EcoCity, to be held September 25-29, is a unique blend of UN agencies, TED-like change-makers, city mayors from all continents, Davos cognoscenti, Porto Allegre NGOs, and world-renowned scientists. The summit is hosted by Nantes, European Union's 2013 'green capital'.
Participants will come from all parts of the world to express their views. They include the mayor of Kabul and Rainer Nõlvak, the founder of Clean Up Day, Transition Town's Rob Hopkins, a British environmental activist, will give the conference's opening keynote speech, and Canadian activist Severn Cullus-Suzuki will lend her passion for protecting the earth's environment to the conference.
The involvement of such distinctive voices is a message in itself: solutions to environmental challenges will only come from a massive, global mobilisation of all parties.
Accelerating change in order to meet the challenge of environmental degradation is the motto of this year's summit. Breaking the 400ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere threshold on 10 May 2013 was a stark reminder that decisions taken in 2013 must tackle the roots of problems, not just their symptoms. And actions need to be rapidly ramped up as more than half of the world's population is now urbanised – a development that puts added stress on the Earth's environment.
The context for a sustainable transition to more responsible behaviour towards the environment is demanding, not least because climate disasters are compounding the devastating effects of a lingering economic crisis, a crisis that have been fueled by an intemperate exploitation of resources and a polarisation of wealth.
At the same time, opportunities for action are ripe: a promising round of climate negotiations starts in 2013 with 2015 in sight. There has been progress on converging the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Cities are taking leadership in tackling climate change. And citizens are becoming more engaged, empowered by local actions and digital resources.
EcoCity 2013 will focus on the reasons why known solutions are not implemented, and how they could be implemented faster across five domains of action:
• Reduce the ecological footprint of cities. Cut air, water, and soil pollution. Reduce resource over-consumption and manage urban sprawl.
• Meet the energy challenges. Less carbon, less demand, with an affordable and dependable supply.
• Organise cities in space and time. Improve decision-making and mobility options.
• Strengthen solidarity between "north and south," rich and poor, built-up and arable land.
• Mobilise enabling factors. Harness business models, cultural drivers, political frameworks, psychological traits, and social bonds to turn objectives into results.
In each of these domains, there are four key challenges:
• Think differently
• Shape solutions
• Finance their implementation in times of economic crisis
• Involve citizens, as well as public and private entities in the process.
The summit's interactive programme lays out a roadmap for decision-makers across these five domains and four challenges during 100 sessions over three days (see the programme here).
Four keynote addresses will focus on universal themes and their ramifications across all challenges and domains of action. For example, Phoenix Cities – the fall and rise of great industrial cities – sheds light on the "power of just doing stuff" and facing up to the crisis.
The business of creating sustainable cities emphasises new ways of doing more with less. The role of cities in rescuing the environment is only set to grow after the conclusions from the Rio+20 conference.
EcoCity 2013 has been designed in the spirit fostered by Ecocity Builders. As such, the summit will feature two free events designed to attract citizens from all generations.
First, it will host the 'Banquet for 5,000' in collaboration with Feeding The 5000 and Disco Soup on the opening night, Sept 25th. This free meal will serve food that would otherwise have been wasted to 5,000 local residents. The event seeks to highlight that food waste ranks as the third biggest source (behind the US and China) of greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, the event will host Lego 'Build the Change' workshops that are aimed at giving children a voice in designing the cities of tomorrow. More than 3,000 children will be invited to use two million Lego bricks to build models of environmentally friendly urban spaces. Children will work in teams to build their creations and discuss their aspirations. Their voices will be recorded and used as source material for future city planning.
Connect4Climate has already given Build the Change international reach by launching a call on its website for children from around the world to design models with Lego bricks and post photos of their creations online, some of which will be displayed at Nantes.
This is a powerful tool to liberate the creativity and imagination of children. It is also a practical opportunity to solicit prototype city renovation projects. Follow the creations through Connect4Climate and at the hash tag #BuildTheChange.
EcoCity sheds light on urgent themes, promotes inspiring ideas whose time has come. Join us and register here
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