Following a successful call for topics from German municipalities, three dialogue events and a study tour and project workshop took place in Germany 2017.
As part of the BMZ initiative “Municipal know-how for host communities in the Middle East” Connective Cities – the International Community of Practice for Sustainable Urban Development – organized a study tour and project workshop for representatives from Jordanian municipalities. Through visits to various waste management companies in North Rhine-Westphalia, the participants were able to gain an impression of waste management in Germany. Within the framework of the connected project workshop, German experts from municipal companies and the participants from municipalities in Jordan worked on concrete project ideas that had been developed in previous Connective Cities events and which were discussed and further elaborated. Furthermore, information on support for collaboration opportunities between Jordanian and German municipalities was provided. Several bilateral cooperation projects between Jordanian municipalities and German municipal companies have been explored and first concrete steps were agreed.
In cooperation with the City of Bremen and the Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Connective Cities brought together German and international urban mobility practitioners from Brazil, Macedonia, Namibia, South Africa, Lithuania and Thailand to present their local projects, exchange experiences and discuss their urban mobility challenges. The dialogue event took place from 19 to 21 June 2017 in Bremen. 25 municipal experts had the chance to visit local mobility projects in Bremen. In the framework of the action planning session specific project ideas emerged including a pilot project for a pedestrian zone, a bus network mapping for public transport users, a project to develop strategies for active modes and a plan for a low emission zone. For each project idea the municipalities identified also specific follow up instruments that Connective Cities will provide to support them further in the implementation process.
Connective Cities organized a Dialogue Event on ‘Financing mechanisms for municipal sanitation services’ from 18 to 20 September 2017 in Cologne, Germany to specifically look into good practices, challenges and solutions to this crucial topic. The event was organized in collaboration with the City of Cologne and Cologne’s relevant municipal companies dealing with sanitation issues. The dialogue event brought together 34 experts and was geared towards both German and international municipal actors from Bosnia, Brazil, China, Morocco, Palestinian Territories and Ukraine with an interest in and first-hand experience in financing of municipal services in waste and wastewater management. All participants engaged proactively in the international dialogue by presenting their experience, showcasing examples of good practices in their municipality and/or identifying concrete challenges and needs they face.
The last dialogue event of 2017 was held from November 27th to 29th in Hamburg and dealt with ‘Climate protection through circular waste management’. The event was initiated and hosted by the municipal waste company Stadtreinigung Hamburg, which contributed with practice-oriented inputs by several experts to the exchanges and discussions. The event counted with the active participation of municipal practitioners from Brazil, Germany, Jordan, Moldova, Morocco, Turkey, Ukraine, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Through the joint discussions, they exchanged both on challenges, such as the integration of the informal sector or establishing a waste separation system, and on innovative solutions, such as multi-lingual awareness campaigns for refugee-hosting communities or practical and cost-effective solutions for public amenity centers. Connective Cities will continue to accompany the implementation of new project ideas.
