The twelfth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) will be held from 4 to 8 November 2024 in Cairo, Egypt. The theme of the twelfth session is “It all starts at home: Local actions for sustainable cities and communities.” The Forum will be organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in collaboration with the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt. To date, over 18,000 attendees from 175 countries have registered for the Forum.

Side Events will be held by the Guangzhou Award and its Global Partners

During the twelfth session of the Word Urban Forum, the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award) and Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation (GIUI) will collaborate with multiple partners to hold three side events, including:

Civitas Novus - Bringing Urban Innovation to Scale

November 5, 10:30-11:30 (UTC+2)

*The meeting time may be subject to change, please pay attention to the latest notice.

Organized by Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation in collaboration with Institute for Urban Research University of Pennsylvania (Penn IUR), the event will officially launch the Civitas Novus: Urban Innovation Assessment Report.

Civitas Novus is a capacity-building tool jointly developed by the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation and the Institute for Urban Research University of Pennsylvania. It aims to help cities assess the current state of their innovation ecosystems, enhance urban innovation capacity, and support cities and local governments in achieving sustainable development transitions. In September of this year, a pilot workshop for the assessment system was successfully held in Kocaeli, Turkey, validating its effectiveness and providing valuable feedback for optimizing the system.

At the WUF12, Guangzhou Award will officially launch and comprehensively present this assessment system, sharing the outcomes of the pilot program and research progress. The event will also provide an opportunity to discuss the future of urban innovation with representatives from cities around the world.

BRICS+ Urban Climate Agenda Report - Flagship Initiative for a More Sustainable World

November 5, 13:00-14:30 (UTC+2)

Organized by Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation in collaboration with the Department for Economic Policy and Development of Moscow, the event will officially launch BRICS+ Urban Climate Agenda Report. The event aims to showcase the practical achievements of BRICS cities in addressing climate change and to promote exchanges and cooperation among global cities. The report, jointly researched and authored by the Moscow Analytical Center and Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, analyzes the innovative strategies and successful cases of BRICS cities and provides guidance for city managers to address climate challenges.

This event aims at promoting cooperation among global cities on the climate agenda by sharing best practices in policy innovation, strategic deployment, and partnership models. Participants will explore how to promote these best practices globally, enhancing urban resilience and sustainable development capacity, and contributing to the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

Co-creating Collective Urban Intelligence with the Citiverse Lab Platform and Pathways Toolkit

November 6, 9:00-12:00 (UTC+2)

Rapid urbanization poses many challenges, such as resource management, climate change and social inclusion. In this context, Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, in collaboration with the University of Manchester and London South Bank University, organizes a training event, aiming to provide an exchange platform for global urban planners, policy makers, scholars and business representatives to explore and share how to leverage digital technologies to address the multiple challenges facing cities currently.

By introducing the Citiverse Lab platform and the Pathways Toolkit, the event will showcase the integration of urban meta-universe and collective intelligence, helping participants better understand urban development trends, stimulating innovative thinking, and promoting the smart, green and sustainable urban development.

It all starts at home: Local actions for sustainable cities and communities

The overarching theme of the twelfth session is “It all starts at home: Local actions for sustainable cities and communities.” It emphasizes the cultural, social, economic, and environmental dimensions of life in cities. The Forum will focus on how cities can be leveraged to accelerate global progress towards sustainable development, promote comprehensive urban policies and informal settlements transformation, improve governance and participation, and form coalitions and partnerships. WUF12 will feature more than 500 events, an extended Urban Expo, and Cairo Urban Week to connecting the Forum to the city and its communities.

“At the Forum, we will address crucial challenges, such as housing, land use, urban planning, governance and participation. We will listen to diverse stakeholders and tackle key issues: how to ensure affordable housing for all, transform informal settlements, recover and rebuild, and enhance climate resilience,” said Anacláudia Rossbach, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat. “We need to build strong coalitions for better solutions to challenges posed by the global housing crisis,” she added.

About the World Urban Forum

Established in 2001 by the United Nations, the World Urban Forum is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization. The Forum is designed to examine the most pressing issues facing the world today: energy, environment, land, housing, infrastructure, sanitation, education, health, security, slum upgrading, etc. The first WUF was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002 and has been held every two years ever since. Since its inception, WUF12 returns to Africa, focusing on building strong coalitions to address key global challenges posed by the global housing crisis and climate change.