United Nations Centre for Human Settlements

Habitat

Press Release

Implementing the Urban Environment Agenda: Global Meeting of Cities and Support Programmes Defines Future Cooperation


 3rd June 1996 - Over 250 representatives of more than 75 cities and 20 international support programmes working in the urban environment convened in Istanbul on Saturday 1 June 1996 in an unprecedented exercise to define a common support agenda for the future. This unique meeting brought together a very wide spectrum of programmes and practitioners, and was remarkable for the spirit of cooperation and mutual support which characterized it.


A comprehensive and unified presentation of achievements and capabilities was made possible by an intensive and tightly structured programme, which demanded an extremely high level of concentration and commitment from the participants. Reporting panels from the cities clarified environmental planning and management needs and abilities, reporting on five elements in the process (i. improvement of environmental information and technical expertise; ii. improvement of environmental strategies and decision making; iii. better implementation of environmental strategies; iv. enhanced institutional and participatory capacities; and v. more effective uses of scarce resources for affecting change). Four panels of international programmes then reported on their support modalities, with specific reference to the city agenda (i. environmental planning and management demonstrations; ii. city networking for the sharing of know-how; iii. provision of special expertise for urban environmental management; and iv. city support through applied research and development). The afternoon session was taken up with Working Group sessions to formulate a manifesto for future cooperation and mutually-supportive action. During the final plenary session the Istanbul Manifesto (attached) was unanimously adopted.


This meeting has made it clear that the area of inter-programme cooperation offers tremendous under-utilized potential, and that city interest and support for this initiative is immense. The high level of programme complementarities underlined by the meeting, their breadth of geographic scope, and the range of experience garnered over many years of active programme implementation is a powerful resource for the cities of the world. On the part of the cities, their experiences in the field of environmental planning and management are invaluable, providing an enormous wealth of on-the-ground expertise which can be applied in partnerships with other cities and programmes around the world. The Istanbul Manifesto is the first step in a process of city-driven global support activities which will define local efforts and international cooperation in the urban environment as we move towards the cities of the next century.


For further information, or a full copy of the meeting package, please contact:


Mr. Jochen Eigen, Coordinator, Sustainable Cities Programme, UNCHS (Habitat), PO Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: +254 (2) 623225, fax: +254 (2) 624264, E-mail: jochen.eigen@unep.org or eleanor.cody@unep.org.

Cities and International Support Programmes


Istanbul Manifesto


Implementing the Urban Environment Agenda


The Key Message


 On the first of June, 1996 representatives of cities working toward sustainable growth and development and representatives of international programmes supporting the cities in this work, have reviewed their efforts and achievements in environmental planning and management.


The Meeting produced compelling evidence of the impressive range of initiatives and accomplishments in urban environmental management world-wide, and of the resources and expertise, local and international, which have been mobilized and effectively applied.


The participants recommended that existing support programmes, such as those participating in the Meeting, be strengthened and supported in their ongoing work with the cities, and that new programmes and initiatives be carefully designed in order to most effectively complement and reinforce existing ones.


The participants also recommended to build upon the momentum already gained through the Meeting and to continue the global dialogue between cities and programmes. This, to provide a firm basis for strengthening and expanding future activities in support of their joint commitment to implementing the urban environment agenda.


1 Referred to as the “Istanbul Manifesto on Implementing the Urban Environment Agenda, 1 June 1996"


2 More than 75 cities and over 20 international support programmes (200 participants)


3 Organized by UNCHS (Habitat) and UNEP through their Sustainable Cities Programme in cooperation with 17 international organizations (UN, bilaterals, NGOs, local government associations, etc)


4 Close to 50 cities and international programmes reported on years of operational experience; working groups produced the “Istanbul Manifesto on Implementing the Urban Environment Agenda” with commitment to technically specific city environmental management approaches and international programme support strategies


5 In his opening address, Dr. Wally N’Dow, Secretary General, Habitat II and Executive Head of Habitat, challenged the participants to make the Meeting “the beginning of a continuing process rather than just the conclusion of a valuable but one-off effort”; in her closing address, Ms. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director, UNEP, supported the idea as the “type of activity which the United Nations system does best, bringing together many of the major players in the urban environment arena, facilitating consensus, forging alliances and improving the way in which we work together” and as “a means of implementing the urban environment agenda in a more coherent and mutually supportive manner” which “will be able to attract more financial assistance for all the varied initiatives.”