Local Leaders Champion Resilience Building – ICLEI South Asia at Resilient Cities 2014

06 June 2014

 

Making cities resilient to disaster and the impacts of climate change has undoubtedly become a responsibility of all local leaders. This became evident during deliberations by over 400 experts, and practitioners who convened for Resilient Cities 2014: The 5th Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation in Bonn Germany.

 

The Congress brought together 90 local government representatives as well as experts from international organizations, national governments, research institutions, business and media. 

 

Local leaders are realizing the need for an integrated approach that works towards building resilience in their cities. As His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales said in his opening message to Resilient Cities 2014, “The need for this integrated approach is now urgent and that is why meetings such as this are vitally important in order to articulate fully the vision and help establish ways to build the evidence base and galvanize the wheels of change. So I can only congratulate ICLEI for their leadership in this area over the past few years.” Read more.

 

As every year, the South Asian region was represented by ICLEI South Asia staff and a number of city representatives: Deputy Mayor of Shimla, Tikender Singh Panwar; Shamim Al Razi, Mayor of Singra, Bangladesh; Md Fayzul Karim Moyun; Mayor of Moulvibazar, Bangladesh; Tejas Shah, Health Officer, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, India; and Ms Seema Redkar, Researcher, Mumbai, India. The South Asian delegation showcased projects and initiatives from the region in several sessions.

 

Tikender Singh Panwar, Deputy Mayor of Shimla and Shamim Al Razi, Mayor of Singra, Bangladesh were interviewed at the event where both talked about the steps they are taking to make their cities more resilient. 

 

Tikender Singh Panwar shed light upon looking at development from a different angle, "Yes it is the responsibility of the city governments to deliver! You need a totally different paradigm shift as far as developmental strategies are concerned and this is also the responsibility of the ones who own the city – the people!"

Find the full interview here.

 

While Shamim Al Razi  spoke about his city Singra, its vulnerabilities as far as climate change risks are concerned and what steps they are and will be taking in the future as well to make Singra and the whole of Bangladesh a Resilient city. 

 

Training, motivation and orientation can make a vast difference”, Mayor Shamim Al Razi.

Click here for the full interview.

 

The final outlook plenary sent people off full of optimism and readiness to apply the extraordinary number of lessons learnt. In the coming two years there is a convergence of decisions in many of the most important workflows of global cooperation.  As ICLEI Deputy Secretary General and ICLEI South Asia Executive Director Emani Kumar made more than clear: “Since a COP-21 agreement in Paris will not come into effect until 2020, the real responsibility of doing the necessary work until then will fall upon cities and local governments.”

 

Find out more about the South Asian delegation at Resilient Cities 2014 by checking the highlights of all the 3 days of the event:

 

Videos, pictures and the session outcomes can be found on http://resilientcitiesblog.iclei.org/  

Local Leaders Champion Resilience Building – ICLEI South Asia at Resilient Cities 2014
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