Activity Database

UrbanByNature is a facilitated capacity-building program promoting exchange among cities, researchers, SMEs, and NGOs to build bridges with the Nature-Based Solutions communities across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and other regions that are interested. The program is powered by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and the EU-funded projects Connecting Nature and CLEVER Cities.

UrbanByNature has been launched in five regional hubs worldwide: Brazil, Korea, the Caucasus, China, and Spain. Participation is open and free of charge with new opportunities coming up regularly for other regions worldwide.

A six-part webinar series for China was delivered from June 2021 through February 2022 by the ICLEI European Secretariat and Beijing Office:

• #1 Recap: Introducing NbS and the UrbanByNature Programme in China
• #2 Recap: Enabling Conditions and Barriers to implementing NbS
• #3 Recap: Planning NbS with Citizens and Other Stakeholders
• #4 Recap: Technical Implementation of NbS
• #5 Recap: Monitoring and Evaluation of NbS
• #6 Recap: Replicating NbS across the Urban Fabric

WRI, C40, and ICLEI have partnered to create a GHG Protocol for Cities, formally known as Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC). 

The GPC provides a robust framework for accounting and reporting city-wide greenhouse gas emissions. It seeks to:

• help cities develop a comprehensive and robust greenhouse gas inventory in order to support climate action planning;
• help cities establish a base year emissions inventory, set reduction targets, and track their performance;
• ensure consistent and transparent measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions between cities, following internationally recognized greenhouse gas accounting and reporting principles;
• enable city inventories to be aggregated at subnational and national levels; and
• demonstrate the important role that cities play in tackling climate change, and facilitate insight through benchmarking – and aggregation – of comparable data.

Find out more about GHG Protocol for Cities 

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been annually hosting the Seoul International Forum on Air Quality Improvement since 2010, providing a platform for local governments in East Asia to discuss and seek joint countermeasures for air quality improvement via international cooperation. ICLEI East Asia has actively contributed to the preparation and organization of the Forum since 2016.

• East Asian Cities gathered at the Seoul International Forum on Air Quality Improvement
• Clean Air! East Asian Cities in Action

The Ambitious City Promises project, led by ICLEI is designed to advance this work by capacitating local governments, engaging citizens, and driving climate action through Low Emission Development Strategies.

The Promise of Seoul, a comprehensive climate strategy adopted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government at the ICLEI World Congress in 2015, is at the heart of Ambitious City Promises. It provides a model of effective climate action at the community level, showing that cities can be both engines of growth and global leaders in climate action by establishing inclusive low-emission urban economies. Through Ambitious City Promises, local governments in Southeast Asia adapt this model of inclusive, ambitious climate action, mainstreaming low emission development strategies and creating new climate leaders.

ICLEI East Asia acted as one of the implementing partners of the project.

Find out more about Ambitious City Promises 

The East Asia Clean Air Cities Network (EACACN) serves as a unique regional inter-city cooperation platform for sharing best practices and building capacity for clean air actions.

EACACN initially began as the East Asia Clean Air Cities initiative in 2016, based on a regional partnership among 9 local governments in China, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia and managed by ICLEI East Asia, in response to the urgent need for air quality improvement in the region. Since then, EACACN has grown into a network of 14 local governments across East and Southeast Asia, with stronger operational capacity and commitment.

Find out more at eacacn.org

Procura+ is a network of public authorities that connect, exchange and act on sustainable, green, and innovation procurement. Established in 2004 by ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability in Europe, the Procura+ Network allows participants to share knowledge and develop capacity through regular meetings, seminars, and case studies. In addition, participants can also receive consulting services on formulating local green specifications and customized action plans, and celebrate achievements via the Procura+ Awards.

Procura+ East Asia supports local governments from China, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia in achieving sustainable and low-carbon development goals through sustainable, green, and innovation procurement. It is managed by ICLEI East Asia with support from the ICLEI Global Sustainable Procurement Center and other strategic partners in the region.

Find out more at procuraplus.org

ICLEI is the local lead partner of the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) in East Asia, taking responsibility to plan and execute the work plan, coordinating participating cities and stakeholders, and facilitating the engagement among business and local governments in the region.

Through the BEA, ICLEI has supported local governments in China and Mongolia to inquire about practical information for policy design and planning, to have access to international funding opportunities for project implementation and replication, and to strengthen the relationship with non-governmental stakeholders.

Find out more about the BEA

Since 2016, ICLEI East Asia and the Seoul Human Resource Development Center (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.

• 2016 Capacity building program for Chinese local government officials held in Seoul
• 2017 Training on climate change and air quality co-control for ICLEI members in Asia
• 2019 Capacity building for Chinese cities on climate change policies
• 2019 ACP Cities updated with Seoul’s latest strategy on climate change and air pollution control
• 2022 ICLEI-SHRDC capacity-building program for Chinese local governments (CH)

The Asia LEDS Partnership (ALP) is a voluntary regional network comprised of organizations and individuals from the public, private, and non-governmental sectors active in designing, promoting, and/or implementing Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) in the region.

Under the Partnership, ICLEI supports and promotes regional cooperation and collaboration and facilitates learning across member organizations and Asian countries by:

• assisting Asian countries to advance LEDS, green growth strategy, and achieve NDC targets;
• offering peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and learning through online sessions and in-person regional peer learning and training workshops;
• providing access to resource materials such as issue briefs, case studies, decision tools, and training materials that enable practitioners in the region to champion LEDS; and
• providing technical assistance to address needs and advance LEDS and NDC implementation.

Find out more at asialeds.org

In order to take accurate actions against climate change, it is fundamental to know the exact data. ICLEI USA developed and maintains an online suite of emissions management tools packaged together in an application known as ClearPath. The software is based on the Greenhouse Gas emissions protocols and allows cities to calculate, forecast, plan, and monitor emissions under all community and local government operations protocols.

Find out more at ClearPath