Rio+20

Summary Report
July 2012

Several of the cities pledged to work with Ecocity Builders and ICLEI over the next two years to co- develop and pilot the IEFS. From top left, Montreal, Canada; Durban, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; Tianjin Ecocity, China.

Background/ Overview This brief report summarizes some of the outcomes related to Ecocity Builders participation in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), especially as it pertains to the organizations next-phase development of the International Ecocity Framework and Standards Initiative (IEFS), networking and partnership building, and bioregional/ecocity mapping the cornerstone of the ECB toolkit to implement the IEFS on the ground. Progress made over the past months could not have been possible without the dedicated support of the following Ecocity Builders key members and advisors, including Sven Eberlein, Rick Smith, Ashoka Finley, Stacey Meinzen, Naomi Grunditz, Max Heim, Kelley Lemon, Shivang Patwa, Warren Karlenzig, Jonn Bramen, Jennie Moore, Bill Rees, Isabel Wade, Ana Puhac, Marco Vangelisti and Paul Downton. We also could not have participated in this work without the financial support from the Helen and William Mazer Foundation, British Columbia Institute of Technology School of Construction and Environment, Columbia Foundation, HealthBridge Canada, Diana Divecha, Barbara Wilson and Joell Jones. Thank you everyone!

Finale, 8th International Ecocity Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010

Overview Ecocity Builders has a long association and track record in defining and charting the direction of ecocities, from being the first to using the term ecocity, to convening successful international conferences, projects and publications on the subject. Ecocity Builders is rapidly evolving from primarily a think tank and originator of future-oriented sustainable city visions and theories to holding a prominent position as international standard setter and facilitator in the emerging global conversation around sustainable cities. This significant opportunityand responsibility is largely due to the ability of Ecocity Builders to channel collaboration around both tacit and explicit knowledge they have contributed and relationships built up over the past forty years of consistent high quality, dedicated work. In order to further guide the global conversation as an invited high-level participant working collectively with international bi-lateral stakeholders to define a shared path forward towards sustainable cities in balance with Earth systems, Ecocity Builders is establishing guidelines for ecocity branding through the IEFS initiative. In doing so it is solidifying and extending its association as the global thought leader and standard-bearer for sustainable cities.

4 Summary of Rio+20 related key objectives and outcomes In the last quarter of 2011, Ecocity Builders began a process of next-phase IEFS strategic and business plan development, networking and partnership building, and bioregional/ecocity mapping the cornerstone of the ECB toolkit to implement the IEFS on the ground.
Ecocity Builders President Richard Register and Executive Director Kirstin Miller announce the IEFS initiative at the 9th International Ecocity Conference in Montreal Canada, 2011.

The International Ecocity Framework and Standards (IEFS) initiative seeks to provide an innovative vision for an ecologically- restorative human civilization as well as a practical methodology for assessing and guiding progress towards the goal. Cities and citizens maximize resilience through a whole systems approach that responds to critical risk factors for climate change and natural disasters while concurrently working with a network of cities around the world taking action to restore planetary boundaries to safe and stable conditions. Towards this goal, the International Ecocity Framework and Standards (IEFS) initiative is currently under development by Ecocity Builders and an international committee of expert advisors. This phase of the process was predicated on steady and consistent progress made on the IEFS initiative following its inaugural launch in early 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. According to schedule, the IEFS initiative met its milestone in August 2011 when Ecocity Builders presented it to delegates from over 70 countries and institutions, including ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the United Nations, at the 9th International Ecocity World Summit (IEFS) held Aug. 22-26 in Montreal, Canada. The initiative was enthusiastically received, with requests for further collaboration from a wide range of actors including business and private sector, research institutions and academics, government and major institutions, and nonprofits. A key request for participation came directly from the United Nations. Representatives from the Department on Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN agency in charge of orchestrating the major world conference on sustainable development, Rio+20, recently concluded, asked Ecocity Builders to join the process in helping to shape the agenda around sustainable cities in the lead up to Rio+20. They specifically were interested in Ecocity Builders holistic, ecosystems approach

5 offered through the IEFS. We agreed to join the process. As the nations of the world geared up to develop a draft outcome document for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the potential for IEFS scaling was significant, with key potential partners including private sector, research and development sector, and government/NGO sector standing by to engage with Ecocity Builders and the IEFS around emerging issues, frameworks and technologies related to sustainable city planning, development, design, implementation and citizen participation from the local to the global scale.
Left. Rio+20 preparatory meeting at UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya. Kirstin Miller representing for Ecocity Builders at the NGO Major Group

Right. IEFS BUILDEX workshop in Vancouver, Canada, with British Columbia Institute of Technology and the City of Vancouver, hosted by Ecocity Builders

Left. Ecocity Builders intern Naomi Grunditz in NYC meeting with the Ambassador from Sweden at a Friends of Sustainable Cities working group

meeting

Right. Ecocity Builders with the University of Rio de Janeiro and BCIT at our Sentinels of Sustainability event during Rio+20

6
Left. In Barcelona, Spain, speaking at a summit on De-Growth conference (Richard Register and Kirstin Miller participating).

Right. At a Bay Area Rio+20 Report Back (Kirstin Miller, center, and Sven Eberlein, right)

Left. Ecocity Builders communications associate Sven Eberlein in NYC for an Intercessional Meeting in the lead up to Rio+20, helping represent Ecocity Builders in the NGO Major Group

A sample of articles, blogs, and media associated with our efforts associated with our Rio+20 agenda: Daily Kos: A Small Favor for a Big Cause http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/08/1098407/-A-small-favor-for- a-big-cause-PlanetEarth Rio Dialogues: Vote for the Future You Want http://vote.riodialogues.org/ Ecocity Media http://ecocity.wordpress.com/ YouTube EcoCitizen World Map Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wngbz2HUnhM WDET News The Rio+20 Sustainability Conference http://wdet.org/news/story/rio-20-sustainability-conference/#.T-xZcDBvd- o.facebook

7 Key Outcomes/Next Steps Some of the key outcomes from Ecocity Builders participation in the Rio+20 process include the following achievements and next steps: Through our high-level involvement with the UN and the UNCSD process, Ecocity Builders was nominated to represent the Cities and Urban Issues thematic group at the NGO Major Group at the UN. This leadership role proved to be pivotal in advancing our ideas at the international stakeholder level. One direct and significant achievement was a major Rio+20 Policy Outcome annexed into the Rio+20 Outcome document facilitated through the RioDialogues civil society process: "Each head of state should identify a sustainable city to develop a network for knowledge sharing and innovation. Governments should channel resources to develop people-centered sustainable cities with timed and measurable goals, in such way that empowers local communities, promotes equality and accountability." The wording is a milestone achievement for the IEFS at the highest level, as the wording, in a nutshell, describes the IEFS itself along with a network of cities working to achieve the goal. o Next Steps: Continue to work within the United Nations, the Major Groups, the new "Friends of Sustainable Cities" nations working group of which we are a civil society member, and other partners and associates, to help guide the process post Rio+20 to develop specific timed and measurable sustainable city goals and measures while empowering local communities through providing access to ecocitizen tools, strategies and technologies.
Ecocity Builders (Marco Vangelisti, Kirstin Miller and Warren Karlenzig) at the United Nations headquarters in New York City for one of the Intercessional Meetings in the lead up to Rio+20

8 Ecocity Builders, in partnership with ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability, launched the Ecocity Network just prior to Rio+20 at their World Congress meeting in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A core group of 5 early partner cities has been identified to take the lead during the next stage of indicator development and testing of the Ecocity Framework and Standards. The lead cities in the ICLEI Ecocity Network are: Durban, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; Tianjin Eco-city, China; Montreal, Canada and Lote, Norway. To facilitate the process, Ecocity Builders and ICLEI have signed a MoU to extend for a period of two years with an option to revise/renew.
Tianjin, China. Explaining IEFS elements to Mr. Lin, Director of Tianjin Eco-city, China, one of the lead pilot cities for the IEFS.

Next Steps: Coordinate with ICLEI to plan the program for development of the Ecocity Network, including the testing and implementation of ecocity indicators that are globally applicable and locally adaptable.

As a related outcome to our lead as cities and urban issues facilitator at the UN Major Groups, Ecocity Builders has been invited to become an associate partner with UN-HABITAT, the lead UN agency for cities and urban issues, in the formative process of the upcoming World Urban Campaign (WUC).
Kirstin Miller visiting Korogocho, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya near the Dandora city dump, and UN HABITATS urban upgrading operation there

The World Urban Campaign is a global coalition of public, private and civil society partners united by the common desire to advocate on the positive role of cities around the World, and to promote sustainable urbanization policies, strategies and practices. Launched in Rio de Janeiro at the fifth Session of the World Urban Forum in March 2010, the Campaign is coordinated by UN-HABITAT and governed by a Steering Committee of partners. As a World Urban Campaign insider Ecocity Builders will have the opportunity to help bridge this process to the development of a new platform for the next

9 generation of sustainable development guidelines and measures that will replace the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set to expire in 2015. Our influence within this process, linking to the Rio+20 sustainable cities mandate coming through the Rio Dialogues process and the ICLEI Ecocities Network, could help shape how millions of dollars are invested in cities around the world after the MDGs expire. o Next Steps: Work with UN Habitat and partners to steer the World Urban Campaign in the direction of a holistic, urban system approach to healthy cities and citizens with clear and specific goals and measures. Bioregional/Ecocity Mapping: As outlined in the IEFS Business Plan, Ecocity Builders advanced the development of ecocity mapping in 2012 through strategic partnerships. With crowdmapping organization Ushahidi, we launched the Ecocitizen World Map Project at Rio+20 and began testing it in several favela communities and neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro.
Ecocity Builders meets with favela captain (in blue shirt) in Rio de Janeiro as we tour Asa Branca, one of the favela communities piloting ecocity mapping.

The map offers a place and a pathway for ordinary citizens to add their voices and be counted as contributing members of the new green and equitable economy, to show conditions in their community based on the 15 elements of the IEFS, and track local projects and programs, and to be advocates with local government and the outside as they work to reshape their communities as more sustainable, livable, and equitable places to live and raise their families. Ecocity Builders is also partnering with Esri, a GIS (geographic information systems) mapping software company helping people understand and visualize data to make decisions based on the best information and data available. Esri has created an ArcGIS based application for the Ecocitizen Map that allows ArcGIS to connect to the Map, convert text between languages, and download the data into a geo database. This opens up the feed of data being captured by the EcoCitizen Map to the rich spatial and temporal analysis tools within ArcGIS, allowing users to empower action and inform decision makers using a sound scientific approach.

10

Sample report from the EcoCitizen World Map created with Ushahidis open source crowdmap software uploaded by members of one of the favela communities in Rio de Janeiro. This report is categorized through the Community Capacity element of the IEFS framework.

Another new partnership based on above collaboration is with the US State Department and the Association of American Geographers and Esri under the umbrella initiative called the Community Sustainability and Resilience Special Initiative. http://www.eyeonearthsummit.org/special-initiative-community- sustainability This is a brand new opportunity for Ecocity Builders that we can build upon immediately, given we have the capacity to stay engaged.

GIS add-in for the EcoCitizen map created with Esri this map shows the favela communities (in light purple) in relationship to areas with high potential for landslides (in red).

11 o Next Steps: Bioregional mapping represents a critical technical element of the IEFS and Ecocity Network. Using bioregional mapping, the IEFS assessment can be optimized using ecocity-specific tools to illustrate indicators and to update the assessment so it can track regional and city performance toward ecocity conditions over time along the 15 dimensions. Next Steps including further development and beta testing of these tools and processes. When ready and fully tested, the added functions will be built into Ecocity Builders IEFS support toolkit, which can be provided along with consulting services to the Ecocity Network and other cities wanting to advance towards greater health and sustainability using the IEFS, as outlined in Ecocity Builders MoU with ICLEI. Summary Conclusions As a result of our dedicated participation with the Rio+20 process, Ecocity Builders is now at the forefront of global discussions on sustainable cities development implementation with institutions like MIT, Brookings Institute, the World Bank, the United Nations; with organizations like ICLEI, United Cities and Local Governments, and with companies like Cisco, Siemens and Esri. At the same time, we have maintained our grassroots base with existing and new partnerships with our early partner cities, with nonprofits like Ushahidi, with our constituents in the San Francisco Bay Area, and with localized networks like Transition Town. In order to successfully roll out the IEFS in a transparent manner with a high level of participation at the international scale while ramping up visibility and influence through its next stage of development, testing and implementation, Ecocity Builders will seek to continue to develop organizational capacity, funding, programs and processes for collaboration with other stakeholders, including the public sector, foundations and the private sector.

Left Richard Register on a sustainable cities panel at Rio+20 convened by the Government of Brazil. Right Some of Ecocity Builders delegation in the Major Groups Pavilion in front of our poster display on the IEFS (Jonn Bramen, Jennie Moore, Kirstin Miller, Richard Register and Rick Smit)