Our Activities
Cities are complex systems. The components of urban systems, from food distribution networks and energy grids to transport and greenways, are interconnected and dynamic. Intervening to create change in any one of these components may impact others, creating systemic change. Designing solutions that take these interconnections into account is critical to sustainable development.
The five ICLEI pathways towards low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development are designed to create systemic change. When these pathways guide local and regional development, urban systems becomes more sustainable. The pathways provide provide a framework for designing integrated solutions that balance the patterns of human life and the built and natural environments. They encourage holistic thinking. For instance, working together, the local and regional governments and global experts of ICLEI consider how nature-based development contributes to resilience, or how to bring equity into low emission development.
We design our work to integrate as many pathways as possible. Each individual pathway is multidimensional, incorporating numerous strategies for sustainable development. When more pathways are integrated into any given activity, such as a project, partnership or initiative, a greater degree of change can occur. Often, our activities are guided by a predominant pathway or set of pathways. In any given city or region, multiple activities may be implemented along each pathway.
This searchable digital collection of our activities worldwide includes technical resources, including digital platforms, methodologies and tools, as well as networks, projects, programs, partnerships, events and initiatives that guide action along the pathways, spark new partnerships and create city-to-city and city-to-region connections.
Each entry in this digital collection is marked with predominant pathways, keywords and related Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2019 European Mobility Week (EMW) project guides and aggregates volunteer local action for EcoMobility. This campaign in Korea accelerates sustainable mobiliy actions at the local level by voluntarily setting cities’ plan of weekly activities and permanent policy change. ICLEI’s one week campaign helps local governments to raise citizens’ awareness about sustainable mobility and its […]
Since 2008, ICLEI’s Cities Biodiversity Center (CBC) has convened successive summits as official parallel events to the Conference on Biological Diversity COP, to enable local and subnational governments engagement. These Summits have resulted in strong political outcomes, including the Quintana Roo (2016) and Sharm El-Sheikh (2018) Communiques, Nagoya Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities […]
ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center (ICLEI CBC)
In nearly three decades of work, ICLEI has developed, tested and scaled up methodologies to guide the way towards sustainable urban development at the local level. This rich experience accumulated allows us to apply a common framework for our global projects and initiatives, which currently follows the stages: analysis, action and acceleration, and in each […]
Cities + Sustainable – ICLEI South America Solutions Portfolio 2019
ICLEI supports the leading national sustainable cities initiative in Japan. The initiative started as Environmental Model City Initiative in 2008, evolved into FutureCIty Initiative in 2011, and matured as SDGs FutureCity Initiative in 2018. ICLEI and member cities have been actively involved in the Initiative from the beginning; and recently contributed to The 7th International […]
SDGs FutureCity Initiative
ICLEI enables mobility planning authorities across Europe to embrace sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMP) as the European-wide strategic planning approach, especially in countries where the take-up is low and the negative effects of transport are severe. The project also improves urban transport efficiency while effectively mitigating the negative effects of transport and enhancing the attractiveness […]
The African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum (ACCSF) draws together mayors and technical officers from the continent’s most prominent cities to provide a guiding light for how African cities must think about the future and lead sustainability efforts. It facilitates the exchange of knowledge and learning and provides a platform for exploring how to develop truly […]
ACCSF (African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum)
ICLEI East Asia supported the Seoul Metropolitan Government in organizing the 9th Northeast Asia Forum on Air Quality Improvement as a co-organizer. The Forum was attended by officials of 35 local governments, including all EACAC cities except for Guiyang. On this occasion, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shenzhen introduced their policies on vehicle emissions reduction; Sichuan presented […]
In the last 30 years, climate change, coupled with unplanned, rapid urbanization, generated significant development challenges worldwide. ICLEI has implemented City Learning Labs FRACTAL to periodically gather a broad range of knowledge-holders and decision-makers in targeted cities to work together on developing a deep, shared understanding of critical burning issues linked to climate that cities […]
City Resilience Development and Resilience-Building Toolbox
This project will support regional governments with existing GHG reduction targets to achieve their targets, and for the ones without targets, the project will help governments to set and achieve them through the improved capacity to track GHG emission levels in detail – as well as the impacts of mitigation actions. ICLEI is supporting in […]
The Climate Footprint Project
We engage in the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) to advance sustainable urban mobility in developing countries and emerging economies with a special focus on cities in Africa by city-to-city exchange, business to government dialogues, webinar and workshops.
TUMI Network of High Ambition Leaders