GIZ Thailand, through the Urban-Act project, in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), funded by Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI), organised the inaugural Urban-Act regional training, which kicked off in Bangkok with the in-person Masterclass Module 1 – Multi-level climate action, vertical and horizontal climate governance and integration, on 12-13 June 2024 at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) Bangkok. ESCAP and the Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne facilitated the training.

The Urban-Act project is a multi-partner project to strengthen collaborative climate action in the Asia-Pacific across five countries: China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. As part of an Urban-Act project output—to increase knowledge of national and city stakeholders on low-carbon and resilient urban development, climate-sensitive planning and inclusive urban climate action—the Urban-Act Regional Training programme delivers knowledge congruent with the project focus on enhancing the capacities of city governments to meaningfully engage in climate change dialogue, action, and implementation.

The training programme aims to increase participants’ understanding and knowledge of building integrated climate action for low-carbon and resilient cities. It also introduces key innovations and emerging topics in this area and seeks to foster partnerships and relationships among the participants including project partners, and relevant organisations and experts.

In 2024, the Urban-Act Regional Training programme features three masterclass-style modules. The next two masterclasses will cover “SDG localisation and climate action synergies” and “Enabling city climate finance and project preparation”. In addition, a synthesis workshop will be held at the World Urban Forum 12 in Cairo, Egypt in November.

The training programme is built on the understanding that the participants, as practitioners embedded within highly diverse and localised urban contexts, and who have in-depth ‘day-to-day’ familiarity with climate impacts, mitigation strategies, and innovative coping and adaptation mechanisms, bring unique experiences to the sessions. Their expertise is invaluable to the success of the Urban-Act project.

“Cities are pivotal for achieving our climate and sustainability targets…this means we need engaged cities for bold climate action, but cities, of course, cannot deliver them. National governments and respective ministries have a difficult responsibility to create a conducive enabling environment that allows cities to successfully address the challenges. Germany recognises the importance of cities and of multi-level partnerships to achieve our global climate and sustainable development targets. Therefore, we are proud to be the initiator and funder of the regional urban active project through the International Climate Initiative (IKI),” said Johannes Kerner, Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Germany in Thailand.

“This is the first time in about 30 years that the ESCAP commission – the Committee on Environment and Development on the theme of sustainable urban development – formed to deliberate and discuss issues related to localisation and local action, has focused its attention on the issue of sustainable urban development. Urban-Act project is informing much of those deliberations both for the committee and for the commission session,” noted Curt Garrigan, Chief, Sustainable Urban Development Section, ESCAP, of the potential impact of Urban-Act project in informing solutions being brought to member States.

“The Melbourne Center for Cities has been collaborating with the ESCAP for a long time, but in particular, since late 2021, we have supported the development of Suva’s Economic and Social Survey, as well as the development of the Future of Asian and Pacific Cities report last year. We look forward to again developing this programme and working in this amazing diverse region. Finally, I thank the German Federal Government’s Urban Climate Initiative for supporting this regional training programme,” said Assoc. Prof. Dr Cathy Oke, Director of Melbourne Centre for Cities, University of Melbourne.

Over 80 participants, trainers, and partners from 5 Urban-Act project countries attended the first in-person training programme. The participants included sub-national and national government representatives.

Representatives from Thailand included those from Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Phuket municipalities, selected as pilot cities, as well as project partners such as the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Interior (OPSI), Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning (DPT), Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), Thai Meteorological Department (TMD), and a representative from the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE), Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University.

Learn more about Urban-Act project at: https://youtu.be/qJX38_ijR-w