Human migration is an irreversible phenomenon of this urban century. Building the resilience of the most vulnerable groups in the face of rapid change was the critical discussion point of the ECOCITY World Summit 2017 that focused on “Changing Cities: Resilience and Transformations”. The Summit was hosted in Melbourne, the world’s most livable city, earlier this month (July 12-14). The conference included an impressive group of speakers including Al Gore (former US Vice-President) and the chair of The Climate Reality Project as a keynote speaker. 

The UN Global Compact Cities, in collaboration with key partners, co-hosted a session to strengthen the resilience discourse and to refine and further develop the Australasian New Urban Agenda roadmap for private and public sector, academic and not-for-profit agencies. Joyati Das, Senior Director of World Vision’s Center of Expertise for Urban Programming, spoke about the “inclusion imperative” in the New Urban Agenda; highlighting the centrality of children and youth as future leaders of cities. She emphasized the need for knowledge and capabilities development so no one is left behind in building resilient and sustainable cities for the future.

Read the article: Roadmap for sustainable and liveable urban communities