ICOMOS at the 9th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF9)
Update: ICOMOS is participating actively in the 9th Session of the World Urban Forum, taking place on February 7-13, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The World Urban Forum was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies. Organized and convened by UN-Habitat, the Forum has become one of the most open gatherings on the international arena; its inclusive nature, combined with high-level participation, makes it a unique UN conference and the premier international gathering on urban issues.
The theme of WUF9, “Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda” – places the Forum’s focus on the New Urban Agenda as a tool and accelerator for achieving Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. WUF9 is the first session to focus on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted in Habitat III and will be instrumental to substantively feed into the inputs for the first report of its implementation.
ICOMOS will be represented at WUF9 with a delegation of 8 members, including Claus-Peter Echter (Germany), Donovan Rypkema (USA), Ege Yildirim (Turkey), Eric Huybrecths (France), Jeffrey Soule (USA), Mariana Isa (Malaysia), Peter Philips (Australia) and Shaiful Shahidan (Malaysia).
We are the institutional organizer of three events at WUF9, hosting speakers from Europa Nostra, Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), Quito Municipality (Ecuador), Penang City Council (Malaysia), United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), UNESCO and Urban Discovery. ICOMOS Malaysia is kindly sponsoring catering for these events.
ICOMOS Events:
- Side Event at WUF9, on 'Culture, Nature, Heritage, Cities: Case Studies on Localizing the SDGs', Saturday, February 10, 17:00-18:00, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Room 403.
Event link at WUF 9: http://wuf9.org/programme/side-events/culture-nature-heritage-cities-case-studies-on-localizing-the-sdgs/
Event flyer: click to download
- Networking Event at WUF9, on 'Urban Culture and Heritage Partnerships toward Achieving the UN SDGs and NUA', Sunday, February 11, 09:00-11:00, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Room 304.
Event link at WUF 9: http://wuf9.org/programme/networking-events/urban-culture-and-heritage-partnerships-towards-achieving-the-un-sdg-and-nua/
Event flyer: click to download
- Side Event at ThinkCity (a parallel programme of events held in conjunction with WUF9), on "Metropolitan Heritage: Leveraging the Power of Rediscovering and Reusing our Urban Assets", Saturday, February 10, 10:30-11:30, at 2, Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur.
Event flyer: click to download
Think City, flyer of full events program: click to download
Some ICOMOS members will also be speaking or participating in other events upon the invitation of other partner organizations:
- Ege Yildirim (ICOMOS Focal Point for the SDGs, ICOMOS Turkey) will be a panelist at the Dialogue on Urban Planning & Design for Local Implementation, organized by UN-Habitat, Sunday, February 11, 09:00-12:00, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Ballroom 1. Event link at WUF9: http://wuf9.org/programme/dialogues/urban-planning-and-design-for-local-implementation/
- Eric Huybrechts (ICOMOS SDG Task Force Member, ICOMOS France) will be speaking at several panels, including the Networking Event on ‘Culture, Recovery and Reconstruction: Sustainable Development Policies’, organized by UNESCO, Saturday, February 10, 13:00-15:00, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, One UN Room
Event link at WUF9: http://wuf9.org/programme/one-un-room/culture-recovery-and-reconstruction-sustainable-development-policies/
For full list of the panels, see: https://www.iau-idf.fr/en/know-how/scope-of-activities/world-urban-forum.html
Additionally, ICOMOS members have been invited to and will be participating in meetings by the World Urban Campaign (WUC), of which ICOMOS is a partner, and by professional planning organizations, such as the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), Planners 4 Climate Action (P4CA) and Habitat Professionals Forum (HPF).
There will also be a suite of other culture-related events at WUF9:
- Side Event on ‘Culture, the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda: A Guide for Local Action', organized by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Saturday 10 February 2018, 18:00-19:00, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Listen to Cities room / Local Action
Event link at WUF9: http://www.agenda21culture.net/news/culture-wuf9):
- Link of full list of events compiled by UCLG: http://www.agenda21culture.net/news/culture-wuf9
WUF9 is being covered widely on social media with hashtags #cities2030, #cities4all, #wuf9 and #NewUrbanAgenda. ICOMOS is tweeting with these hashtags as well as #culture, #culturalheritage and #SDG11.4.