CLEVER Cities is bringing the UrbanByNature (UbN) programme to Latin America!
Tailored to the needs and interests of Latin American local governments and urban stakeholders, UbN Latin America is providing capacity-building and good practice exchange on a variety of topics including stakeholder engagement, technical implementation and monitoring of nature-based solutions.
UrbanByNature Latin America launched 19-20 April 2022 with a two day live event in the host city of Quito, Ecuador. The event brought together urban leaders and stakeholders for high-level discussion and interactive workshops about the use of Nature-based Solutions in the Latin American context. The hub is in the process of hosting a five-part webinar series geared towards Latin American cities between June 2022 and February 2023.
In collaboration with the City of Quito, ICLEI South America, ICLEI World Secretariat, and YES Innovation, the UrbanByNature Latin America Hub will invite urban leaders from diverse cities throughout Latin America.
“Ante fenómenos como el cambio climático es esencial responder a través de políticas locales coherentes a retos globales. La naturaleza se perfila como un medio para proveer soluciones a los desafíos de adaptación climática que aquejan a las ciudades. La consideración de las Soluciones basadas en la Naturaleza (SbN) en los procesos urbanos es la oportunidad para preparar a nuestras ciudades para el futuro a través de un enfoque ecosistémico, innovador que contribuya a la adaptación al cambio climático, a la resiliencia, al crecimiento económico y a la mejora de la calidad de vida del ser humano.
La ciudad de Quito se enorgullece en ser la sede del Hub Latinoamericano de SbN y espera que la difusión de esta perspectiva contribuya a acercar más a la naturaleza y sus características a nuestras ciudades.”
Santiago Guarderas, Alcalde del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito
“In the face of phenomena such as climate change it is essential to respond through coherent local policies to global challenges. Nature is emerging as a means to provide solutions to the climate adaptation challenges that afflict cities. The consideration of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in urban processes is the opportunity to prepare our cities for the future through an innovative ecosystem approach that contributes to climate change adaptation, resilience, economic growth and the improvement of the quality of life of human beings.
The city of Quito is proud to host the UrbanByNature Latin American Hub and hopes that the dissemination of this approach will contribute to bringing nature and its characteristics closer to our cities.”
Santiago Guarderas, Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Quito
"As the challenges of the 21st century show itself, we see the consequences of an urban era which has shaped itself in profound disrespect to nature. On the other hand, all the agreements on the Biodiversity Post-2020 Framework, that will be consolidated as outcomes from COP15, brings us hope that it is possible to shift our cities to a different development perspective. Urban by Nature is there to consolidate this vision and, in a very pedagogic approach, to demonstrate the different possible ways to do it."
Rodrigo Perpétuo, Executive Secretary ICLEI SAMS
"Over the last 20 years, cities have sought to build resilience and minimise their environmental impact through isolated projects and mainly organisational and technological approaches. Today, by considering nature not just as an urban landscape component but as a toolbox for urban planning, we have the opportunity to not only reconcile the city with its natural context but also to enable it to respond to the challenges of the 21st century with cost-effective solutions."
Grace Yepez, Co-founder and President of YES Innovation, Ecuador
Upcoming events
Past events
UrbanByNature Latin America Hub Webinar #4 Recap
Did you miss our fourth UrbanByNature Latin America webinar? Let’s briefly recap what happened:
The moderator, Bráulio Diaz, Institutional Relations Manager of ICLEI South America, began by re-introducing the CLEVER Cities Project and the UrbanByNature Latin America Hub, which serve to help cities grow capacities and learn about facilitating nature-based solutions (NBS). He described Step 5 of the UrbanByNature methodology, IMPLEMENT, which guides cities in setting clear implementation phases within a realistic time span, making good use of the available resources. Speakers from Milan, Portoviejo, and São Paulo described implementation in their local contexts.
Watch the recording on YouTube and read our recap.
UrbanByNature Latin America Hub Webinar #3 Recap
The third UrbanByNature (UbN) LatAm webinar proceeded to STEP4/COMMIT 6 PLAN of the UbN programme. The webinar provided insights into local decision and policy making and facilitating nature based solutions. Speakers from Connecting Nature, CLEVER Cities and Latin America shared their experiences in working with citizens and other stakeholder groups. They presented approaches and methods of urban planning and highlighted how decision makers can identify common goals, priorites and integrate them to urban action planning of NBS. See the playlist on YouTube and read our recap.
UrbanByNature Latin America Hub Webinar #2 Recap
Did you miss the second UrbanByNature Latin America webinar? Let’s briefly recap what happened:
The moderator, Bráulio Diaz, Institutional Relations Manager of ICLEI South America, began by re-introducing the CLEVER Cities Project and the UrbanByNature Latin America Hub, which serve to help cities grow capacities and learn about facilitating nature-based solutions (NBS). He described Step 2 of the UrbanByNature methodology, PRIORITIZE, which focuses on how cities can work with residents and stakeholders to identify and select appropriate NBS measures adapted to the local context. Watch the recording on YouTube and read our recap.
UrbanByNature Latin America Hub Webinar #1 Recap
14 June 2022
The first UrbanNyNature (UbN) Latin America webinar addressed step 2 of the UbN programme, and focused on EXPLORING the local framework conditions for implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) and creating greener, more sustainable environments. Read the recap.
UrbanByNature Latin America Kick-Off Event
10 May 2022
On Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19th and 20th, the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito collaborated with ICLEI and YES Innovation to host the inaugural event of the UrbanByNature Latin America Hub, which brought together leaders in urban green infrastructure from around the region. The UrbanByNature programme is a global initiative which brings expertise on green infrastructure and nature-based solutions (NBS) to aspiring and achieved urban nature practitioners and policymakers. The UrbanByNature Latin America Hub is being established with support from the CLEVER Cities project. Read the recap.
