We are proud to announce the launch of our new handbook series: The Value of Urban Natural Assets When Planning for Resilient African Cities: Considerations and Decision-Making Processes, developed through the Urban Natural Assets for Africa (UNA) programme.

An open letter from our Regional Director, Kobie Brand

READ THIS ARTICLE IN ENGLISH La pandémie COVID-19 met nos communautés, nos gouvernements, nos systèmes de santé et nos économies à rude épreuve. Pendant cette période, beaucoup de nos villes sont confrontées à d’immenses crises sanitaires qui s’ajoutent aux défis cumulatifs et sans précèdent du développement durable. Il sera donc d’autant plus important de renforcer … Continued

When 10 African cities met in Cape Town to learn about climate change adaptation action planning and coastal resilience, they didn’t expect to participate actively, draw on walls and create mazes out of string. But by doing so, they went home with practical tools and a new drive for making their cities climate-ready.

When technical specialists and city officials from Uganda and Malawi’s four biggest cities were granted the space to reflect and truly unpack their cities’ complex challenges, the energy shifted from abstract, non-committal outcomes to real and plausible interventions.

Mayor Mohamed Sefiani of Chefchaouen in Morocco has been elected onto the ICLEI Africa Regional Executive Committee (REXCOM) as our first representative of North Africa. He highlights the importance of multi-level governance and strong city networks in creating thriving, climate resilient African cities.

How bad is climate change really?
How will it impact my city?
How will it impact me?
A recent study reveals those who believe that climate change will impact them and their cities significantly are those willing to take action. Climate change campaigns and activities should ensure that decision-makers perceive climate impacts as psychological close. Crucial new findings show that African leaders perceive climate risk to be of increasing concern to them and their cities and urgently need concrete, actionable solutions.

ICLEI Africa will present on the ‘Situation of waste-water management in Africa with the perspective on governance and stakeholder involvement’ in Dakar, Senegal from 26-30 May 2014. Africa Water Week is convened by the African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW) with the Global Water Partnership (GWP) co-convening, a technical session on waste-water management and water … Continued

Urban metabolism is an intuitive concept aimed at managing resource consumption and making cities more sustainable. The concept is most studied in the Global North, and there is little insight into how we implement urban metabolism principles in the Global South. Urban Intertwininga new ICLEI Africa project, intends to reframe the principles, tools and approaches of urban metabolism to be practical, tangible and applicable to cities on our continent. This will be achieved by embracing the decentralised, informal, fluid and interconnected nature of our resource systems to shape thriving, equitable African cities.

Urgent requests and day-to-day tasks often leave city officials with little time to pause and consider
how they want their cities to look in 10 years’ time and how to get there. When a recent workshop
granted them the space to do so, the plans for long-term transformation were inspired.