After the outbreak of Covid-19, big cities with high population density became the high-risk areas because the highly contagious features of the virus. During the process of fighting against the Covid-19, cities around the world had gained their own experiences. In order to exchange the latest anti-epidemic experiences, sharing the effective anti-epidemic policies, and facilitate the contacts among global cities, the Intellisa Institute and Guangzhou Award Secretariat jointly organized an online anti-epidemic webminar called “COVID-19 International Experience: A Global Cities Exchange” on June 10th. It provided a platform for global cities to exchange the idea about city epidemic management and invited city representatives and experts from Uganda, South Korea, India, Spain, Brazil and America to discuss important topics su ch as city governance, emergency management and economic recovery under the shadow of the pandemic. 

       Intellisia Institute is one of the leading non-profit independent social think tanks in China. With high-qualified and efficient research team and strong resource-integration ability, they are dedicated to provide knowledge resources for the government, enterprises, media, academia and the public from an independent and objective research perspectives.

       2020 marks the beginning of the 5th cycle of the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award). As always, we encourage cities and local governments around the world to come and share their innovative practices in supporting the local implementation of the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda.

         Besides other urban innovation initiatives, cities and regions are also most welcome to share their initiatives in responding to the pandemic. We are all too aware of the delicate balance between containment and mitigation, and the transition from emergency response and mitigation to recovery. Applications are also welcome with forward looking post COVID-19 initiatives regarding how cities and regions are rethinking their local governance mechanisms, reconsidering the urban morphology and typology, addressing the problems exposed, and improving the resilience of urban economy.

        We look forward to your sharing the initiatives for a more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable living place for all. For more information, please kindly visit: http://www.guangzhouaward.org/p/e_applynow.The Secretariat will remain at your disposal should you have any queries.