Alfsen et al.: The URBIS Partnership Proposal for Global Designation The URBIS Partnership Proposal for Global Designation Main Concepts: VISION Christine Alfsen UNESCO, New York Office Laura Dickinson UNESCO, New York Office Keith G Tidball Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University Urban regions as sustainable social, cultural, and ecological systems contributing to equitable access to ecosystem services production, distribution, and consumption Recognize and promote comprehensive sustainability efforts Increase the resilience of urban social, cultural, and ecological systems Improve equitable terms of access to and management of resources Promote adaptive governance APPROACH: To collaborate on a designation that urban regions can achieve through: Platforms for local and international connections, education, and communication A framework for designation to recognize urban regions who meet international standards Knowledge sharing of best practices and scenario building riculture.co www.cubaag Million TreesNYC, Green Infrastructure and Urban Ecology: A Research Symposium March 5-6, 2010 MISSION The URBIS Partnership Proposal The URBIS Partnership is proposing a designation process to recognize urban regions’ efforts to engage in participatory, inclusive, and comprehensive approaches in urban planning for sustainability Through this process, sustainable management practices would be developed and then cataloged for sharing and dissemination as part of a site-based global knowledge network The URBIS Partnership is inviting expertise in fields including urban ecology, environmental education, policy, and urban planning to develop this process Currently, urban regions involved include Stockholm, Montreal, Shanghai, Cape Town, Chicago, Istanbul, New Orleans, and New York This effort will culminate in the establishment of the URBIS Partnership with the CBD Global Partnership of Cities and Biodiversity and other collaborators at the City Biodiversity Summit at Nagoya, Japan, the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Shanghai Shanghai 10/2010 10/2010 Nagoya Nagoya 05/2010 05/2010 World Expo CBD in cities Rio Rio 03/2010 UN Habitat World 03/2010 Forum New York York New 03/2010 03/2010 Million Trees Paris Paris 01/2010 01/2010 Curitiba Curitiba 01/2010 01/2010 www.cityfarmer.info COP 1010- Nagoya Nagoya COP City Biodiversity Biodiversity Summit Summit City 10/2010 10/2010 Urban Forest ry, www.U rbanEE org Year of Biodiversity Cities and CBD URBIS Partnership Partnership URBIS Designation Designation Copenhagen Copenhagen 12/2009 Climate Change 12/2009 Cape Town Town DIVERSITAS Cape 10/2009 10/2009 Cape Cape Town Town The URBIS URBIS Chicago The Chicago Network Network New York New York 2009 2009 Stockholm Stockholm New Montreal Montreal Shanghai Shanghai New Orleans Orleans The Urban Urban The Biosphere Biosphere Network Network 2008 2008 Stockholm Stockholm Resilience Center Center Resilience Urban Network Network Urban (2007) (2007) MAB MAB 1970 1970 Conduct Inventory of activities, plans and concerns SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Upon competition, City becomes an URBIS Partnership Participating City VALUE PROPOSITION: Benefits of investing include: Global recognition and international visibility for sustainable urban planning Increased quality of life for residents and improved performance on environmental indicators Enhanced global competitiveness and leadership in the green economy Tools for multi-scale planning and adaptation to environmental changes TIER Set Overall Vision and Goals Assess and Prioritize areas of concern related to social- ecological urban practices TIER Develop Comprehensive Plans according to Tiers and Identify financial, educational, technical requirements and partners TIER Christine Alfsen : c.alfsen@unesco.org Laura Dickinson: l.dickinson@unesco.org City Implement Plans using financial, educational and technological assistance and resources available CBD Convention of the Parties (COP 10) City Biodiversity Summit in Nagoya (Oct 2010) and Beyond: Identify stakeholders and determine value added by proposed designation Propose and discuss designation process Establish the science to policy partnership Develop the roadmap forward Current Partners Also Include: References TIER For more information, please contact: New Yo rk Urban Biosphere Biosphere Urban and Society Society UNESCO UNESCO and Conference 2003 2003 Conference Proposed Designation Approach TIER Informed by local and global challenges Driven by internationally agreed development goals Adapts the ecosystem approach to urban landscapes Uses a collaborative management, multi-scale, and multi-disciplinary approach Builds on innovative local technical and scientific expertise Locally led and implemented Driven by science, both peer-reviewed and community-based Provides tools for building resilience and adapting to global environmental change Evaluate Progress and Determine Next Steps Upon review, city becomes an URBIS Partnership City of Distinction Continues monitoring and self assessment Urban Biosphere and Society Partnership of Cities, editors: Christine Alfsen, Benjamin Lane, Melody Corry Available at: http://www.nyas.org/Publications/Annals/Detail.aspx?cid=98a460be-79fc-4310-95bd-55b83691b101 UN University Institute of Advanced Studies, “Defining an Ecosystem Approach to Urban Management and Policy Development” available at: http://www.ias.unu.edu/binaries/UNUIAS_UrbanReport1.pdf Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Article 2, available at: http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles.shtml?a=cbd-02 “Solving the Puzzle: the Ecosystem Approach and Biosphere Reserves” adopted by the Conference of the Parties of the CBD, available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001197/119790eb.pdf The Introductory Notes from the Norway/UN Conference on the Ecosystem Approach for Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity Man and the Biosphere (MAB) and Seville Strategy, available at: http://sovereignty.net/p/land/mab-sev.htm Elmqvist T., C Alfsen, J Colding J (2008) Urban Systems pp 3665-3672 in Jørgensen, S.E and Fath,, (ed) Encyclopedia of Ecology 5ElsevierOxford Copyright 2010 by the authors All rights reserved This work is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution License Cities and the Environment is produced by the Urban Ecology Program, Department of Biology, Seaver College, Loyola Marymount University in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service Published by The Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress) http://catejournal.org Alfsen, C., L.C Dickinson, and K.G Tidball 2010 The URBIS partnership proposal for global designation Cities and the Environment 3(1):poster 14 http://escholarship.bc.edu/cate/vol3/iss1/14 Published by Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School, 2010