service provision
23/10/2009 - Nations must raise their climate mitigation ambitions
22/10/2009 - Combining transport, energy, environment and cohesion policy for our towns and regions
22/10/2009 - Date set for inaugural Rafik Hariri UN-HABITAT Memorial Award
21/10/2009 - IBM Makes Cities and Utilities Smarter with New Technologies
21/10/2009 - URBAN MATRIX final event looks at the future ‘sustainable city’
21/10/2009 - A tool to help cities reduce CO2 emissions
21/10/2009 - Obama administration lauds Mrs. Tibaijuka
20/10/2009 - The case for Metro Mayors
20/10/2009 - This is not the time for Europe’s cities to turn inwards
19/10/2009 - EUKN launches call for suggestions for prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Prize
19/10/2009 - Discover the new URBACT website and register to URBACT annual conference in Stockholm!
18/10/2009 - Coming soon… DC&D II newsletter!
18/10/2009 - Carbon Neutral Urban Development Workshop
17/10/2009 - Conference on urban safety and the use of CCTV
17/10/2009 - An Un-Planned Neighborhood Gets APA Award for Planning
16/10/2009 - Local governments push for action on energy and climate debate at OPEN DAYS 2009
16/10/2009 - Urban Forest Success Stories
15/10/2009 - Covenant of Mayors going from strength to strength
14/10/2009 - Conference “The Impact of Cultural and Citizenship Education on Social Cohesion”
14/10/2009 - Input into the European and international energy and climate debate
13/10/2009 - Towns and cities united against poverty
13/10/2009 - Decentralised cooperation: a driving force for local development
12/10/2009 - President Obama speaks out on World Habitat Day
11/10/2009 - Coping with shrinking cities is the major public policy issue in Eastern Germany.
10/10/2009 - Cities puzzled by greenhouse gas measurements
9/10/2009 - The crisis from the ground up: CEMR releases first results
9/10/2009 - Malmö, Recognized for its Local Solutions on Sustainability
8/10/2009 - UN-HABITAT fund awards 67 youth projects around the world
8/10/2009 - Pollution and unemployment top city residents’ concerns
7/10/2009 - Ban Ki-moon calls for local and regional authorities recognition
7/10/2009 - A big move forward on urban mobility
6/10/2009 - Urban Sports Take German Cities by Storm
5/10/2009 - Europe’s economy needs creative cities
5/10/2009 - Competition for the Capitals of Biodiversity in Europe
4/10/2009 - World HABITAT Day 2009 on 5 October
4/10/2009 - Vienna supports Chicago in implementing its “Climate Action Plan”
3/10/2009 - Increased Transit Use Reduced Carbon Emissions by 37 Million Tons
2/10/2009 - "Let's initiate a better cooperation between the EU and local government"
2/10/2009 - Local Governments Lounge gives cities an advocacy space at COP 15
1/10/2009 - UN HABITAT support for Serbian peace building
1/10/2009 - EU website gets makeover!

Cities for Mobility eMagazine
we are happy to announce the publication of a new edition of the Cities for Mobility eMagazine. On this occasion we focus on different approaches to cycling, which are being implemented in some of our member cities. Our challenge is to increase the use of cycling for everyday trips, in order to protect the environment, to reduce congestion on our streets and to promote people’s health. Therefore, it is necessary to offer adequate alternatives to make cycling more attractive and safe.
Please note: From now on the eMagazine of Cities for Mobility will appear on a more regular basis, the editions will be therefore shorter. Our aim is to offer you a compact publication covering different thematic focuses on sustainable mobility. You are welcome to send us a written contribution describing experiences and best practices that you think deserve to be shared with the network.
Click on the link below to download the new edition of the eMagazine:
http://www.cities-for-mobility.net/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=46&Itemid=44
Click on the link below to read the new edition of the eMagazine with the online viewer :
http://issuu.com/citiesformobility/docs/cfm_emagazine_2009_3

Tackling Climate Change through Sustainable Procurement
How can public authorities use their market power to make more effective use of public money? How does this help to tackle climate change? More than 70 representatives from more than 15 nations are discussing this today at the international Procura+ Seminar, organised by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and host city, Zürich.
The City of Zürich alone spends two million Swiss Francs (1.32 million Euros) annually for the procurement of products and services - this ranges from toilet paper to public construction works. If such expenditures were executed in an environmentally friendly way in every European city, this would make a significant contribution to climate and environmental protection. Zürich has a long tradition in green procurement.
In order for public authorities to be able to follow through on green procurement, the political framework has to be right, emphasises City Councillor Robert Neukomm. With the goal of becoming a 2,000-Watt Society by 2050 - a vision which Zürich's citizens are strongly in favour of - Zürich's political stance on green procurement has been further strengthened. The City of Zürich has a long-standing record in green procurement (since the mid-1990s). Its green procurement actions are wide-ranging, from purchasing shirts for the local police service made from certified organic cotton to using "Züri-coffins" - coffins made from wood originating from sustainably managed forests (FSC certified). The construction of the new Triemly Hospital will be carried out according to the standards of the 2000-Watt Society.

Nine Ways to Transform New York into a City of Great Places
The Project for Public Places has worked in more than 2,500 communities in 40 countries around the world, helping people turn their public spaces into vital community places, with programs, uses, and people-friendly settings that build local value and serve community needs. In its article “Nine Ways to Transform New York into a City of Great Places,” PPP offers nine steps to “transform New York into a city of great places.” http://www.pps.org/info/placemaking_in_new_york/new_york/ways_to_transform_new_york

Barcelona moves one step closer to gender equality
Barcelona now joins other major Spanish cities that have signed the European charter for equality of women and men in local life.
The mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu i Boher, signed the charter on 16 October 2009, alongside.the meeting of the Women Elected Representatives Committee of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). Over 100 Spanish local governments out of a total of 912 in Europe have already signed the charter.
The seminar also aimed to discuss specific topics that are covered in the charter including Article 22 on violence against women. Concrete examples of local actions were cited and presented.
The chair of the committee on equality of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Ana Barceló Chico, presented the “Local authority guide for the creation of awareness and prevention of violence against women”. The guide is available in French, English and Spanish.
The mayor of Ugao Miraballes, Isaskun Landaida, member of the Association of Basque Municipalities (EUDEL), described the actions undertaken by the new network of Basque municipalities to fight against violence against women. The association has also published a guide addressed to Basque municipalities that gives an overview of actions to be taken on gender-based violence.

Call for proposal: €1 200 000 for youth projects
The European Commission has launched a call for proposals to support partnership projects with municipalities and regions which intend to develop their actions in the field of non-formal learning and youth.
The call for proposals will support the development of an activity programme combining one or more of the following activities: transnational youth exchanges, national or transnational youth Initiatives, European voluntary service, training and networking.
The total budget allocated to the co-funding of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at EUR 1 200 000. The maximum grant allocated to each project may not exceed EUR 100 000.
The programme of activities must start between 1 April 2010 and 1 September 2010.
The grant applications must be sent no later than 1.12.2009. http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/funding/2009/call_action_4_6_en.php

Jerusalem joins Local Action for Biodiversity
A South African team from ICLEI signed an agreement for Jerusalem to join Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB), an international project with leading cities cooperating to protect biodiversity. Jerusalem will also be signing up to the IUCN Countdown 2010 biodiversity commitment
Jerusalem joins the 21 pioneer cities from the first phase of the LAB project, and is the fourth participant in its second phase. It joins joining Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cape Town, Seoul, Liverpool, Edmonton, and more on this global network.

UN-HABITAT Executive Director awarded for promoting urban health
The 2009 Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Area of Urban Health was given to Mrs. Tibaijuka at an international conference on urban health that took place in Nairobi, Kenya. The International Conference on Urban Health drew close to one thousand delegates drawn from all over the world.
The award was presented by Kenya’s Minister for Planning and National Development Mr. Wycliffe Oparanya. During the occasion, the President of International Society for Urban Health, Dr. Jean Christophe Fosto, described Mrs Tibaijuka as “a champion who mobilized action to address the underlying causes of urban health and wellbeing.”
Also congratulating Mrs. Tibaijuka for the achievement was Dr. David Vlahov, the Vice President of New York Academy of Medicine.

UN-HABITAT and Brazil sign World Urban Forum agreement
UN-HABITAT Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, and Brazil’s Permanent Representative, Mrs. Ana Maria Sampaio, signed a Conference Agreement to facilitate the organization of the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 22-26 March 2010.
The Agreement signed in Nairobi lays the foundation for a successful World Urban Forum which is expected to attract around 15,000 participants. The Fifth Session of this premier conference on cities focuses on The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide and will culminate in a global debate on the future of cities. It will feature a wide range of events, from thematic Dialogues, open debates, networking events, to roundtables among peers, training events and a major exhibition. It will be preceded by Youth and Gender Assemblies from 19-20 March 2010 and e-debates guided by leading experts on the themes of the Forum.
During the signing ceremony, Mrs. Sampaio and Mrs. Tibaijuka exchanged ideas about the Forum in Rio de Janeiro, a city gearing up to also host two premier sporting events, the 2014 World Cup Football and the 2016 summer Olympic Games.
The Agreement will strengthen overall cooperation between Brazil and UN-HABITAT.

Stray dogs problem in Bulgarian city of Sofia to be resolved in 2011
The problem of Sofia's stray dogs will be resolved after 2011 when dog shelters will be built, Petar Petrov, head of the city hall Ekoravnovesie company was quoted by Standard daily as telling private national bTV channel on October 22 2009.
Ekoravnovesie is the company directly responsible for dealing with the problem that has beset Sofians for years with numerous cases of people being attacked by packs of strays throughout the city. "The problem will be solved when all stray dogs are put in shelters that will be built by 2011," Petrov said. He claimed there were about 8500 stray dogs on Sofia's streets. There should be at least 11 shelters in every region of the city so that these dogs are taken care of, he said.
According to current legislation, strays are caught and neutered but then many are returned to the streets with the more aggressive ones placed in shelters. When the shelters are built, all dogs will be kept inside, Petrov said.
According to the Four Paws animal protection foundation, the problem lay not with the dogs but with people who abandon animals on the streets in the first place. "The dogs are a social problem that we have created," the foundation's representative told bTV as quoted by Standart. According to Four Paws there were people in the Pernik region who come to Sofia to dump their dogs in the city. The foundation quoted statistics that there were about 500 dogs registered as pets in Sofia. They believe that the total number of all pets in the capital was more like 500 000.
Municipalities in Bulgaria did not respect the law on animal protection, Four Paws said. The foundation believes that people are to blame for accidents involving strays, not the dogs. http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/10/Stray-dogs-problem-in-Sofia_1031.html

The Next Youth-Magnet Cities in the United States
If you were a recent college graduate in a recovering economy launching a career, looking for a mate or both, where would you choose to live in the United States?
Predicting cities that will emerge as post-recession meccas for the young is easy to argue about, but impossible to forecast empirically. Whether you prefer hip, casual Austin, Texas, over the cosmopolitan allure of New York City is partly a matter of personal taste. Still, we asked six experts which 10 cities will emerge as the hottest, hippest destinations for highly mobile, educated workers in their 20s when the U.S. economy gets moving again. Our panelists—demographers, economists, geographers and authors on urban issues—picked their cities based on the criteria they deem most important, from economic diversity to lifestyle.
Big cities dominate our panelists' forecasts. Where trendy smaller cities might have captivated youth in the past, today's recession-scarred young people are more pragmatic, placing "greater emphasis on where high-quality, high-paying jobs are created," says Ross DeVol, director of regional economics for the nonprofit Milken Institute. Northeastern and West Coast cities are ascendant, eclipsing former Sunbelt favorites such as Atlanta.
Other cities once lauded as youth magnets fell off the radar. Naples, Fla., cited in an influential 2003 U.S. Census Bureau report on migration among young adults, was bypassed by panelists, a victim of the sagging Florida economy. The housing collapse sank another past favorite, former real-estate boom town Las Vegas. And Charlotte, N.C., a banking center, lost some of its luster to the financial crisis.
Quirky urban cultures haven't entirely lost their allure. Our panelists' No. 4 pick is a city with double-digit unemployment—Portland, Ore., a haven for artists, musicians and outdoor enthusiasts. The city has shown "staying power" among youth, says Rachel Franklin, a geographer at the University of Maryland and author of the Census Bureau report. http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/10/The-Next-Youth-Magnet-Cities-in-US_1029.html

Eurostat releases maps, figures and tables on EU regions and cities
Eurostat, the European Union's Statistical Office, has just published the 2009 edition of its regional yearbook.
The publication gives an overview of economic, social and demographic developments in the Union's 271.regions, and where data are available, in the regions of the three applicant countries (Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey) and in the four EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).
The yearbook includes chapters on population, cities, labour market, gross domestic product, household accounts, structural business statistics, information society, science, technology and innovation, education, tourism and agriculture.
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-HA-09-001/EN/KS-HA-09-001-EN.PDF

Cities’ strategies for social service provision
EUROCITIES' Social Affairs Forum in Warsaw on 8-9 October focused on cost effectiveness and quality in the provision of social and health services – a difficult balance to strike, in particular against growing budget constraints.
Numerous examples from the host city of Warsaw and some 20 other cities demonstrated what cities do to provide quality services at an affordable cost. The discussions around the Forum showed that in spite of different national social models, cities all over Europe share similar principles for service provision and yet respond to a specific situation in their own way.
Across almost all of Europe, NGOs are crucial partners in the delivery of services - be it for their greater proximity to the customers or the fact that they allow for greater democratic participation. On the other hand, challenges concerning the transparency of the commissioning process and the coordination between different service providers are prevalent amongst a large number of cities. Key solutions lie in defining a common vision on the goals of services, pooling services efficiently, and measuring service outcomes, as workshop presentations from Birmingham, Vienna, and Stockholm demonstrated.
The Warsaw meeting made clear that issues around service delivery need to remain a focus of the Social Affairs Forum in the coming years – economic and demographic developments will continue to challenge cities to further innovate their services. While there is no European champion in social service provision, cities have developed strong competencies in different fields that will provide valuable orientation for those who want to learn from others. Ulf Kristersson, Vice-Mayor of Stockholm and Chair of the Social Affairs Forum underlined that the current European legislation on procurement, whose meaning is far from clear and which is interpreted differently, will only add to this challenge.

To avoid failure in Copenhagen, nations must raise their climate mitigation ambitions and partner with other levels of government
“Truly effective action to mitigate and to adapt to climate change must include the participation of local government authorities in a post-2012 agreement at the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP 15) meeting in Copenhagen” ICLEI and UCLG jointly said again in Bangkok when attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Climate Change Talks there.
At the UN Bangkok Climate Talks, developing countries raised serious concerns that developed countries seek to end the Kyoto Protocol without guaranteeing ambitious emission reduction commitments in the post-2012 period. “It occurs to us that there is a perception in current negotiations that a high level of ambition to reduce emissions in the short and medium term, in particular, in Annex 1 nations in the Kyoto Protocol may not be achievable or realistic” said Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Deputy Secretary General at UN in Bangkok.
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=10497&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=4145&tx_ttnews[backPid]=983&cHash=b48d4b787a

Combining transport, energy, environment and cohesion policy for our towns and regions
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) held a joint meeting of its working groups on energy, environment, transport and cohesion policy, in Brasov (Romania), on 12 and 13 October 2009.
The purpose of the meeting was to develop a cross-sectoral approach of EU policies that are correlated with one another. The meeting looked at local issues of common interest but from different angles.
Issues debated relate to the future of cohesion policy, intra-regional transport as factor of territorial cohesion, urban mobility, the future of EU transport policy as well as climate change policies at local, regional, European and international level. The Review of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs and its links with the review of the EU sustainable development strategy also featured high on the agenda.
The meeting was held at the invitation of the Romanian Municipalities Association (AMR) and the Brasov Metropolitan Agency.
A workshop under the theme "Cities of the future: towards low carbon economies" also took place alongside the event. It was organised by the
Romanian Municipalities Association (AMR) in co-operation with Brasov municipality and CEMR. The aim of the workshop was to debate on the EU, national and local policies for the reduction of the CO2 emissions.

Date set for inaugural Rafik Hariri UN-HABITAT Memorial Award
In an announcement after a meeting in London, the award’s steering committee said an international jury would be selected to give out the award which is in honour of Mr. Rafik Hariri, the late Prime Minister of Lebanon, for his achievements in the reconstruction of his country following its protracted civil war.
During the meeting, UN-HABITAT Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka and Mr. Mohammed Hariri, representing the Rafik Hariri Foundation and its President Mrs. Nazek Rafiki Hariri, endorsed the award process and action plan.
“The Late Rafik Hariri was indeed, a global model for peace, harmony and reconstruction, a shining example of how individual engagement in reconstructing a country from war and conflict can make the difference. His vision and achievements continue to have great impact for the region and the world. UN- HABITAT is pleased to be associated with this Award” said Dr. Tibaijuka at the Steering Committee’s meeting.

IBM Makes Cities and Utilities Smarter with New Technologies
Moving forward with its strategy for a Smarter Planet, IBM is helping cities and utilities become smarter by providing new technologies and tools to help them better manage their resources, while reducing cost, increasing reliability and lowering energy and water consumption.
A new report from the IBM Institute for Business Value, “A Vision of Smarter Cities,” makes the case that cities must use new technologies to transform their systems to optimize the use of finite resources.
As an example, IBM and the City of Dubuque, Iowa, with a population of 60,000, are collaborating to make Dubuque the first “smarter” sustainable city in the U.S. IBM and Dubuque outlined their plans to develop new “smarter” technologies and implementation strategies to create an international model of sustainability for communities of 200,000 and under, where over 40 percent of the U.S. population resides, said IBM. http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/09/21/ibm-makes-cities-and-utilities-smarter-with-new-technologies/

URBAN MATRIX final event looks at the future ‘sustainable city’
Taking into account the latest developments of the Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities and Urban Audit, URBAN MATRIX will use this as the focus for its final event on future priorities of ’sustainable cities’. The meeting will take place in Stockholm on 25 November.
Gathering the opinions of European, National and local stakeholders, the meeting will be the perfect occasion to prime debate for EUROCITIES’ Annual Conference Stockholm 2009 which will look at the theme of ’Urban Challenges – Sustainable Solutions’.
This last URBAN MATRIX Workshop on ’Defining priorities for the sustainable city of the future’ will take place in Stockholm, on the afternoon of 25 November. The programme will include:
- A presentation of the URBAN MATRIX Recommendations to the European Commission on future EU urban practice and research (EUROCITIES, European Commission Directorate-General (DG) RESEARCH);
- Examples of research and practice cooperation on Sustainable Urban Development (Cities of Helsinki and San Sebastian, and the University of the West of England);
- A discussion on the Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities and Urban Audit (DG REGIO and the Swedish Ministry of Environment).
At the same time, URBAN MATRIX will participate in the EUROCITIES conference to co-organise the Deep Dive session on ’The Hammarby Model - Integrated waste, water and energy’.
URBAN MATRIX is a four-year European Commission research project aimed at promoting and facilitating knowledge transfer on Sustainable Urban Development between city practitioners and researchers.

A tool to help cities reduce CO2 emissions
The Covenant of Mayors has developed an online interactive tool to help European cities and local governments present their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP) and to facilitate their evaluation.
The Covenant signatories are asked.to complete this online template by providing information regarding their overall strategy, the details of their emission inventory and the measures included in their sustainable energy action plans.
At the same time the template is a tool for collecting key information from the SEAP, and thus encouraging exchanges of experience. Highlights of the collected information will be shown on-line under the Signatory Profiles on the Covenant of Mayors website.
All Covenant signatories can access the online tool via the Signatories' Corner (restricted area).
A public copy of the SEAP template and supporting instructions document is available in the library. http://members.eumayors.eu/

Obama administration lauds Mrs. Tibaijuka
The administration of President Barack Obama this week paid a glowing tribute to UN-HABITAT Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka saying she has done a commendable job at the agency.
At a dinner to mark World Habitat Day in Washington DC, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said the tenacity with which Mrs. Tibaijuka had campaigned for adequate shelter for all was commendable.
“I am grateful for what you have done for UN-HABITAT,” the Secretary said during the celebratory and emotional event attended by hundreds of guests at the National Building Museum. Others at the function included Presidential Advisor Ms. Valerie Jarret, Director of Planning Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, Rockefeller President Judith Rodin and Habitat for Humanity International President Jonathan Reckford.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=7374&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

The case for Metro Mayors
The Conservatives' 2010 Manifesto should commit to a first wave of Metro Mayors in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Leeds city-region and Greater Birmingham. Not just single-council figureheads, but powerful leaders with a direct mandate from an entire metropolitan area. Big city, metropolitan mayors would energise millions of voters, be highly visible and accountable, and have the authority to take tough decisions on local tax and spending. David Cameron supports elected mayors. The Control Shift green paper already promises a mayoral referendum in 12 cities - including Manchester. This is a step in the right direction, and more than the Lib Dems or Labour have offered.
But the current Conservative mayoral plan applies only to the individual local authority of, say, Manchester City Council. That would result in the rather odd situation of Manchester having its own mayor, but the other nine local authorities in Greater Manchester continuing as they are now. And it's not yet clear exactly what new powers these mayors would have.
There's not much point in single-council mayors with no real powers. The people of Manchester agree. Last week, they showed very little interest in having a Manchester City Council mayor. Only 3,000 people (out of 200,000) responded to a local consultation - and 2,000 of them rejected the idea of an elected mayor. This isn't a surprise. Mancunians will only say yes to a mayor that has real tax and spend powers.
If the Conservatives go for a mayoral referendum, without offering significant new powers, they risk repeating the North East referendum fiasco in 2004. Four out of five people rejected the proposed NE Regional Assembly, because its powers were so weak. Cities need more than a nominal figurehead. So the Conservatives should go further, and embrace Metro Mayors for Greater Manchester and other metropolitan areas.
http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/10/The-case-for-Metro-Mayors_1026.html

This is not the time for Europe’s cities to turn inwards
Why European engagement is ever more important for cities today
In an article published in The MJ (1 October 2009), EUROCITIES’ Secretary General Paul Bevan speaks of the importance for cities to maintain their European outreach and focus despite current budget pressures.
“…now, more than ever, is the time for councils to look beyond their borders and to engage internationally. No ambitious and outward-looking authority - city, county or region - should be turning inwards and lowering their sights. When the context is as tough as it is today, the business of external relations becomes all the more important for global profile, international investment and service innovation.”
In the same vein, this year’s EUROCITIES Cooperation Platform, an annual networking event for our network’s city contact officers, focused on the challenges and impacts of the recession specific to the international work carried out by cities. The general consensus was that European engagement should continue to be a priority despite current economic difficulties.
Notably, the weight of the recession has been seen to vary considerably from city to city. On the repercussions for EUROCITIES' function and activities, participants looked at initiatives and methods aimed at enhancing EUROCITIES’ role as a dynamic support and network structure for cities to find more and better opportunities to exchange knowledge at this difficult time.

EUKN launches call for suggestions for prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Prize
We are all working hard to make our cities great places to live. However, some contributions are really exceptionally important, impressive or outstanding. They simply stand out. In order to award such remarkable contributions, Singapore has recently launched the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2010. This special prize awards those individuals or organisations that have made excellent contributions to the creation of vibrant, liveable and sustainable urban communities around the world.
The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize seeks to recognise individuals and organisations responsible for urban initiatives that display foresight, good governance or innovation in tackling the many urban challenges faced by cities. The winner of the prize will be presented with a cash prize of 145,000 Euros. Only organisations and leaders in the field of urban development are able to make nominations for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2010. EUKN was officially asked to select a nominee. We are therefore opening a ‘call for suggestions’. Do you know an individual or an organisation that you believe deserves this prize? Inform EUKN and your personal nominee might become EUKN’s nominee!
http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/10/lee-kuan-yew-prize_1024.html

Discover the new URBACT website and register to URBACT annual conference in Stockholm!
URBACT, the European exchange and learning programme promoting sustainable urban development, have launched a new platform to raise public awareness of major urban challenges. Targeted at all city stakeholders, including experts and researchers, elected politicians and citizens, the objective of the website is to provide a communal space which sets the benchmark in terms of sustainable urban development.
Accessible, well-structured and user-friendly, the website introduces URBACT and its projects, places at your disposal their rich expertise and details, the progress on the ground. An URBACT BLOG is also online : URBACT News and events, videos but also points of view and anecdotes will be regularly posted so visit often to see what's new on the blog and participate to the debate.
‘Our new website seeks to integrate the URBACT rich expertise and synthesize it into a coherent whole, disseminating the information to all European cities. Brought together in a single tool, it will be accessible and helpful to everyone, from the experts to the citizens,’ Jean-Loup DRUBIGNY, Director of the URBACT Secretariat, explained. Thanks to six sections (About URBACT, Integrated urban development, Our projects, Get involved, News & Events, Documents & Resources),site visitors can navigate easily amid the wealth of information, developing methodologies and practical solutions. The URBACT projects are at the heart of this new website. You have an easy access to their mini-sites thanks to a project search engine and an interactive map.
You can also register on the new website to the URBACT ANNUAL Conference which will take place in Stockholm, on Wednesday 25th November 2009 (8.00 am-5.15 pm), at Factory in Nacka Strand Stockholm, a 19th century car factory building. In the context of economic downturn and environmental uncertainty, URBACT projects will discuss during this event the challenges of integrated sustainable urban development. Interactive thematic workshops will focus on innovation and creativity, human capital & entrepreneurship, cities and demographic change, preserving or creating urban identities, governance models, regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods, the implementation of the Leipzig Charter, and cities response to the economic crisis. For more information and registration www.urbact.eu.

Coming soon… DC&D II newsletter!
EFUS is glad to announce the launch of DC&D II project Newsletter (Democracy, Cities and Drugs). If you are interested in the way to develop integrated responses to the issue of drug consumption and related nuisances at city level, and if you wish to have good practices from cities around Europe, please register now! http://www.urbansecurity.org/index.php?id=30665

Carbon Neutral Urban Development Workshop
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, European Secretariat and the City of Copenhagen, are pleased to invite you to participate in an exclusive expert workshop about carbon neutral urban development.
The City of Copenhagen has recently completed a project about carbon neutral urban development. This project has demonstrated that it is possible to develop carbon neutral urban districts. Many of the needed technologies already exist but we need to find new ways to cooperate - and to focus on how to attract investors.
The workshop will take place on 19-20 November 2009 in Copenhagen, only a few weeks before the opening of COP 15, where nations will gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a new international agreement on climate change.
Registration: There will only be a limited number of 45 seats available for the workshop, so you are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible. Please find more registration information in the attached draft workshop programme. Registration deadline is 13 November 2009.
In case you have any further questions, please contact: Annette Egetoft: aneget@tmf.kk.dk

Conference on urban safety and the use of CCTV – Budapest: 2-3 December 2009
This year, the Urban Safety Conference of the city of Budapest will be dedicated to the use of CCTV and the question of video surveillance. As every year, EFUS members are cordially invited to participate at this European meeting on urban safety . More information available at http://www.fesu.org/index.php?id=30667.

An Un-Planned Neighborhood Gets APA Award for Planning
The Houston neighborhood of Montrose was recently named one of the APA's 'Great Neighborhoods' for 2009, but as this editorial suggests, planners had nothing to do with it.
"We were surprised that the American Planning Association recently named Montrose one of its '10 Great Neighborhoods' for 2009. Montrose is a great place. But does it, as the association writes, 'highlight the roles that planners and planning play in creating communities of lasting value'?
We think that planning helped make Montrose what it is. But much of what's great about that funky urban neighborhood had nothing to do with planning — and in fact, arose in spite of it." http://www.planetizen.com/news/redirect_new.php?id=41107-0

Local governments push for action on energy and climate debate at OPEN DAYS 2009
'Global challenges, European responses' is the theme of the 7th OPEN DAYS, the annual landmark event for European regions and cities.
This year the focus is on how regions and cities can effectively respond to the challenges of globalisation, climate change and the global economic crisis. This focus is spot on - with sustainable energy on centre stage, included as a necessary foundation for the European Union cohesion policy. This year's OPEN DAYS highlighted a unique opportunity for local governments to share their views, needs and challenges
surrounding energy and climate protection, with results feeding into the current energy and climate debate.

Urban Forest Success Stories
American Forests, the nation's oldest nonprofit citizens' conservation organization, is a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator of the benefits of trees and forests. Their Urban Forest Success Stories webpage examines how to better integrate green infrastructure policy and practice into urban areas.
During the past five years, American Forests conducted Urban Ecosystem Analyses in more than 40 U.S. urban areas. With more than 700 copies of CITYgreen software in circulation, American Forests encourages communities to use a green data layer -- a digital map of landcover along with CITYgreen to calculate the benefits of their urban forests for land planning. http://www.smartgrowth.org/library/articles.asp?art=4353&res=1280

Covenant of Mayors going from strength to strength
Cities, supported by their regional authorities, are leading the way in addressing these global challenges - by setting ambitious, yet realistic targets and implementing effective actions in different sectors. In this way they actively advance the sustainable energy transition process. This means the efficient use of (increasingly scarce) resources, the switch to renewable energy solutions, and saving energy
where possible. These areas of action are now increasingly the focus of local governments, citizens and businesses - also offering multiple benefits for economies and the environment.
In this context local governments are taking up their responsibilities, as municipal administrators and leaders of communities. Today already 729 cities have signed up to the Covenant of Mayors, committing to go beyond the EU objectives and reduce the CO2 emissions in their territories by more than 20 percent by 2020. Inventories are being conducted to identify where carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are released, Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) are under preparation to plan and manage the sustainable energy transition process. The Covenant of Mayors, as a movement for cities by cities, encourages Supporting Structures to provide specific assistance to communities that join. These include public administrations, but also local government networks and associations are increasingly pooling efforts, to help make significant progress in local climate and energy action.

Conference “The Impact of Cultural and Citizenship Education on Social Cohesion”
3 - 5 December 2009, Vilnius, Lithuania
www.nece.eu
This year’s NECE Conference focuses on the discussion about theoretical perspectives and educational practices against the growing social erosion all over the continent. The conference will examine the applicability of general areas as well as specific topics from the scope of cultural and citizenship education, contrasting them with good practices and examples of success stories.
Phil Wood, a leading expert in cultural diversity and urban development (Intercultural Cities), as well as Richard McNicol, a pioneer in linking the world of professional music with music education, are two of the main speakers.
The conference will advance the search for creative impulses for European cultural and citizenship education, and will address questions such as: What impact has social and economic upheaval had on equality and participation? How does cultural and citizenship education contribute to social cohesion in individual European countries? Which means and forms of communicating the knowledge are in demand?

Input into the European and international energy and climate debate
Not only did OPEN DAYS 2009 give many opportunities for networking and exchange, to representatives from local, regional and national governments, energy experts, urban planners and European networks. It also presented a call for input to local governments across Europe. The project LG Action - 'Networking action to involve Local Governments in the EU and international energy and climate debate', was presented in several sessions. Co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme, LG Action mobilises communities across Europe, encouraging them to engage in local climate and energy action, and collecting their input for European Positioning. On 7 October 2009 at the OPEN DAYS tent on the Berlaymont Esplanade, local governments were called on to share their views, needs and challenges regarding energy and climate protection at the local level. This provides them with a way to directly feed into the European and international energy and climate debate - also through
the Local Government Climate Roadmap process, which will culminate in a statement during the COP 15 (15th Conference of the Parties) in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Towns and cities united against poverty
The Millennium Development Goals campaign and United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) call on the mayors from around the world to express their support to the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).
The "Mayors in action united against poverty" campaign (16-18 October 2009) encourages mayors to display theur commitment to eradicating poverty, in a number of ways:
- Displaying a white banner with a knot in it on the facade of public buildings.
- Informing City Hall's personnel about the MDGs.
- Sending a press release explaining the role of local authorities in the achievement of the MDGs and your contribution.
http://standagainstpoverty.org/

"Decentralised cooperation: a driving force for local development "
Decentralised cooperation is a driving force for the development of local public services in partner countries. This is one of the main messages of the vice-president of Greater Lyon, Hubert Julien-Laferriere, on behalf of the Platform of European Local and Regional Authorities for Development, that met in Lyon, on 5 October 2009.
The event brought together 150 representatives of local and regional governments from Europe and the world, as well as representatives from the European institutions. They met at the invitation of the city of Lyon to assess local governments' effectiveness in development cooperation. http://www.ccre.org/news_detail_en.htm?ID=1682

President Obama speaks out on World Habitat Day
President Barack Obama said in a special World Habitat Day message that his administration was looking towards stronger partnerships with other organizations in addressing the challenges facing American people, including housing.
World Habitat Day is a good chance to look into the problem of people without housing and how to help them, he said in a video-taped message to participants marking the one-day occasion at a colourful ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington.
President Obama said it was only through partnerships that the challenges could be addressed, adding that on its own, the US government could not succeed.
He said World Habitat Day this year came at a critical time when many people were faced with the spectre of homelessness.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=7333&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Coping with shrinking cities is the major public policy issue in Eastern Germany. “
In many European countries, shrinking cities have only been an issue for a few years now However, in Germany it has already been an important concern for many years. Birgit Glock, who is a social scientist and worked at Humboldt University in Berlin, is specialised in questions related to shrinking cities. She wrote her PhD on a comparison of two shrinking cities in Germany: Duisburg and Leipzig. She has thereby gained comprehensive knowledge of the causes and effects of shrink and how it is tackled in policy. “Coping with shrinking cities is the major public policy issue in Eastern Germany. “ According to Glock, the question of how to retain urban liveability in shrinking cities and neighbourhoods is crucial. “Political interventions have to prevent a cumulative downgrading in these areas. This means that the quality of life for the remaining residents has to be kept and enhanced,” Glock believes. http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/10/interview-birgit-glock_1019.html

Cities puzzled by greenhouse gas measurements
Many regional initiatives are already taking place in the EU to tackle climate change, but the array of different tools for measuring global warming gases make the results difficult to compare, a recent study showed. The European Commission has acknowledged that the battle against climate change will be fought in cities, which are home to 80% of Europeans and consume most of the continent's energy. The role of cities is thus seen as crucial for meeting the EU's target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.
European regions and cities have already started to share experiences on the best way to fight climate change by means of initiatives like the Covenant of Mayors, which brings together hundreds of cities in a pledge to exceed the EU's climate objectives.

The crisis from the ground up: CEMR releases first results
Financial crisis, economic crisis, credit crisis: how does the crisis impact Europe's local and regional authorities? The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) discloses first results of its study conducted among.its member associations.
According to Europe's local and regional authorities, the financial and economic situation has generally worsened over the last 6 months. That is what 13 out of 20 responding associations members of CEMR (65.0 %) think. The forecasts for 2010 are not much more optimistic either. The crisis will continue to influence local and regional governments, say 11 associations (61.1 %). They particularly suffer from a sustained budget squeeze between decreasing budget income and increased demand for expenditure.
In the light of these ongoing developments, local and regional authorities in many countries (47.8 %) plan reduced 2010 budgets; The Baltic countries and South-East Europe are particularly pessimistic.
How does the crisis impact public services? It was expected in the first part of 2009 that the demand for specific services, especially in the social sphere, would increase with the growing economic unease. Indeed, 50 % of the countries have reported a significant increase in demand for these services and none indicate a decrease.
The full study will soon be available on CEMR's website. It is the second study released by CEMR on the impact of the economic and financial crisis on Europe's local and regional authorities.

Malmö, Recognized for its Local Solutions on Sustainability
The City of Malmö in Sweden, an ICLEI Member since 1998, has won the prestigious Scroll of Honor Award from the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) for its innovative, holistic approach to becoming a 21st century eco-city
After the recession nearly wiped out Malmö's industrial base in the 1980s, the city had a chance to start over. It created eco-friendly neighborhoods of transformed tenements and old shipyards. Much of Western Harbour now runs solely on renewable energy, including wind and solar, while organic waste from the area is turned into biogas. In Augustenborg and Sorgenfri, roof gardens reduce runoff and insulate homes, while a carpool system with special lanes for pedestrians and cyclists help cut vehicle use.
Using a holistic approach to its greening, the city is investing in centres of learning on urban sustainability, such as the Institute for Sustainable Urban Development. Only too aware that buildings consume almost half the world’s energy and spew out nearly a third of greenhouse gases, Malmö plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25% between 2008 and 2012, well above the Kyoto Protocol's target of 5%.
Malmö says that making its infrastructure greener is the quickest and easiest way to avoid a climate catastrophe. Malmö today is a leading signatory to the European Union’s Covenant of Mayors on greenhouse reductions. Here they burn household waste to generate heat and electricity. By going off-grid they don't lose energy in transmission. It aims to become more and more of a greener eco-city.
View other award winners on UN-Habitat website http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?typeid=19&catid=588&cid=7291#Sweden

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development
The publication of Sustainable by Design: Insights from U.S. LEED-ND Pilot Projects in the current (Autumn) issue of Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA) explores the efficacy of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) standard as an approach to encouraging sustainability in community and neighborhood development.
Ajay Garde, in his analysis of the first US pilot projects, shows that the standard needs refinement, and should be part of a comprehensive approach to local planning if it is to result in truly sustainable neighborhoods.
To view the article for free please visit: www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a914017852
To view the table of contents of the Autumn issue (volume 75 issue 4) of JAPA please visit: www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g915602893

UN-HABITAT fund awards 67 youth projects around the world
UN-HABITAT has awarded grants from its new Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development to 67 projects proposed by young people from around the world.
The first beneficiaries of the agency’s new Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development were drawn from a pool of 1,116 applicants from 86 countries. Kenya, India, Pakistan and Cameroon generated the greatest number of successful applicants under the programme started with funding from Norway to the tune of USD 1 million annually.
The 67 winning projects from 33 countries, will be feted in Washington at the global celebration of World Habitat Day on 5 October. Many of their ideas are aimed at alleviating poverty, improving employment prospects, education, the environment, health and safety.
The Opportunities Fund awards eligible organizations grants of USD 5,000 to USD 25,000. Those qualifying have to meet strict UN criteria and are required to report on results and effectiveness.
“This application process had two goals, both of which exceeded our expectations,” says Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. “We wanted, for the first time, to define the breadth and depth of global youth development in some of our most challenged urban environments. We also wanted to enhance the successes of innovative youth groups that have proven benefits for their communities. We are amazed at the quality and quantity of applicants.”
Of some 1 billion slum dwellers in the world today, it is estimated that more than 70 percent are under 30. These young people have few resources available to improve their own living environments. Among the recipients are a Kenyan environmental group recycling plastic waste, a Nigerian HIV/AIDS counseling project for young mothers and sex workers, a Palestinian group dedicated to computer and media training as a platform showcasing human rights, and a Pakistani literacy, job and lifestyle skills development programme. Another is a Brazilian youth organization which trains young people as environmental leaders.

Pollution and unemployment top city residents’ concerns
Poverty, crime and corruption also form part of worries for the urban populations, the survey further reveals. The month long Plan Your City survey was designed solicit views on the theme of this year’s World Habitat Day – Planning our urban future.
The survey that drew the interest of about 200 people from over 60 countries across the globe had the respondents being asked their views about the problems facing their cities and was classified under: access to services; access to land and housing; economic problems, environmental problems and social problems – some of the major topics covered by UN-HABITAT’s new flagship Global Report on Human Settlements: Planning Sustainable Cities to be launched on World Habitat Day. Respondents were also asked to list the positive and negative factors affecting the future of cities.
Under access to services, roads and traffic congestion were listed as the biggest problems at 30 percent, followed by public transport at 21 percent and education at 13 percent. Others were sanitation, water, health and electricity. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=7312&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Ban Ki-moon calls for local and regional authorities recognition
On the occasion of the conference ‘Building an Alliance of Local Governments for Disaster Risk Reduction’, held in the city of Incheon (South Korea), on 11-13 August 2009, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon appealed to the Heads of State and Government to recognize the role of mayors and local leaders in their actions to fight climate change and to prevent risks.
On this occasion, more than 200 participants from the government sector, local and regional authorities, United Nations organizations and civil society, have adopted the "Incheon Declaration", which highlights key reccomendations and concrete actions to be taken forward by local and regional governments. The possible launching of a World Campaign on prevention of urban risks has also been mentioned.

A big move forward on urban mobility
EUROCITIES’ reaction to Commission’s urban mobility action plan
The publication of the European Commission’s Action Plan on Urban Mobility, is a big move forward in addressing Europe’s ‘big three’ economic, environmental and social challenges. That’s the first reaction from EUROCITIES, the network of major European cities.
“Firstly, cities will only realise their economic potential if we ensure people and goods can more easily move to, from and within them”, said EUROCITIES’ Secretary General Paul Bevan. “Second, since urban transport currently accounts for 40% of emissions we need urgently to change transport systems and behaviour for the sake of the climate. And third, better access to jobs and services is a key step towards social inclusion.”
EUROCITIES has pressed hard for such a framework over a period of nearly three years. In early 2008, the network contributed to the Commission’s Green Paper on Urban Mobility. As recently as March 2009, EUROCITIES worked with MEPs to speed up the publication of the Action Plan.
The Mayor of Budapest, Gabor Demszky, was present at the European Commission press conference held today on the initiative. Budapest is active in the EUROCITIES’ Mobility Forum and won the Mobility Week Award 2008. Mayor Demszky commented:
“Future actions stemming from this Action Plan must take into account the diversity of Europe’s cities. Cities need scope to choose mobility measures that meet their circumstances. The framework must enable, not dictate, solutions. Nor must it conflict with successful schemes that are already running.”
Now the Action Plan is finally published mobility experts from EUROCITIES’ member cities will analyse the proposals presented in the document. EUROCITIES believes that the success of the European Commission Action Plan on Urban Mobility rests on the continued involvement of cities in developing the measures proposed.

Urban Sports Take German Cities by Storm
Whether it's bike polo, urban golf or scaling public buildings, interesting new urban sports are leaving a distinctive mark on German cityscapes. The metropolitan antics add a twist to traditional sports -- and may be cropping up on stretch of tarmac near you soon. The Wassertorplatz in Berlin's Kreuzberg district is full of black bicycle skid marks -- and more are being added all the time. The screech of bike tires merges with rattling subway cars passing overhead and punk rock which blasts from an old cassette player.
In the last game, Miguel found himself lying on the asphalt underneath his bike twice. But that didn't stop his team, called "Mallet Force," from winning the game 5-3. Miguel takes off his helmet. He's been playing bike polo for a year and says, "I'm mad about this sport." He likes the team mentality -- and the fact that play can get rough. He glances over at Marc, who today is confined to watching the game, his broken hand wrapped in plaster. http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/09/Urban-Sports-Take-German-Cities-by-Storm_1043.html

Europe’s economy needs creative cities
At this week's European Culture Forum, Yannick Guin, Vice-President of Nantes Metropole, shares the views of Europe's cities regarding current EU discussions on cultural and creative industries
Stronger leadership, better targeted EU support, and cross-sectoral partnership are among some of the key recommendations EUROCITIES has submitted for consideration in the prospective European Commission Green Paper on Cultural and Creative industries. The recommendations are based on a recent survey undertaken by EUROCITIES, which shows that cities see a thriving cultural and creative sector as essential for driving forward local economies, particularly within the present-day economic climate. Addressing participants of the European Culture Forum on 29-30 September in Brussels, Yannick Guin, Vice-President of Nantes Metropole, the city which is currently leading EUROCITIES’ policy work in this area, stressed: “Cultural and creative goods and services are produced locally but their capacity to effect positive change goes far beyond local boundaries. We believe that a more strategic vision for the sector is the solution to ensuring that the full potential of these industries is reached.” http://www.eukn.org/eukn/news/2009/09/Europe-s-economy-needs-creative-cities_1044.html

Competition for the Capitals of Biodiversity in Europe
NGOs are looking for the best of class in urban biodiversity preservation.
ICLEI's Major environmental protection organisations from six EU-member states are searching for the Capital of Biodiversity. Municipalities caring for biodiversity in France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Spain can apply and all types of urbanisations, from small villages to large cities can join.
Seven European environmental protection organisations will implement the competition "Capital of Biodiversity" in five European countries, to find cities, towns and villages with the best performance in preserving biodiversity. They met in Madrid last week to prepare the kick-off of the competitions in 2010, the UN International Year of Biodiversity, in France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain. From the smallest village to the largest cities, municipalities are invited to join. Fair competition is ensured by choosing the winner in different size classes according to the population of the municipality.
In each country, a competent non-governmental organisation will organise the competition. Municipalities will also be supported through a training programme, jointly organised by ICLEI and IUCN. Know-how and experiences in municipal biodiversity issues will be conveyed through a series of capactiy-building workshops and brochures; an easy-to-apply set of indicators for biodiversity in municipalities will also
be developed. Finally, the winners will be honoured and highlighted in national and international events and their performance will be communicated on a national and European level. If you are interested, contact your country partner and ask for more information on how to enter the competition Other countries are welcome to come on board as well.
Further information about the project can be found on http://www.capital-biodiversity.eu
The project is supported through LIFE+, a programme of the European Union.

World HABITAT Day 2009 on 5 October
The first Monday in October is dedicated to cities and towns all over the world. UN-HABITAT, the United Nations agency for human settlements, has chosen this day to discuss the future of urban development. This year’s motto of the HABITAT day is "Planning our Urban Future".The HABITAT day will be celebrated on 5 October with numerous events all over the world.

Vienna supports Chicago in implementing its “Climate Action Plan”
The city of Chicago has decided to implement a comprehensive programme to accomplish its environmental objectives and called on cities and companies all around the world to submit proposals for improvement.
Since Vienna has a wide range of competences and extensive know-how in the field of urban and environmental technologies, several enterprises of the City of Vienna – Central Danube & Development GmbH, the energy section of Municipal Department 27 (EU Strategy and Economic Development) and the Vienna Business Agency – responded to this call to offer Chicago their knowledge and expertise in the fields of energy contracting, urban energy efficiency and energy-efficient building. The elaboration and submission of proposals and ideas was based on a careful consideration of the products and services that would best be suited to support Chicago in accomplishing its self-defined climate targets.
TINA VIENNA coordinated the project submissions of the enterprises and departments of the City of Vienna and forwarded them to the Economic Chamber’s foreign trade office in Chicago for submission. http://www.chicagoclimateaction.org/

Increased Transit Use Reduced Carbon Emissions by 37 Million Tons
In 2008, people in America saved 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline by riding transit in record numbers -- the amount consumed by 7.2 million cars in a year. Transportation is responsible for more than two-thirds of our dependence on oil, and about one-third of our carbon dioxide pollution, as Environment America outlined in their new report ''Getting On Track: Record Transit Ridership Increases Energy Independence.''
''People are voting with their feet by driving less and taking more public transportation,'' said Rob McCulloch, Environment America Transportation Advocate. ''Congress should listen to these voters and invest more in public transportation, which will increase our energy independence and reduce global warming pollution,'' McCulloch added.
In the U.S., last year annual transit ridership increased 4 percent, and many agencies are seeing continued growth in 2009. Washington D.C. transit ridership grew by 4.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7276&state=52

"Let's initiate a better cooperation between the EU and local government"
The next European Commission will need the involvement and active cooperation of Europe's regions and cities in order to implement its policy programme. This is the key message that the President of the Committee.of the Regions addresses in a letter to the European Commission's President, José Manuel Barroso, on 16 September 2009.
The letter follows José Manuel Barroso's reconduction as President of the European Commission. It is based on political guidelines recently presented by Mr Barroso to the European Parliament and includes several specific requests such as local et regional governments' involvement in tackling the economic crisis. Regions and cities account for two thirds of public investment and one third of public spending in Europe. They are ready to commit themselves to a new strategy for the green economy and employment (...).
The offer to establish "a special partnership" between the European Parliament and the Commission represents, according to Luc Van den Brande, "a real opportunity to strengthen European democracy". However, addressing José Manuel Barroso he added that, "it is also vital that a "partnership of the future" be formed with the Committee of the Regions. Regional and local authorities are directly responsible for the implementation of the action programme which you have quite rightly outlined: effective action to bring Europe out of the crisis; being in the vanguard of the fight against climate change; developing new sources of sustainable growth and social cohesion; promoting the Citizens' Europe".

Local Governments Lounge gives cities an advocacy space at COP 15
The eyes of the world will be on Copenhagen in December 2009 with the expectation that a new post-2012 international climate agreement is adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 15). Local Governments (LGs) have the opportunity to create history by advocating for a strong and comprehensive post-2012 global climate agreement at COP15.
Their presence counts, as they continue to seek recognition for the role LGs can and must play in climate protection and the new climate agreement. The contents of the new agreement are in the hands of national governments. Therefore, local leaders must meet with their national leaders to request successful outcomes at COP 15. The Local Government Climate Lounge is a meeting space located in the COP 15 building, at the heart of the groundbreaking negotiations.
Thus, LGs and their associations will have an advocacy base for dialogue and interaction with their national government, other national governments, other local governments, NGOs and the international press. The Lounge will help to support the advocacy work of LGs as they convince nations of the need for LG references in the final climate agreement text. If LGs are included in the final text this would ensure that the entire chain of government from national to local are involved in the implementation of the Climate Agreement in each country.

UN HABITAT support for Serbian peace building
Implementation of the USD 2.5 million Promoting peace building in south Serbia programme is funded by the Spanish Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund. The project is scheduled to start at the end of the year and will last for two and a half years.
The Programme was formally endorsed on September 15 2009 in Belgrade, with the signatures of the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self Government of the Republic of Serbia, the representative of the Spanish Government, the UN Resident Coordinator and representatives of the UN-HABITAT Office in Belgrade and other participating UN Agencies.

EU website gets makeover!
New layout, new navigation: Europa, the official website of the European Union gets a makeover.
With over 12 millions unique visitors, the Europa website is probably one of the most visited websites in the world. But with over 6 million pages, the Europa portal is also one of the biggest sites. It can sometimes be hard or impossible to find a specific piece of information in its own language...
This is why the European institutions have decided to make the entry pages more user-friendly and to simplified the layout, dividing the site into 6 main themes reflecting user needs: About the EU, Policies and activities, Your life in the EU, Take part!, Documentation centre and Media centre.
Also change is the new accessibility features that gives users the possibility to customize colours and text size.
The website is available in 23 languages. http://europa.eu/index_en.htm