Down to Earth – Interregional cooperation for sustainable, resilient and attractive rural areas

ISOCARP INSTITUTE partners in Interreg
Europe project DOWN TO EARTH

We are excited to announce the launch of our new project “DOWN TO EARTH” funded by the Interreg Europe programme. This project aims to lead to a better use of available tools and resources, including Cohesion Policy funds, in the participating regions, ultimately seeking to promote sustainable development and increase the disaster risk resilience of rural communities across Europe.

DOWN-TO-EARTH gathers a group of organisations working on different aspects related to disaster risk reduction and rural development from regions across Europe, who firmly believe that retaining population and encouraging sustainable practices in key sectors is crucial to curb environmental deterioration, and can greatly contribute to risk prevention.

The partnership is composed of 8 partners, and two associated policy authorities, led by Axencia Galega de Desenvolvemento Rural, and will work together to identify and promote win-win solutions to manage, maintain and enhance natural capital to reduce the risk and impact of environmental disasters, while generating economic and social opportunities to attract population to rural areas.

Thanks to mutual learning through interregional exchange of experiences, the capacities of the regional and local authorities as well as relevant stakeholders from the participating rural areas to deal with the identified challenges will be increased.

Or download the document here.

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Sustainable Urban Planning And Development Masterclass

Sustainable Urban Planning And Development Masterclasses

The ISOCARP Institute and Think City Institute have partnered to develop a series of three online masterclasses on Sustainable Urban Planning And Development.

This first course will take place over the first three week of May 2023, with one module per week and the final case study workshop in the third week. Through a number of activities, attendees are guided through the modules and equipped with knowledge and strategies that they can apply, to work towards fairer and more sustainable cities. The activities in the course are divided between individual and group work.

The first course, Governace, will touch on topics of policy scale, governing cities in inclusive manners, and involving urban populations in decision-making.

APPLY NOW by filling out the application form
*early bird USD399 if registration is before 15 April

📨 For any further inquiries, please contact amin@isocarp-institute.org or duncan.cave@thinkcity.com.my

And for more details about topics, course structures, and timeline, check our the website.

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CONEXUS launches survey for Urban Planning Professionals

CONEXUS launches survey for Urban Planning Professionals

Attention urban planning professionals!

We would like to invite you to participate in a survey on nature-based solutions (NBS)* in urban areas. This survey was developed by researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the Technical University of Munich in Germany, in collaboration with partner institutions in the CONEXUS research project.

Whereas most cities have at least some metrics and indicators in place to assess the outcomes of NBS, we know relatively little about the processes of governance, planning, and managing urban NBS. Such procedural aspects are seen as major factors for successful implementation of NBS. This survey was developed to address this knowledge gap.

The survey allows participants to reflect on possible bottlenecks and challenges preventing the uptake of NBS in their city. The goal of this survey is to better understand and potentially improve decision-making processes on urban NBS, not to compare or rank the performance of cities. The results will be used by researchers and practitioners participating in the CONEXUS project to build a better picture of these possible bottlenecks across Europe and Latin America.

We will ask you about your perception of 12 different dimensions of urban NBS governance in your city, which will together be building a comprehensive picture of opportunities and challenges. For each dimension, a scoring rubric is provided within the survey to give additional guidance.

The survey is available in the four main languages of the CONEXUS project:

👉English , 👉 Spanish , 👉 Portuguese (Brazil) , 👉 Italian.

Additional information related to the CONEXUS? research project and your rights as a participant in this survey is provided in the section “consent form” in the online survey. Please complete the consent form before starting the survey.

You are welcome to forward this survey to other local experts in public institutions, academia, private sector (built environment & other) and civil society in your city.

Thank you very much for participating in this survey!

*Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a relatively new concept referring to interventions based on nature that improve urban sustainability. If the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) is not yet commonly used in your city, please consider other types of multifunctional urban nature, such as green infrastructure, community gardens or wetlands, when completing the survey.