Sustainable and Resilient Cities.

Specialists
Resources

Sharon Van Pelt

Engaging the Private Sector in Green Infrastructure Development and Financing

Projects
News and Blog

Promoting Tourism in Timor-Leste

As Timor-Leste invests in an inclusive and sustainable national tourism strategy, the country is emerging as an “off-the-beaten-path” destination for adventure travelers and eco-tourists.

Steps Toward Better Water Management in the Limpopo Basin

Water is essential to economic development, conservation, and population health, but managing water resources to balance these demands is challenging, particularly when multiple countries regulate, compete for, and depend on the same water supply.

View All Projects

Despite Challenges, Urban Microgrids Increase Resilience

Urban microgrids are high on the global development agenda. They are attractive for many reasons, most recently for their relevance to climate change adaptation and mitigation. They have proven resilient to extreme weather events, and, because they create commercial opportunities for low-carbon generation technology, they can reduce greenhouse gases from the urban sector in the…

3 Questions with Robyn Tompkins on Planning Strategically for WASH in Botswana

Robyn Tompkins is a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) specialist based in Maun, Botswana. She is Botswana’s national Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) consultant and the senior WASH advisor to the USAID Resilient Waters Program. 1. What is the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS)…

Boosting Water Resiliency in the Middle East and North Africa with a Systems Approach

The State of Water in the Middle East and North Africa The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region contains some of the most water-stressed communities in the world. A combination of high population growth and rapid economic development have intensified the stress on water over the last 50 years. According to the United Nations…

Securing our Future: Partnerships for Youth

Getting the global economy on track to reap a demographic dividend, create prosperity, protect the planet, and eliminate extreme poverty will be difficult unless governments, international donors, businesses, and practitioners work together to harness the economic aspirations of youth. A recent study by the International Labour Organization shows that 13.6 percent of youth, or more…

Four Ways to Build Urban Resilience to Water Stress

The United Nations estimates that 68 percent of the world’s population will be concentrated in urban centers by 2050. While water and sanitation access and delivery are generally higher in urban areas, cities still face significant challenges managing, operating, and expanding critical infrastructure, as well as ensuring the financial and environmental sustainability of municipal water…

News: Delving into Social and Behavior Change at the #SBCCSummit

Intractable development challenges demand solutions that shift norms, change behaviors, and amplify the voices of those who have the most at stake. Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) make these solutions possible. At the 2018 International SBCC Summit — Shifting Norms, Changing Behavior, Amplifying Voice: What Works? — global practitioners convene to explore what works…

3 Questions with Christelle Beyers: Bringing Low Emissions and High Rewards to South Africa

SA-LED supports the design and implementation of municipal low-emissions development (LED) projects. What does a successful project life cycle look like and what obstacles do municipalities face during implementation? During the project life cycle, we look at two main dividends: greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and development impact. That’s what separates SA-LED’s work from other approaches…

Refugees Are Straining Urban Infrastructure and Services — Now What?

More people live in cities now than at any point in history. As identified in Sustainable Development Goal 11 and highlighted in the New Urban Agenda formulated out of the Habitat III Conference last year, our challenge is to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Goal 11 and the New Urban…

Developing Countries Can Leapfrog Today’s Urban Infrastructure

At the foundation of every city are the physical systems that deliver water and power, dispose of solid waste and sewage, transport people and commodities, and transmit communications. Delivery of these basic infrastructure services to exponentially growing populations is a massive technological, financial, and governance challenge in cities of the developing world. However, the lack…

One Tool Every City That Is Vulnerable to Climate Change Should Have

Before COP 21 kicked off in Paris, heads of state from 20 countries who make up the Climate Vulnerable Forum adopted the Manila-Paris Declaration, which outlined concerns, priorities and plans for addressing climate change. The declaration enumerated how the threats we see in the news everyday — rising sea levels, cyclones, drought, and others —…

Know Your SDGs: Solutions for an Urban Century

We are officially in the “urban century,” where more people in our world live in cities than in rural areas. Fittingly, for the first time, the United Nations (UN) has proposed an urban-specific Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that focuses on cities and human settlements, Goal 11. The journey to establishing Goal 11 has been long,…

The Road to Resilience: Lessons in Climate Change Adaptation from Two Mozambican Cities

As we approach summer here in the United States, many families have already started planning that dream get-away vacation to the beach. A trip to the beach melts away our worries as quickly as waves crash on the shore. For many people around the world though, these same waves both provide and threaten livelihoods. More…

View All News and Blog