Wednesday, 17 June - Accelerate Now! Moving Forward Together

9:00

Global Scenarios: Challenges Ahead for Cities
Plenary

Continuing Tuesday’s look at the urban revolution, international experts provided key insights into the global challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for local governments. How are these changing the parameters for urban policy-making, planning and management? Which long-term urbanization scenarios are relevant to decision making today and what are the opportunities to address the challenges?
The presentations provided input to the focus group discussions in the afternoon and a background for shaping ICLEI’s longer-term strategy.

Facilitator:

Jeb Brugmann, Urban Strategy Expert, Founder of ICLEI and Member of the ICLEI Advisory Council

Speakers:

Global Scenario 3: Demography and Health
Nigel Jollands, Head Energy Efficiency Unit, International Energy Agency, France [presentation]
Global Scenario 4: Biodiversity
Adam Fenech, Climatologist, Associate Director, Adaptation & Impacts Research, Environment Canada [presentation]
Global Scenario 5: Climate Change
David Pearson, Chair of the Ontario Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation [presentation]
Global Scenario Overlay: Peak Everything – Let’s Face it All
What future local communities may be facing and proposal for an approach to global-local sustainability
Mathis Wackernagel, Global Footprint Network, Oakland, USA [presentation]

11:00

Coffee Break & Coffee

11:15

Local Impacts – The Need for Faster and Pervasive Action
Roundtables

Roundtables of focus groups, convened by responsibility, theme or type of city to translate global challenges to parameters for local action:

How can we translate these global challenges to parameters for local action? Participants chose one of several roundtables, all convening in the same room, according to responsibility a theme or type of city. The discussions in each roundtable were facilitated by a table host, and a rapporteur/researcher who ensured that important outcomes are captured and fed back into the Congress.
Each of the parallel focus groups discussed the following questions from a specific direction.
- How will global developments impact our local community?
- How do we arrive at a localization of global scenarios?
- Have our planning processes been far-reaching enough?
- Are our current frameworks for strategic planning and management up to the challenge?

Mayor and CEO Roundtables (E1-E4):

E1	E2	E3	E4
Managing our Footprint – Our Responsibility as Local Leaders	Do we Know Enough to Act? Localizing Global Scenarios	The Value of Ecosystems – Does it Count in Local Elections?	Large Cities and Metropolitan Areas – is Radical and Fast Action Possible?

Focus Groups: Local government policy makers and planners met with experts from the business, academic and NGO sectors to ‘digest’ the scenarios and look at their implications for cities and communities, each group focusing on a particular aspect.

E5	E6	E7	E8	E9
Long-term Planning –How to Manage Uncertainties?	Adjusting Urban Footprints at a Sustainable Level – Is there a Realistic Chance in Developing Countries?	Adjusting Urban Footprints at a Sustainable Level – Is there a Realistic Chance in Developed Countries?	Management for Eco- efficiency and Resilience – Are we prepared?	Adaptation to Climate Change – Are we Adusting to Plan for the Long-term?

E10	E11	E12	E13	E14
Fast-growing Cities – Opportunities Through Rapid Development?	Small and Medium-sized Towns – Opportunities for Leadership on Fast and Radical Action?	Vulnerable Cities – Opportunities for Eco- efficiency and Resilience?	“Advanced Cities” – Have they Managed to Reduce their Footprints?	E14 How to Involve the Public When Addressing the Challenges?

	E21	E22	E23
	How Advanced Cities in Korea Meet the Challenges In Korean	How Advanced Cities Meet the Challenges In Spanish/ Portuguese	How Advanced Cities Meet the Challenges In French

13:00

Lunch

14:30

Urban Solutions for Tomorrow
Opportunities for the Fundamental Transformation of Communities & Cities Plenary

- Advanced approaches and visionary solutions to urban challenges

Demonstrating that faster and fundamental change in Governance and Management, Construction, Mobility, Energy and Material and Waste Flow, among others, are vital for eco-efficient, resilient and just communities.

Chair:

Richard Littlemore, Writer and Senior Strategist, Hoggan and Associates, Vancouver, Canada

Speakers:

Designing our Future Cities Now
Peter Newman, Director, Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, AustraliaDesigning our future cities now [presentation]

Urban Self Sufficiency with Sustainable Energy and Clean Mobility
Gustav Grob, President, International Clean Energy Consortium (ICEC) [presentation]

16:15

Solutions for Advancing
Parallel Theme Sessions

Translating the global challenges into local opportunities by delving into advanced solutions, and how ICLEI and its approaches can provide guidance. In parallel sessions, participants - municipal officials along with partners from international agencies, private business and NGOs - learned about examples where visionary concepts and approaches have been put into practice. Several advanced city examples were put forth. Existing criteria for sustainable solutions, including index and benchmarking systems that provide frameworks for implementation, were also discussed.

Focus groups included discussions on the following themes (preliminary):

F1	F2	F3	F4
Governance and Planning Solutions for an Integrated Eco-city Approach	Building and Construction	Mobility	Energy

Hereunder proposed examples from members:

Viable Local Economies

Fostering Corporate Social responsibility and Green jobs

Low Carbon Societies in
Asia

18:30

Shuttles departed for Fort Edmonton

19:00

Fort Edmonton

In the evening, dinner and entertainment took place at Fort Edmonton Park: where participants took a memorable stroll back in time, with all the conveniences of the present! Fort Edmonton Park is North America's largest interactive historic open-air park and is nestled in our scenic river valley. The evening included exploring the Fort's fur trading post, climbing aboard the stream train, street car or horse-drawn wagon, line-dancing or enjoying an authentic Alberta barbecue!

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photo credit: albertaclipper