ICLEI South Asia - May 2020

ICLEI South Asia E-News

April-May 2020

Emani Kumar
Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI and Executive Director, ICLEI South Asia

Greetings readers!

ICLEI South Asia is proudly celebrating its 15^th anniversary this year. Launched in 2005, ICLEI South Asia has grown over the years to become a network of more than 100 local and regional governments today. We continue to work together to support cities in South Asia and even beyond on sustainable development.

To mark the International Day for Biological Diversity that is celebrated on 22^nd May every year, we are delighted to announce the launch of a comic book to spread awareness about biodiversity, its importance for our survival and the consequences of ignoring it. The book, which caters to both children and adults, features nature-based solutions that cities can adopt to build green infrastructure. Scroll down for the link to the comic book, and read and share if you like!

At ICLEI South Asia, we are continuing to help cities to meet the challenges they are facing while dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, and also to plan for the future. The article on urban freight describes how the association of the cities of Kochi, Panaji and Shimla with our EcoLogistics project helped them to deal with the massive disruptions in supply-chain networks, following the national lockdown.

We have also been reaching out to families, especially in Udaipur where we are implementing the Urban95 project, to find out how their children are coping with the enforced lockdown.

Under the Urban-LEDS II project, the model cities of Thane and Nagpur in India and Narayanganj and Rajshahi in Bangladesh are initiating technical assessments and pilot projects to advance their priority climate strategies and showcase climate action.

We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kerala Institute of Local Administration to enhance climate resilience under the Climate Development Knowledge Network-Knowledge Accelerator project.

Besides these and other project updates in this edition, there are also blogs on climate resilience and some takeaways from the ongoing pandemic. Do give them a read.

Hope you enjoy this edition.

Multiple Stakeholders Help Cities to Put Supply Chains Back on Track

The national lockdown has impacted transport movement and market operations, delivering a massive shock to supply-chain networks of essential goods. Limited official communication, coupled with confused inter-state coordination and restrictions on vehicular movement led to a large number of freight vehicles getting stranded in several parts of the country. However, several key actors such as local governments, private firms, Indian Railways, kirana stores and the PDS system have played an important role in bringing some amount of order to the chaos.

Comic Book Conveys Significance of Nature-Based-Solutions to Combat Climate Change

Loss of biodiversity, particularly in urban areas, has several cascading and far-reaching consequences. Biodiversity provides ecosystem goods and services and also benefits such as flood control, water security, food security, improved human health, pollination, climate change mitigation, pollution control, livelihood generation and aesthetics. There is growing evidence that links loss of biodiversity and forests to zoonotic diseases through a complex web of interactions. A comic book has been developed to generate awareness about nature-based solutions to address these issues. Developed under the BMU supported INTERACT-Bio project, the comic book is aimed at a wide array of stakeholders, such as students, NGOs, officials and city leaders.

Urban-LEDS II Cities Commence Implementation of Climate-Resilient Actions

Urban-LEDS II cities in Bangladesh and India are moving ahead with their climate action planning, and are leading implementation of actions in the areas of biodiversity and green spaces, waterlogging and flood management, renewable energy and energy efficiency, and clean air.

Panaji’s Illustrated Natural Asset Map Released

ICLEI South Asia has developed Panaji’s illustrated natural asset map as part of the INTERACT-Bio project, which is supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The illustrated map portrays the biodiversity wealth and critical ecosystems of Panaji, and will support the city government in undertaking integrated planning and in raising awareness among citizens about urban biodiversity.

ICLEI South Asia Donates PPE Kits to Siliguri City

In these troubled and uncertain times, ICLEI South Asia is extending assistance to cities in the region in various ways to help tackle the pandemic, including through volunteer services and development of IEC material. Through the SDC supported CapaCITIES project, 100 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits have been donated to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation in the state of West Bengal, India.

Documenting Local Knowledge: Ichalkaranji Gets Its People’s Biodiversity Register

The preparation of the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) for Ichalkaranji in the state of Maharashtra, India, has been completed. The process involved detailed biodiversity surveys, mapping of natural assets on the GIS platform, focus group discussions and key personnel interviews with knowledge holders to document the biodiversity wealth, along with the traditional ecological knowledge. Detailed photographic documentation has also been carried out.

CDKN-KA Fosters Partnerships for Enhanced Climate Resilience in South Asia

ICLEI South Asia is partnering with prominent institutions and experts in South Asia under the Climate Development Knowledge Network-Knowledge Accelerator project, to enhance individual and collective actions that address climate change impacts and build effective adaptive and resilient strategies. The team is partnering with various organisations to develop knowledge products that are country-specific, nationally appropriate and determined, and are consistent and coherent with each country’s development objectives, thereby increasing its credibility and usability.

ICLEI South Asia Signs MoU With Kerala Institute to Enhance Climate Resilience

The global nature of the challenges of tackling climate change and fostering sustainable development agendas calls for all possible cooperation between practitioners and institutions to ensure maximum outreach and accelerated building of adaptive and resilient strategies. With such an understanding, ICLEI South Asia and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding under the Climate Development Knowledge Network-Knowledge Accelerator project.

Children, Caregivers Find Life under Lockdown a Challenging Experience

India continues to be under a national lockdown that was imposed in the third week of March to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. This length of time would be enough to test the patience of most people, but young children, who cannot fathom why they are being asked to stay indoors for weeks on end, are perhaps facing a particularly challenging time.

Using Resilience Concepts in Disaster Response

Bedoshruti Sadhukhan looks at how responses to the coronavirus pandemic in Indian cities are helped or hindered by cities’ underlying resilience – and what we can learn about bracing for future crises.

Five Takeaways from COVID-19 for Addressing the Climate Change Crisis

Keshav Jha of CDKN Asia considers how societies’ responses to the coronavirus crisis can orientate them to more effective climate action in the long run.

Strengthening Local Capacities for Climate-Smart Agriculture – Insights from Nepal

Aastha Bhusal and Laxman Khatri from LI-BIRD, an NGO based in Nepal, share their first-hand insights on how farmers are gaining knowledge of climate-smart practices and boosting their communities’ resilience in the country’s Gandaki province.

Daring Cities 2020

In the light of the ongoing developments around the COVID-19 pandemic, ICLEI and the German City of Bonn are transforming Daring Cities 2020 into a virtual, global forum for urban leaders who are tackling the climate emergency. Daring Cities 2020 will run from the 7^th to the 28^th of October 2020, offering an online array of high-level and visionary speaking sessions, a series of informative workshops and personal networking opportunities.

ICLEI South Asia E-News

April-May 2020

Multiple Stakeholders Help Cities to Put Supply Chains Back on Track

Comic Book Conveys Significance of Nature-Based-Solutions to Combat Climate Change

Urban-LEDS II Cities Commence Implementation of Climate-Resilient Actions

Panaji’s Illustrated Natural Asset Map Released

ICLEI South Asia Donates PPE Kits to Siliguri City

Documenting Local Knowledge: Ichalkaranji Gets Its People’s Biodiversity Register

CDKN-KA Fosters Partnerships for Enhanced Climate Resilience in South Asia

ICLEI South Asia Signs MoU With Kerala Institute to Enhance Climate Resilience

Children, Caregivers Find Life under Lockdown a Challenging Experience

Using Resilience Concepts in Disaster Response

Five Takeaways from COVID-19 for Addressing the Climate Change Crisis

Strengthening Local Capacities for Climate-Smart Agriculture – Insights from Nepal

Daring Cities 2020

ICLEI South Asia Secretariat

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