Speaker: Susan Mason

This panel examines interactions, legislations, new ways of coordinating and mobilizing resources, and new frameworks and technical capacities for decision making through a survey of implementation practices and opportunities that span cities and their peri-urban areas. Particular attention is paid to the opportunities and challenges for moving beyond ‘assessments’ and towards the actual implementation of local actions in support of climate resilient urban development. The operating and implementation systems include environmental, political and social boundaries and opportunities for climate change action. The panel examines a framework for processes in planning decisions for environmentally sustainable and climate-adapted futures. Additionally, we explore multiple key challenges and hurdles for effective climate governance in the cities in Peshawar Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan with a focus on the adaptation initiatives taken in the Valley. Attention is also given to the development of community-based urban resilience and climate action plans. The panel relates a range of innovative practices, experiments, and ideas from around the globe – such as regionalism in California, planning within planetary boundaries, transnational networks across Asia and Europe, community-based strategies in Denmark and Indonesia, a toolkit to support urban adaptation processes in Germany – that are leading to the emergence of new urban actors, spaces, and political dynamics enabling structural transformations towards low carbon and climate resilient cities.