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Agenda Item #1

IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 11: ELABORATING ON URBAN-

PLANNING DESIGN VALUES TO SUPPORT ITS TECHNOLOGY-BASED EXECUTION IN ASPIRING
SMART CITIES

Agenda Item #2

NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO UNFOLD CLIMATE CRISIS: ENCOURAGE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN NATURE AND GOVERNMENTS/SMALL COMMUNITIES

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BRIEF COMMITTEE HISTORY

The United Nations is the most valuable and known international organization. It was founded in 1945
and is headquartered in New York. Nowadays, the UN’s Membership includes 193 Member States and
they’re all members of the General Assembly. The UN’s works are guided by the principles contained
in the founding Charter and the organization is engaged to keep the peace and stability in a constantly
changing world.

The UN Systems includes many programs, specialized agencies and committees each of which have
their own area of work, but they all cooperate to achieve their goals. Between these there is UNEP,
the United Nations Environmental Programme.

UNEP was established in 1972 and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Since its foundation this
organization has the role to set an environmental agenda; it coordinates all the UN’s environmental
activities to identify global environmental problems and to develop international programs that have
the main goals to promote the implementation of sustainable development and policies. In addition,
the organization encourages the private sector to participate in the promotion of a sustainable use of
the world’s natural resources.

Its work is focused on several topic:

❖ Climate change
❖ Disasters and conflicts
❖ Ecosystem management
❖ Environmental governance
❖ Chemicals and waste
❖ Resource efficiency
❖ Environment under review

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TOPIC #1: IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 11: ELABORATING ON
URBAN-PLANNING DESIGN VALUES TO SUPPORT ITS TECHNOLOGY-BASED EXECUTION IN
ASPIRING SMART CITIES

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 11

The world’s population is constantly increasing, this is why we need to build modern and more
sustainable cities. The quality of life in the cities and how cities manage the natural resources available
to them are strongly connected. To date, the pressure on the environment is on the rise, as well as
the demand for basic services, infrastructures, jobs, land and affordable housing, especially for the 1
billion poor who live in informal settlements.

Because of the high number of people and economic activities, cities are subject to climate change
and natural disasters impacts. This is why building urban resilience is fundamental to avoid any kind
of losses, while fostering the sustainability of urbanization processes is required to protect the
environment and alleviate disaster risk and climate change.

Moreover, resource efficient cities can lead to a greater productivity and innovation with lower costs
and less environmental impacts, while providing more consumer choices and sustainable lifestyles.

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In a nutshell, the goal of SDG 11 is to transform urban centers into sustainable cities through the
access for everyone to affordable and safe housing, basic services and adequate public
transportation, especially for those who are most vulnerable.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SDG 11

A) QUALITY OF LIFE IN CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

Problems such as noise disturbance, crime and vandalism are some of the most visible challenges that
cities and communities have to face which triggers the population’s quality of life: this is why safe and
adequate homes are important in order to live an independent and healthy life. On the other hand,
poor housing conditions can lower life chances, cause health issues and increase risks of poverty.

B) SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY

A functioning transport system is crucial for people to go to work, to school or to reach services and
social activities, all of which affect the quality of life. For this reason, transport systems not only need
to be available, but they also need to be safe and qualitable. For instance, the EU aims at improving
citizen’s quality of life by promoting sustainable urban mobility and the increased use of clean and
energy-efficient vehicles. Public transport networks, in fact, can help relieve traffic jams and reduce
pollution.

C) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Cities are a focal point for social and economic activities. However, they can cause considerable
environmental damage if they are not managed sustainably. At the same time, densely populated

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cities can provide opportunities for an effective environmental action, showing that urbanization is
not necessarily a threat but can help transform cities into more sustainable ones.
Moreover, territorial expansion coincides with a reduction in urban density, which affects the
environment and drives up the per capita costs of infrastructure (such as water, electricity, transport,
communication and road networks). Urban planning, land policies and new incentives and regulations
should reduce urban segregation and the economic and environmental costs of services.

SDG 11 TARGETS:

HOW CAN SDG 11 BE IMPLEMENTED IN ASPIRING TO SMART CITIES?

In the future, urban-planning techniques and policies are expected to be based on SDG 11. Practical
implementation of sustainability policies should be carried out directly through urban-planning
interventions. In this regard, ICT Technologies1 will play an important role in building smart cities, as

1
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is another term for Information Technology (IT) that
integrates telecommunications and computers, as well as softwares, storage and audiovisual that enables the
user to access, understand and manipulate information.

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they will combine smartness and sustainability in urban-planning interventions. They will also help
face the challenge of unprecedented urban growth in cities all over the world.

Additionally, ICTs are able to achieve results at a scale, speed, quality, accuracy and cost not
imaginable just a decade ago. They are means to deliver quality goods and services in the areas of
health care, education, finance, commerce, governance and agriculture, among others.

But how can SDG 11 be achieved? Here are some recommendations and ideas:

Promote climate change resistance by:

• increasing photosynthetic spaces as part of green infrastructure
• improving eco-efficiency
• working toward climate-resilience infrastructure
• developing renewable energy
• striving for carbon-neutral cities

Promote social inclusiveness and development by:

• developing cities without slums
• fostering community and individual participation
• implementing policies that support innovative solutions and create a stable environment for
such innovations to take place

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Enable integrated and connected cities and territories by:
• promoting sustainable transport systems
• fostering a smart growth and transit-oriented development
• promoting a more strategic spatial planning and infrastructure planning
• linking spatial planning to infrastructure planning

Advocate physical compactness by:

• implementing a strategic structure planning
• fostering inter-city and international coordination/cooperation
• adopting a progressive and multifunctional urban planning
• introducing a more integrated urban management and development plans

CONCLUSION

Since 2007, more than half the world’s population has been living in cities, and this share is projected
to rise to 60% by 2030.

Urbanization has favoured social and economic progress around the world. However, it has also
contributed to degradation and poverty related to the inadequate management of natural resources
at the local level, as well as to the scarcity (or lack) of funds allocated for basic services and adequate
housing facilities. The rapid growth of urbanization has resulted in a growing number of slum dwellers,
inadequate infrastructure and services, as well as worsening air pollution.

SDG 11 is fundamental in order to make cities more sustainable and let everyone access affordable
and safe housing, basic services and adequate public transportation systems.

One significant aspect of SDG 11 is that cities of the future must be green, a goal which is achievable
by reducing negative impacts on the environment, developing inclusive and green areas in public
spaces, with specific attention to urban suburbs.

QUESTIONS & THINGS TO CONSIDER

1. Do you agree with the general definition of sustainability?

2. How might different age groups approach the concept of sustainability?
3. Urban-planning innovations: what type of investments are needed? Is it worth it?
4. What are the positive and negative aspects of urbanization?
5. What are the most difficult challenges a city has to face and why is it important to address
them?
6. Can urbanization actually have a positive impact on the environment? Why?
7. What does the term “smart” mean to you?
8. ICT Technology: how can it support the achievement of SDG 11?
9. So far, we have talked about industrialized cities. What about developing cities? How can
developing cities support the implementation of SDG 11?

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TOPIC #2: NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO UNFOLD CLIMATE CRISIS: ENCOURAGE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN NATURE AND GOVERNMENTS/SMALL COMMUNITIES

NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS

Nature based solutions, often shortened to NbS, is a concept that appeared for the first time in 2015
and it has been defined by the European Commission as an useful tool to reach goals as the increase
of urban systems’ sustainability, the restoration of degraded ecosystem, the implementation of
activities for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change and the improvement of risk
management and environmental resilience. Moreover, another definition is the one given by IUCN
(International Union for Conservation of Nature), according to which NbS are engaged to protect,
manage and restore ecosystems sustainably and the benefits of these actions are for human well-
being and biodiversity. We have to think of NbS as an untraditional approach which is engaged to
preserve biodiversity and address societal changes, but also to face contemporary challenges such as
climate change, environmental security and natural disasters. Effectively, NbS are all the strategies,
actions and measures, inspired and supported by nature, that furnish environmental services and
societal benefits that help increase urban resilience. A series of concepts already existing belong to
this category and they are: green infrastructure, green-blue network, ecosystem services, natural
capital and ecological engineering.

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What are the goals of Nbs?

The ultimate goal of Nature based-solutions is to extend the life of our Planet and this is because the
preservation of human well-being and biodiversity depends on the establishment or maintenance of
healthy and sustainable ecosystems and environments. According to the European Commission there are
four main goals that could be faced with Nature based-solutions and they are:

1. Enhancement of 2.Restoration of degraded

sustainable urbanisation; ecosystems; through NbS it
through NbS it could be could be possible to
possible to stimulate improve the resilience of
ecosystems that otherwise
economic growth and
would stay damaged as the
improve the environment.
forest or coastal
The benefits would be ecosystems.
urban regeneration and the
improvement of well-being
in urban areas. 4.The improvement of risk
management and resilience;
3.Development of climate the advantages brought by
change adaptation and NbS could be more as
mitigation; NbS would make compared to conventional
it possible to improve the approaches and NbS could
carbon biological stockage also offer synergies in the
increasinging the sustainable reduction of multiple risks.
use of energy.

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EFFECT OF NATURE-BASED INTERVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT

As said before, NbS consists of a series of activities engaged to create benefits and ecosystem services.
In order to do that, nature based-solutions have to face some of the climate change issues and its
engagement includes the increase, the improvement and the valorization of green areas. Some of the
activities performed to reach the goal are the improvement of air quality through the interception of
air pollutants, the adjustment of urban microclimate, the containment of Urban Heat Island, the
adjustment of meteoric water flows, the conservation of biodiversity, the improvement of life quality
and the absorption of greenhouse gases. In addition to the measures listed before there are many
other nature based interventions engaged to reduce the impact of climate change and, as we can see
in the graphic below, in most cases the outcomes of NbS are positive.

Between all the nature based-solutions that have an effect on climate change impact the ones that
deserve a special mention are the climate change adaptation and mitigation. Those measures are
applied to prevent the impact caused by climate change effects. In particular, mitigation attends to
the causes of climate change and adaptation addresses its impacts.

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 Mitigation is an activity that consists in the prevention or the cut of the emissions of
greenhouse gases. The purpose is to limit the global warming. There are many
mitigation measures that could be adopted to avoid the increase of pollutant emissions
such as the improvement of renewable energies, the electrification of industry process,
the carbon tax ecc.

Adaptation includes the measures that help dealing with the climate change
consequences when it cannot be avoided. The practical actions are aimed to manage
risks, help communities and increase the resilience of the economy and of the urban
area. Some examples of these measures are the construction of more secure
infrastructure, the restoration of landscape and the development of prediction and
prevention techniques to improve planning and be prepared in case of possible
catastrophes.

Examples of NbS engaged to reduce the exposure to climate change effects toward adaptation and
mitigation measures

❖ To prevent inland flooding and, as a consequence, to reduce flood damage to crops and
forests, five rivers in Europe has been restored five rivers2 and in association with the
restoration the agricultural production has been increased and the carbon has been
sequestered: the positive outcomes consist in socioeconomic benefits for the local people
near those rivers.
❖ The USA has implemented the adoption of green infrastructure in urban areas; an example is
the urban tree canopy cover3 to produce shades. The positive outcome consists in the
moderation of urban heat waves and heat islands effects; moreover there are environmental
benefits because the temperature of land surface is reduced and the air quality is improved.
❖ In Amazonia the forests are a degraded ecosystem and the consequences are suffered by the
indegenous people. A solution to the problem in the Amazonia 80 X 20254 project. The
problems in this area are deforestation and high degradation and the goal of this project is
the one to take action in time in order to avoid a point of no return. A typical feature of
degraded ecosystems is represented by conflicts over land and natural resources and
violences against the local population. In this case the positive outcome consists in the fact
that indegenous people have been heard, several conferences and global summits have been
launched to avoid any further degradation.

2
https://www.ecrr.org/River-Restoration/RiverWiki-Projects-Database
3
https://www.greater.sydney/metropolis-of-three-cities/sustainability/city-its-landscape/urban-tree-canopy-
cover-increased
4
https://amazonia80x2025.earth/

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Effectiveness of nature-based solutions

As mentioned above, NbS are inspired by nature, use nature or they are supported by nature and over
the years NbS have proved to be a valid alternative for grey infrastructure update in cities. This new
sustainable approach is considered able to restore ecological flows in cities and realize new
infrastructure solutions that increase urban resilience. Even if nowadays the research about NbS
effectiveness is considered limited because there isn't enough knowledge about their effects yet,
there are enough indicators of NbS effectiveness to believe that their benefits are a reality and that
they have a positive impact in the urban context.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NBS AND AUTHORITIES

When it comes to the relationship between the authorities and NbS, there are some factors to
consider such as the socioeconomic effectiveness of NbS, the political process that shapes which
measures are adopted and last but not least, the authorities have to effectively finance, implement
and govern those measures. The institutions need to keep operating in order to maintain nature-based
solutions active to ensure inclusivity, livability and resilience.

It happens, in some cases, that the authorities are worried that the costs don’t pay the benefits and
this is the reason why they hesitate to realize green cities: the benefits would be the reduction of
pollution and the increase of green areas but the governments ask for more economic guarantees.
The reality is that nature-based solutions have been defined as living solutions under-pinned by
natural processes and structures that are designed to address various environmental challenges while
simultaneously providing multiple benefits to economy, society and ecological systems. The last few
years have been characterized by a lack of investments but urban planning and policy makers are

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engaged to collect evidence of their multiple benefits. Moreover, the job of local governments isn’t
only to find investments and realize green cities but they also have to make possible the establishment
of a relationship between the city and the citizens. This is because the implementation of NbS is a
process that includes different actors and they are: local governments, urban planners, stakeholders
and citizens.

Investments in NbS

Despite broad recognition of the severe threats to the global economy posed by climate change, less
than 5% of climate finance goes towards dealing with climate impacts, and less than 1% goes to coastal
protection, infrastructure and disaster risk management including NbS. In addition to this datas, there
is growing evidence that natural habitats provide major economic benefits in the form of avoided
losses from climate change-related disasters.

Nevertheless, more and more often governments decide to adopt NbS approaches which require joint
decision-making across different local, regional or even national institutions. The authorities are able
to manage some funding for NbS coming from public and private, bilateral and multilateral, national
and international funds. Indeed, IUCN identifies governance as a key area for promoting NBS– along
with education, investment and capacity building. However, there is another important aspect to
consider that is the engagement with stakeholders and users of ecosystem services in managing and
implementing NBS. Indeed, urban planners and policymakers are progressively aware of the need to
take perceptions and experiences into consideration. The first step is to understand that stakeholders’
perceptions of, and preferences for green spaces and engaging them in the planning process can
potentially bring benefits to citizens and urban planners.

CONCLUSIONS

Natural based solutions need to be framed in the existing policies, supported by urban planning and
adopted in joint dialogues between policy, society, and science. Nature-based solutions can enhance
natural capital and promote biodiversity while delivering other co-benefits. Moreover, NBS
operationalizes the concept of ecosystem services that are the co-benefits that ecosystems, in
combination with other inputs, make to human well-being.

To take stocks, nature-based measures are strong candidate solutions to infrastructure

redevelopment and advancement and they are gaining traction in international policy and business
discourse. Due to the current pressure of global urbanization, quality of life and sustainability the
investments and efforts in advancing and updating urban infrastructures to deal with climate change
pressures and demographic changes require more holistic approaches that take nature into the
equation.

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NbS offer huge potential to address both causes and consequences of climate change while supporting
biodiversity and thereby securing the flow of ecosystem services on which human well-being depends.
Yet, there is one barrier hindering the evidence-based integration of NbS into international, national
and local climate and development policy and practice and it is that challenges in measuring or
predicting the effectiveness of NbS lead to high uncertainty about their cost-effectiveness compared
to alternatives.

Nevertheless, despite the knowledge gaps that limit the possibility to assert NbS effectiveness, urban
planners and policy makers together with researchers have proven that nature-based interventions
bring benefits to different aspects such as human well-being improving the health and the economy
of the social community, but also to biodiversity improving the restoration of multiple ecosystems,
reducing the risk of natural disasters and avoiding the exacerbation of global warming.

QUESTIONS & THINGS TO CONSIDER

• What are economically useful options for NbS? What is the role of the economy when dealing
with NbS?
• What are legal instruments and requirements for the implementation of NbS?
• What are the immediate and long-term concerns?
• What are trade-offs and synergies to biodiversity, health, economy and community?
• Are benefits of NbS accessible to all the residents?
• What are the damages of grey infrastructure that could be reversed by NbS implementation?
Are NbS really “superior” to grey infrastructure?
• How much influence does the aesthetic have on NbS appreciation?
• Is it worth investing in NbS?
• What are the opportunities and the barriers to the use of NbS?

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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND USEFUL RESOURCES

TOPIC 1:
• https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-
development-goals-matter/goal-11
• https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=SDG_11_-
_Sustainable_cities_and_communities#Sustainable_cities_and_communities_in_the_EU:_ov
erview_and_key_trends
• https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/hlm/documents/Publications/U4SSC_Brochure_Impleme
nting_sustainable_development_goal_11.pdf
• https://www.globalcompactnetwork.org/en/the-un-global-compact-eng/sdgs/business-
sdgs/1512-sdg-11-make-cities-inclusive-safe-resilient-and-sustainable.html
• https://www.gim-international.com/content/article/sdg-11-as-a-glocal-framework

TOPIC 2:
• https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.2019.0120
• https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1462901118310888?token=039978BE9BDD3A5B
0AA13A3D2CAF0820527113BB1E3C1853644A3FBFD9B464B5778C0CB9EFCE3CC5C36AA90C
75D92A18&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20211128124140
• https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_93FD38C8836B.P001/REF
• https://networknature.eu/sites/default/files/uploads/spnature-based-solutions.pdf
• https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26270403.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Af9c2b0e007dccc88d
96cf8446ff1409a
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.15310
• https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/20.500.12413/16737/1006_Nature-
based_Solutions%20%28NbS%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
• https://www.iucn.org/theme/nature-based-solutions/initiatives/nbs-finance-mechanisms-
and-funds
• https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0048969720300620?token=B8149BDE70E55A43
A29ADE5D9BFCED0A3F563859217822C4A195CF9F48D580B09734B9F90F16CA7BDE2BAD4D
45FD6524&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20211209123025

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