Berlin, 2 to 4 May 2018. For the fifth time, municipalities taking part in the project 'Municipal Climate Partnerships' presented their joint programmes of action for climate change mitigation and adaptation at an international workshop. This time the project, which is being implemented by the Service Agency Communities in One World and the North Rhine-Westphalian Working Party on Agenda 21, was hosted by the Lichtenberg district of Berlin. Five climate partnerships between German municipalities and municipalities in Vietnam and the Philippines are participating in this fifth phase of the project.
The workshop attracted some 60 participants, including a total of seven lord mayors and mayors, as well as other local administrators, policy-makers and civil society actors. Day one of the workshop was devoted intensively to presentation of the programmes of action which the climate partnerships developed over the last two years. In a poster exhibition, all the climate partnerships began by providing an overview of the results of their work and the process of developing their programmes of action. In a plenary session each partnership then presented concrete measures which, now that the programmes of action are complete, are to be launched and implemented in the short to medium term. Several municipalities are planning to begin with environmental education measures, for instance. As well as focusing on citizens, here the municipalities also intend to focus particularly on municipal employees and schoolchildren. Two climate partnerships have also already begun implementing their projects, which they are funding through the Service Agency programme 'Partnership Projects for Sustainable Local Development' (Nakopa). One project involves the climate-friendly conversion of street lighting; the other is using solar energy to power irrigation pumps.
Following an informative excursion to selected activities for environmental education and solar power in the Lichtenberg district of Berlin, the next two days provided time to look ahead to the future. The municipal partnerships used the opportunity to reach agreements on future communication, and define next steps and deadlines for project implementation. A lively exchange also took place between the climate partnerships on cross-cutting issues such as involving children and teenagers in the climate partnership, mainstreaming the climate partnerships in the municipalities, and renewable energy.
Amongst others, programmes offered by Engagement Global/the Service Agency such as Nakopa, the Small Projects Fund and ASA Municipal will be used to help launch implementation of the programmes of action. Fortified by the meeting with the other municipalities, and with fresh ideas, the climate partnerships will now embark on the next stage of implementation and the continuous improvement process.
