Alexander Juras is Stakeholder Forum’s New Chairperson

Addressing Solutions to the 

Food-Energy-Water Nexus:

Cities as Test-Beds for SDG Implementation Tools and Solutions

Conference Room 2  UN Wednesday 6^th of June 615pm

SDG 11 recognises the central role of cities in sustainable development and calls for making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, and resilient. Advances in science and technology - especially in transportation, communication systems, public health, and agricultural and industrial production – push the evolution of cities. To harness the synergy between cities and the food-energy-water nexus, a community of researchers, technologists, and practitioners is needed to share knowledge, form global partnerships, and bridge worldviews of city stakeholders (e.g. researchers, policy actors, industry, entrepreneurs) through practice-oriented dialogue.

This event will highlight currently available technology solutions that are not yet being fully utilized for the SDGs. It will focus on existing technology for basic life support (i.e., agritech, renewable energy, water treatment) that could be more effectively used to address the food-energy-water nexus, thus, basic city services central to smart sustainable city development. It will explore issues of social equity when deploying these tech-enabled solutions to ensure no community is left behind, especially communities in:

·         Africa, which is urbanising at a historically rapid rate, creating development challenges and opportunities for advancing sustainable development. Renowned scientists from Africa will share their experiences in undertaking collaborate research on sustainable urban development in partnership with local authorities, industry, communities, and government (supported by the international programme Leading Integrated Research Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA 2030 Africa).

·         SIDS and PICTs, which are actively balancing how to build climate resilience and market competitiveness. Practitioners and technology transfer professionals will share community-oriented ‘science-technology-innovation’ approaches to smart sustainable city development that promote social entrepreneurship, social equity, and local implementation of the SDGs.

·         Megacities of the developed and developing world. An Integrated Utility Hub (IUH) model will be share its key findings from applied test case modeling led for San Francisco, Minneapolis, Washington DC, and Cape Town. It will look at how at a scalable and community-based ‘metabolic engine’ that transforms municipal liabilities (solid and liquid waste) into renewable assets for local use: recycled potable water, clean energies, nutrient-rich fertilizer, fresh food, and reclaimed materials.

Chair: 

• Charles Nouhan, Chairman, Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future

Speakers:

• Greg Wakatsuki and Co-founder, Young Moon LLC
• Amollo Ambole University of Nairobi, Kenya
• Joshua Foss, Founder and CEO at Regensia
• Philip Osano Stockholm Environment Institute, Kenya
• Tolullah Oni Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Jeb Brugmann, 100 Resilient Cities

Respondents

·         Claudia LaRue, Dominican Republic and Prof Satu Miettinen University of Lapland Finland