Communities have a crucial role in creating socially just and climate-resilient cities. Under the title “Urban Communities in the Face of the Climate Crisis”, IDOS and Misereor brought insights from research, governmental and non-governmental organisations together.
Susan Ekoh (IDOS), Samuel Olando (Pomoja Trust), Anika Schroeder (Misereor), Ruben Werchan (BMZ) (from left to right) at the Panel “Leave no one behind: strengthening resilience with urban communities”, ©IDOS
This year offers a momentum to advance the global ambition on cities and climate resilience with the forthcoming World Urban Forum (November 2024, Egypt), the Bonn Climate Change Conference (June 2024, Germany) and COP29 (November 2024, Azerbaijan) where issues of justice, inclusiveness and finance will be high on the agenda.
The conference “Urban Communities in the Face of the Climate Crisis”, co-hosted on 14 May by IDOS and Misereor, the German Catholic Bishops’ Organisation for Development Cooperation, brought insights from research, governmental and non-governmental organisations on emerging policy issues for implementing the UN urban and climate agendas with a particular focus on empowering urban communities towards building a resilient future. The event was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the project “Climate-Resilient and Nature-Compatible Sustainable Development through Socially Just Transformation” (Klimalog III).
The event, moderated by Dr Nicholas Goedeking, Researcher (IDOS), started with a welcome address by the Director of IDOS, Prof. Anna-Katharina Hornidge and concluded with a closing note by Kathrin Schroeder, Head of Policy, Misereor. A series of panel discussions, key notes and interactive sessions highlighted climate risks and multi-dimensional vulnerabilities in cities with a focus on informal settlements and marginalised communities, the crucial role of communities in creating socially just and climate-resilient cities, and challenges as well as opportunities for strengthening loss and damage finance and governance mechanisms for city climate action.
The event offered unique networking opportunity on topics researched at IDOS, including sustainable urban development, social cohesion and human mobility, as well as climate change.
