On 6 December 2013, the 2nd Committee of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution on human settlement and decided  to designate 31 October as World Cities Day each year and was first celebrated in 2014. The World Cities Day is the first international day emphasizing on urban designated by the UN, it is also an international day firstly launched by the Chinese government. On 31 October 2022, on the occasion of the World Cities Day, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) organized Bridge for Cities special session titled “Unleashing the potential of innovation for a climate-resilient urban future ”to be held virtually. The session will lay the foundation for the Bridge for Cities event in 2023.

Since founding of the World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC) in 2018, it has been positively engaging in UNIDO’s annual “Bridge for Cities” events, sharing views on the subject in “Eco-industrial park design” in sessions. In 2019, during the Bridge for Cities 4.0 - Belt & Road Initiative: Connecting Cities through the New Industrial Revolution, the WEDC hosted an eco-design themed exhibition in Vienna, Austria, which attracted over 1000 visitors by the exhibits. This year, the WEDC participated in the Bridge for Cities Special Session as an NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) for the first time.

Bridge for Cities Special Session focused on three topics: “Cities at the forefront of tackling climate change”, “Compounding crises, cascading risks and urban development ”, and “Building resilience through urban innovation: Examples of concrete actions and partnerships”. It will offer a platform through which cities along the Belt and Road and beyond can share their development plans and innovative solutions for climate action and to address the energy crisis.

Pollution, climate change, habitat destruction and over-exploitation of natural resources such as fresh water and fisheries, are compounding crises, presenting cascading risks on human health, wellbeing and livelihoods. The risks of climate change are already affecting people and ecosystems. Cities, and notably those in developing countries, are often bearing the brunt of climate change. Natural hazards, changing rainfall patterns, energy shortfalls more and more regularly disrupt urban life. Weaker strata of the population disproportionately suffer from climate-induced stressors. Therefore,there is an urgent need for concerted global action to build sustainable cities.

For a long time, under the support of UNIDO, the WEDC has been endeavour to carry out exchange and cooperation with decision makers from governments, industries, universities, institutions, and finance etc., give full play to the initiative, enthusiasms, and creativity of international design organizations and enterprises, integrate the superior industrial resources of the globe, promote industrial development for inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability, unceasingly raise the international visibilities of the WEDC and the Eco-Design Town, which have become remarkable name cards of urban ecological civilization construction achievements to the world.

Besides, both WEDC and UNIDO are committed to cultivate leading talents with specialty and global vision, provide wisdom source and talent support for the world. The UNIDO Eco-Design Leading Talent Training Program (EDLTTP) has been successfully held for twice, nearly 100 representatives from over 40 countries in regions of Asia-Pacific and Africa met together to have joint discussions about the cutting-edge technologies and experience in fields of design, smart city, digital economy and innovation system.
 

WEDC looks forward to the substantial output with UNIDO in future, and keep working together to facilitate to achieve goals of education, industry and technology transfer etc., to contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/6F8RX2UURcHvinYWp5nJog