The UK Built Environment Advisory Group (UKBEAG)[1], working in close collaboration with UN Habitat, has been commissioned to develop and deliver a strategic capacity development component as part of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP). The aim of the strategic capacity development component is to complement the other elements of the Global Future Cities Programme, to consider some of the wider challenges faced by the cities and to help ensure the programme’s long-term impact.
During the Strategic Phase of the programme, working with City Officials, UN Habitat and others, the UKBEAG identified five principal thematic areas which appear to be relevant to each of the Cities forming part of the programme, to a greater or lesser extent, and these have since been validated during the implementation phase. The five principal thematic areas are:
The UKBEAG’’s work to date suggests that all the Cities forming part of the programme are facing challenges in one or more of these areas and the strategic capacity development component is being developed to engage with these themes.
While the UKBEG’s original proposal involved a mixture of online learning and face to face engagement, the pandemic has meant that most of our interaction is now likely to be online and we currently envisage this will comprise the following three elements:
The Strategic Capacity Development component forms one of several capacity building elements within the overall programme. The other elements include capacity development, which is being undertaken by the Delivery Partners, focused on the individual projects, and the SDG Assessment Tool being administered by UN Habitat, which seeks to maximise alignment with the targets contained within the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. UN Habitat has also created an online Knowledge Platform as a repository for information related to the programme and a community forum, see https://www.globalfuturecities.org/. The Strategic Capacity Development Component will align with and complement these activities.
The Thematic Programme will launch on 21 January 2021 and will comprise a series of seven interactive sessions:
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 1hr 15 mins)
The introductory session will consider the recovery from Covid-19 in the context of building back better and will demonstrate the continuing importance of the SDGs as a framework for delivering sustainable urbanisation. It will feature introductory remarks from the UKBEAG, the FCDO and UN Habitat together with contributions from Sir Paul Collier CBE, Director of the International Growth Centre, and Mayor Marvin Rees from Bristol City Council.
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 2hrs)
Drawing on examples from the Bristol One City Plan, this session will consider the importance of integrated and inclusive planning as a prerequisite for achieving lasting social, economic, and environmental improvement while simultaneously addressing the needs of the marginalised and the vulnerable. The session will be facilitated by the Design Council, University College London Development Planning Unit and Bristol City Council
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 2hrs)
Drawing on extensive policy research together with the international standard for sustainable cities and communities (ISO37106), this session will consider the importance of achieving alignment between sectoral priorities and policies together with effective collaboration between different tiers of government, ministries, and departments. The session will be facilitated by the International Growth Centre and the British Standards Institution together with practical experience from Bristol City Council.
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 2hrs)
Building on the international standard for sustainable cities and communities (ISO37106), this session will consider the importance of evidence-based design and data as a pre-requisite for developing and delivering citizen centric applications that will achieve meaningful cost benefit and service level improvement. The session will be facilitated jointly by the British Standards Institution and Smart London,
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 2hrs)
This session will consider various methods for securing project finance, ranging from municipal bonds to own sourced revenue, together with the way in which to present bankable projects for funding. It will include an overview of HM Treasury Five Case Model and will be delivered by the International Growth Centre and HM Treasury Infrastructure & Projects Authority together with input from the International Finance Corporation.
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 2hrs)
In this penultimate session, the British Standards Institution will be joined by HM Treasury Infrastructure & Projects Authority to discuss the importance of regulations and standards together with robust assurance and approvals processes for achieving effective project delivery.
(commencing at 11:00am UTC, duration 1hr 15 mins)
The concluding session in the series will include reflections on the series from UKBEAG, the FCDO and UN Habitat together with input from the Delivery Partners and will consider next steps in the programme.
The Thematic Programme will be delivered in English and will be translated post-production into Portuguese, Bahasa, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. All sessions will be interactive with time allocated for discussion and Q&A.
[1] The UK Built Environment Advisory Group is a collaboration between the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Institution of Structural Engineers and the landscape Institute, the purpose of which is to provide a more effective conduit for the transfer of built environment expertise to foreign governments together with humanitarian and development agencies.