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Innovating Resilience

Scott Muller | May 18, 2012

CityLinks , resilience , adaptation , ISC

The outcome of successful climate adaptation is resilience; the ability to self-organize, reduce vulnerabilities and manage disturbances now and in the future, those both foreseen and unexpected. The CityLink’s program focus on adaptation to anthropogenic climate change in urban systems provides a pioneering opportunity for innovation in pragmatic methods to develop adaptation capacity and strengthen resilience in developing cities. In my experience, cities expose the dynamic cross-cutting nature of climate change. As such, one perspective can view climate change as a “threat multiplier,” exacerbating many already complex economic and social pressures across various sectors such as water

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Fostering Leadership for Urban Sustainability: Insights from North American Practitioners

Steve Adams | May 4, 2012

By Mike Crowley, Senior Program Officer at the Institute for Sustainable Communities with Steve Adams, Senior Advisor for Climate Adaptation, ISC The idea for this blog originated at a recent ICMA CityLinks Project meeting in which a participant posed the question: “what insights on urban sustainability from U.S. cities are applicable to those in the developing world?” This line of thinking is similar to one we posed ourselves early in the development of the ISC Urban Sustainability Leadership Academy model through which we’ve now provided leadership training to 134 practitioners across the U.S. What makes certain individuals successful? Can

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CityLinks Partner, Land O'Lakes International Development

Emily Elledge | May 1, 2012

When people hear the name Land O’Lakes, they often think of butter, milk and dairy cooperatives. But did you know that Land O’Lakes has actually been assisting farmers in developing countries across the globe for over 30 years? Land O’Lakes will assist the CityLinks team by leading the food security component of the program. Although they have primarily had experience working in rural communities, they are excited to apply their expertise to urban areas. Jennifer Hyman, Communications and Publications Manager says, “We are looking forward to extending the strategies we have found so effective in strengthening the food

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Introducing ISC

Emily Elledge | April 17, 2012

As you may have noticed, ICMA recently launched the new CityLinks website. As the Assistant Program Manager for the CityLinks Team, I will be informing our members and users about current activities, so I will periodically post blogs and news articles about our activities and partnerships. This post is the first in a series introducing the partners of the CityLinks team, which is addressing the urban challenges of climate change, food security and water and sanitation. The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) has expertise in climate change, and promoting sustainable community development - making them a natural

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The Legos of Urban Sustainability

Helen Santiago Fink | March 29, 2012

As an urbanist with years of experience in developing countries as well as in the United States and Europe, I have seen cities of all shapes and sizes, with services and lack of, confronting a multitude of issues, and yet all are defined by their people and natural and built environments. Currently, as Urban Climate Change Adviser at USAID/Washington and Program Manager of the CityLInks Program, it is a challenging and timely opportunity to assist urban environments in tackling the demands of population growth and climatic change. Cities are paradoxes. On the one hand, they can be enriching places,

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Why Cities Matter

Joseph Lombardo | March 12, 2012

Urbanization , Honduras , Vulnerable Populations

As I assume my responsibilities for directing the ICMA CityLinks Leader with Associate cooperative agreement funded by USAID, it is important to step back and reflect on the growing role of cities in addressing the development challenges countries currently face and can be expected to confront in the future. With the world now predominately urban, we are seeing dramatic changes in the social, economic and political make-up of countries. Some of the factors behind this transformation are climate change, growing concerns over food security, and promoting general and infant/child health through potable water and sanitation services. When

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CityLinks Is Back!

David Grossman | February 6, 2012

It has been almost four months since ICMA was awarded the new five-year, $25 million USAID CityLinks grant – and I am still exhilarated! I actually framed the distinctive proposal cover, artistically designed by the ICMA Creative Services team, and it is hanging in the hallway just outside my office directly in my line of sight. Staff from throughout the organization pulled together in an extraordinary effort to win the award. After all, CityLinks has been the ICMA International flagship program since 1997! It is a city matching and partnering activity that ICMA does better than any other organization. USAID

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