UNECE Green Economy Seminar “Building the cities we want”: debating issues of sustainable development of European cities

The Rio+20 UN Sustainable Development Conference outlined the importance of a holistic approach to urban development and human settlements and an integrated approach to planning and building sustainable cities and urban settlements.  

This week, UNECE’s fourth Green Economy seminar will present trends and challenges in European cities related to energy, transport and ageing populations. It will provide a platform for a shared discussion on how to respond to related challenges and secure sustainable urban development in the wider European region.

The seminar includes two thematic panels:  “Energy, transport and technologies in cities” and “Ageing and accessibility in cities”. Each panel includes a keynote presentation of case studies, followed by comments from experts and an overview of related UNECE activities.

During a final session conclusions and recommendations from the thematic panel discussions will be drawn up in order to identify potential joint activities for intersectoral cooperation within UNECE on sustainable urban development.

Speakers include experts from governments, academia and the private sector as well as staff members of UNECE and its UN partner organizations.

The seminar is part of the UNECE Sustainable Energy Week and back to back with meetings of the UNECE Sustainable Energy Committee.

UNECE works to develop sustainable economies and to promote economic stability and growth in ways that do not compromise the welfare of future generations.

As part of these efforts, UNECE is organizing a series of Green Economy seminars to discuss how to develop the region to achieve economic, social and environmen­tal goals. They allow for idea sharing between diverse groups of experts, government officials, and UN agencies. Three such seminars have been organized so far.