Session 3: Strengthening City Systems
This event was held on 1 July 2021
Achieving the SDGs in the urban context requires effective city systems built on inclusive, participatory, and accountable governance, the recognition of diverse needs and aspirations, and strengthened infrastructure for improved access to quality education, healthcare, skills and employment, and public space. This cannot be accomplished without enabling systematic processes of learning, knowledge generation, and evidence building on what works and what does not to enact policy and planning which supports young people’s wellbeing.
In this session, moderated by a youth leader, a global panel of speakers consisting of international development practitioners, youth experts, academics, and city officials will engage in an interactive dialogue around learning and evidence building on effective approaches, strategies, principles, and actions for co-creating sustainable transformations of city systems, in terms of policies and practices, planning and programming, to address issues impacting and valued by young people in cities.
The session will be chaired by Dr. Stephanie Butcher, Research Fellow at Connected Cities Lab, the University of Melbourne.
The Evidence to Action for Young People’s Wellbeing in Southern Cities dialogue series is presented by the Connected Cities Lab at the University of Melbourne in partnership with Fondation Botnar.
Speakers
Dr Kalpana Viswanath
Dr Kalpana Viswanath, a social researcher, and entrepreneur is the co-founder and CEO of Safetipin, an organization that uses technology and apps to collect data for the safe movement of women in urban spaces. Safetipin addresses the need to combat increasing violence against women and girls in public places, with its app. The platform has been used by individuals as well as urban stakeholders such as governments. Safetipin has worked with various countries, researching, and generating reports to make their cities safe. for women. Its work includes listing data on the presence of streetlights and mapping unsafe routes and transport availability.
Kalpana served as the director of Jagori Women’s Resource Centre from 2000 till 2007. She worked on issues such as migration, trafficking of women workers, and violence against women. She also worked with government and non-government stakeholders on the Safe Delhi campaign, which focused on violence against women in public spaces. Viswanath was a project director for the Gender Inclusive Cities Project with Women in Cities International. She is a member of the Advisory Group on Gender Issues (AGGI) at UN-Habitat, a Board member at the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime and SLOCAT, an international network on low carbon transport, and Chair of Jagori. She has written extensively and ran a weekly column for Hindustan Times.
Natalia Ileras
Natalia is the Healthy Cities Lead and Vivo Mi Calle Project Director at Despacio. Her work focuses on the creation of sustainable, safe, equitable and active spaces and routes that address the needs of the youth and tackle the risks that limit their access to the public space aiming to improve their health and well-being. Prior to joining Despacio, Natalia worked as an Urban Mobility and Road Safety Project Manager at the World Resources Institute. Her work focused on helping cities implement sustainable and safe mobility solutions through research, street design and the development of public policies, which included Bogota’s Road Safety Plan 2017-2026 and the Speed Management Program.
Ibrahima Bakhoum
Ibrahima Bakhoum is a jurist and has held various positions at the city - Director of Cooperation, Partnership and Development, Deputy Secretary General, Special Advisor to the Mayor and finally Secretary General of the City since July 2019. Previously, he has worked in the non-profit sector as a coordinator and project manager in the fields of training, environment, planning, development, social inclusion and health
Anta Badji
Anta was born on January 05, 2003 in Dakar. She is a student at the technical and professional high school François Xavier Ndione in Thies which is 70 KM from Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Alexandre Apsan Frediani
Alexandre Apsan Frediani specialises on issues around human development in cities of the global South. His work explores participatory approaches to planning and design of interventions in informal settlements in cities in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Alexandre is an expert affiliate of Architecture Sans Frontières UK, a fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association, and part of the boards of Habitat International Coalition and the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre. Before joining IIED, Alexandre was an Associate professor at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London.
Alexandre is working on the research projects ‘Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW)’, leading a work package on ‘translating research into practice’, and ‘Transforming Universities for Climate Change’, leading work package on ‘universities as change-makers. Alexandre also leads research engagement on the role of civic urban media in advancing right to the city. He has a PhD in Planning, Oxford Brookes University and BSc in Development Studies and Journalism, University of Central Lancashire.
Chandana Das
Chandana Das has worked with a broad spectrum of private and public institutions for more than 10 years. Her topics of engagement have been around urban development, sustainability, and innovation. She had also served as the Global Focal Point for United Nations Major Working Group for Children and Youth. Currently, she is working with Veolia as the Innovation Manager and Business Development Executive. Within this role, Chandana is steering two programs - first, Grameen Veolia Water - a social business that addresses the issue of access to safe drinking water in Bangladesh and second, Pop-up India program that co-creates innovative solutions with entrepreneurs to achieve social and ecological impact. She is also supporting the development of clean energy projects in India.