Nature provides many diverse life-supporting and life-enhancing contributions to people in cities and their surrounding regions. In cities of the future, nature should ideally be fully integrated into all aspects of urban life to provide a range of inter-connected benefits.

Led by ICLEI, INTERACT-Bio is designed to improve the utilization and management of nature within fast-growing cities and the regions surrounding them. It aims to provide expanding urban communities in the Global South with nature-based solutions and associated benefits.

Find out more at interactbio.iclei.org

Managed by the ICLEI European Secretariat, the Sustainable Procurement Platform provides up-to-date news, case studies, events, guidance, and more on sustainable procurement from across the world.

Find out more at sustainable-procurement.org

The Sino-German project “Urban-Rural Assembly” (URA) takes the urbanizing region of Huangyan-Taizhou in Zhejiang Province in China as a unique research and development environment aiming to

1. build an inter-disciplinary and multi-scalar understanding of trans-local interdependencies and metabolism at the urban-rural interface;
2. develop and implement community-driven pilot interventions enhancing resource efficiency and reinforcing regional circular economies; and
3. develop and demonstrate new multi-level, multi-actor governance tools that enable local municipalities to manage urban-rural linkages towards a progressive urban-regional model that builds on socio-ecologically inclusive and cooperative development approaches.

ICLEI supports the research project in creating an interface between the research partners and policymakers, both within the case region as well as nationally in China and internationally.

Find out more at urbanruralassembly.com

CitiesWithNature is a partnership initiative between ICLEI, IUCN, TNC, WWF, the United Nations Environment Programme, and many other organizations that provides an innovative online platform to support the co-evolution of cities with nature. It offers access to an extensive array of guides, tools, and case studies to help cities and city regions redefine their relationship with nature. This interactive platform is recognized by the SCBD as the official vehicle for local and subnational governments to report their reports and ambitions for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Find out more at citieswithnature.org

Since 2016, ICLEI East Asia and SHRDC have been co-organizing annual training programs for local government officials in Asia, aiming to help them strengthen their efforts in achieving sustainable urban development. Through policy presentations, site visits, and group discussions, participants of the training programs are provided with the latest insight on topics such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy transition, transportation, air quality, waste management, and citizen-led governance.

• Training on Climate Change and Air Quality Co-Control for ICLEI Members in Asia
• Capacity Building for Chinese Cities on Climate Change Policies
• ACP Cities updated with Seoul’s latest strategy on climate change and air pollution control

The Transformative Actions Program (TAP) provides a framework by connecting transformative local climate projects with project preparation facilities (PPFs) and tools that improve project bankability. Projects in the pipeline are screened based on their transformative impact which ensures their enduring potential.

ICLEI develops partnerships that connect the goals of diverse stakeholders into one coherent value chain for developing robust, transformative, and bankable projects that will accelerate low-to-no emission and climate-resilient development. ICLEI regional offices act as catalysts for mobilizing projects and as the first “filter” to identify priority projects.

Find out more at tap-potential.org