Sustainable building approaches are not only more environmentally friendly than conventional building methods – but they may also teach people how to avoid waste. Peter McIntosh, the founder of the Natural Building Collective, highlights the advantages through the example of Ulwazi Educare in Cape Town.
The world today needs solutions, to eradicate poverty in a holistic and sustainable manner. They lie in better technology, affordable finance, and induced market linkages. All these are factors that can be incentivised through city governments, argue Huda Jaffer and Nirmita Chandrashekar, emphasising that the poor should be part of the solution and not the problem.
Providing all citizens with access to sanitation is a challenge in many urban centres. Ashlie Bermudez presents how non-profit social enterprise SOIL is meeting this challenge with innovative, sustainable sanitation technology in Haiti.
An intelligent solar-powered device that lights up our streets, educates residents about recycling and gives you free Wi-Fi? What sounds like a far-fetched dream is now a reality! Meet the T-Bin for circular waste management. By Founder Eddy Gitonga
Accompanying the launch of the GIZ Cities CHALLENGE interactive ePaper, Andrea Renger, David Stoffel, and Anastasiya Shadkhina present key facts from the ideas competition and emphases cities' critical role in advancing global agendas.
Climate-resilient and energy-efficient cities need to think about water reuse. Especially in South Asian countries like Pakistan, where the potential of wastewater-to-energy systems is incredibly high. By Masooma Batool
How are rapid urbanisation, urban poverty, and slums' emergence interconnected in Nigeria? And what areas of urban governance should local governments focus on if they are to successfully tackle urban poverty? Bassey Bassey shares some reflections.
The future of our cities is circular, argues Maíra Valladares from 3R - Reduzir, Reusar e Reciclar, a recycling company aiming to circularise Mozambican cities' waste management.
Zero carbon buildings and construction are essential to meet the Paris Agreement goals, improve climate resilience and create jobs as part of COVID-19 recovery. However, the buildings and construction sector is not living up to its potential. What can be done? By Martina Otto
The world’s cities have a critical role to play in supporting global sustainability efforts and tackling climate change. Effective waste management lies at the very core of these ambitions, says Donovan Storey from the Global Green Growth Institute.
The waste produced by cities does not need to be dumped – but instead can become the starting point of a new production cycle, argues Nick Jeffries from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
If urbanisation drives climate change, then mitigating the dangerous effects of global warming must address how we plan, build, and live in cities. Implementing bold national plans requires active cross-sector coordination and collaboration between the local, regional, and national governments.
The traditional relief-rehabilitation-development paradigm does not hold true in urban conflict zones. A combined approach of long-term support for systems reinforcing short-term support for individuals would meet people’s needs, secure development gains, and represent value for money. The cost of failing to adapt is simply too high, argues Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
With thousands of tons of food going to waste every year, Serbia is coming up with solutions to prevent the production of surplus food – and support vulnerable groups with the surplus that is generated anyway.
How can Vietnamese cities avoid the environmental pitfalls of rapid urbanisation? Adam Ward proposes solution-driven policies for key areas.
