CityNet participated in the 6th Regional Workshop on Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: The Urban Nexus on June 22nd-23rd, 2016 in Sta. Rosa City, Philippines. The session was organized by ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia Secretariat in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the City Government of Santa Rosa.

More than 130 local and international delegates attended the event. The workshop was the final activity of the Urban Nexus project’s first phase. Select pilot cities include CityNet members like Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Naga City in the Philippines and Da Nang in Vietnam. Sta. Rosa City in Philippines, Korat in Thailand completed the line-up of pilot cities.

The Urban Nexus project provided the pilot cities the tools and training to improve their local planning processes by further integrating approaches of circular economy in key sectors like energy, water, food, and land use. Circular economy refers to the effective and sustainable reuse of different resources like water and food.

During the forum, Ruth Erlbeck, the Project Director, said that Urban Nexus saw many accomplishments that include the formation of task forces in the pilot cities to enhance interoffice cooperation, regional workshops to enhance knowledge exchange, and civil society participation to promote transparency. The second phase of the project is expected to build on those gains while promoting the nexus approach at the global and regional level.

CityNet Program Officer Jaime Paulo Mora who represented the network in the Workshop said that CityNet is delighted to know some member cities have taken the lead in sustainable planning. He added that they could also be good resources to demonstrate and advocate nexus approaches to other CityNet members. CityNet and GIZ are currently exploring activities to further promote nexus approach in the Asia-Pacific region.