The Ninth Regional Workshop on Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: The Urban Nexus marked the end of a 6-year success story of integrated resource management in 12 cities in South and South East Asia. The Urban Nexus project was implemented by GIZ in partnership with UNESCAP and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The workshop, held on 22-23 May 2019, was attended by more than 100 participants from project countries including India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Also in attendance were non-project country participants from the Nexus Regional Dialogue in the MENA region and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC).

In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Alexander Raubold, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, said: “A lot has been achieved in the six years of intensive collaboration between the 12 Nexus partner cities and the 7 Nexus partner countries. More than 55 cross-sectoral Nexus infrastructure investment projects amounting to more than USD 600 million have been elaborated and presented to respective financing organisations such as national governments and donors. Smaller investment projects below USD 1 million have been taken up by the Municipalities and financed within their own budgets.”

The two-day workshop featured multi stakeholder dialogue on successful implementation by cities advancing innovative, integrated resource management solutions through the application of the Nexus approach. This aims to integrate the planning and management processes of the energy, water and food/land sectors, minimising trade-offs and optimising synergies.

Best practices between cities, regional/provincial and national governments, meso-level organisations, the private sector, international financing organisations, and academia were shared. Linking the activities with the Global Agendas such as the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement was also underlined.

Saving the future through the youth was the leading slogan throughout the workshop.

In this context, “Cultivating Lifelong Learning” was the highlight involving educators, students from the secondary and tertiary levels as well as activists. Inspired by the “Fridays for Future” school youth movement in Europe and other parts of the world, the message across generations was very clear: The next and young generation has taken up the fight against Global Warming and for sustainable development. All hopes now lie with the pupils to continue pushing their message and continuously remind their parents of their responsibilities for the future. They need the support of academia to go further in their efforts to find solutions, wake up the politicians, change consciousness and provoke action against climate change, and transform our societies at a different pace than has been the case up to now. The kids are the game changers.

The publication “The Urban Nexus- Integrating Resources for Sustainable Cities” was disseminated. It brings together practical and technical expertise gained over six years by practitioners and stakeholders working to advance the Urban Nexus approach. It provides information for cities that are interested in advancing the Urban Nexus approach to get started. It can be accessed at:

https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/UrbanNexusPublication_Web.pdf

With the Urban Nexus project is coming to an end, Emani Kumar, Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) and Executive Director of ICLEI South Asia pushed away the worries, stating: “this is not the end but the beginning of Nexus. It is just about to unfold.”