Urban Talks comes back with a Summer Series

Our UNDP Urban Talks is back with a special summer series edition! Last year we heard from a diverse range of urban practitioners and academics on how cities can tackle competing priorities while developing long-term visions, from ReStart Ukraine on how Ukraine can incorporate risk assessment into urban planning to reimagine recovery beyond reconstruction, to lessons from the Istanbul Planning Agency on how Turkish cities can thrive in uncertainty.

This July, we are continuing to spotlight cities and initiatives that are bringing new practices to urban transformation across Europe and Central Asia. These talks serve as a catalyst for uniting a growing community of cities, practitioners, and visionary urbanists that are taking comprehensive, cross-cutting approaches to the challenges facing the future of cities.

We have a captivating lineup of high-level discussions about new ways to establish resilience, integrate methodologies, and foster partnerships. Check out our upcoming sessions:

Urban Talks Summer Series #1 | Creating Gender Inclusive Cities

Arup’s new report, “Cities Alive: Designing cities that work for women”, which was produced in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Liverpool.

Our first talk will center on creating gender inclusive cities. To discuss what cities would look like if they were designed for women – that is cities that are more inclusive and accessible, safer, and equitable – we invited Arup’s Global Leader of Social Value and Equity Dr. Sara Candiracci and Principal Urban Planner Kim Power to present their gender-focused report Cities Alive: Designing cities that work for women. Arup is a global collective of designers, engineering and sustainability consultants, advisors and experts dedicated to sustainable development, and to using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world. They will highlight four key areas of focus for improving women’s lives in cities and outline a new gender responsive approach to urban planning and design. Finally, the Deputy Mayor of Prishtina Donjeta Sahatçiu and CatalyticAction Co-Founder & Director of Programmes Joana Dabaj will join to comment on the Cities Alive framework, using practical examples from Kosovo and Lebanon.

• Date: 12 July 2023  
• Time: 10:30 BST / 11:30 CET / 12:30 TRT 
• Platform: Zoom (link will be sent automatically upon registration) 

Click here to register for Urban Talks Summer Series #1 

Urban Talks Summer Series #2 | Pathways to Urban Collective Intelligence 

How can collective intelligence help us tackle urban challenges? To explain why a multitude of perspectives is crucial for sustainable development in cities, we invited Peter Baeck, Director of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design (CCID) at Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good; Alberto Cottica, a network scientist and environmental economist at UNDP Accelerator Labs, a global network of innovation incubators that utilize human-centered design, foresight techniques, and systems thinking to prototype catalytic transformations in the face of complex development challenges; and Justyna Linke, an expert in participatory urban transformation who specializes in experimenting with new methods of engagement, in particular using foresight tools and approaches. Peter will introduce the CCID approach to collective intelligence and present case studies that exemplify the benefits of leveraging insights from citizens to develop smarter solutions, demonstrating how pooling resources and efforts can achieve outcomes that would be impossible to attain alone. Alberto will contextualize the application of collective intelligence within a longstanding contention between top-down urban planning and bottom-up initiatives. Justyna will explore instances of both successful and unsuccessful engagement attempts by local administrations to involve their communities in the green transition process.

• Date: Wednesday 19 July 2023  
• Time: 12:00 BST / 13:00 CET / 14:00 TRT 
• Platform: Zoom (link will be sent automatically upon registration) 

Click here to register for Urban Talks Summer Series #2 

Stay tuned for more details on upcoming talks! If you’ve missed our last Urban Talks series, you can read the key takeaways and watch the recordings here.