Figure 1.4 A Possible Government Role: Administering a National Eco2 Fund

Figure 1.4 A Possible Government Role: Administering a National Eco2 Fund to Support Participating Cities

Source: Author elaboration. Note: IFC = International Finance Corporation; TA = technical assistance; ESCO = energy service company.

Although the limited resources available to national government departments may constrain their ability to participate directly with cities on new initiatives, these departments should still seek ways to participate to some degree in any regional-scale collaborative working groups.

Another interesting and highly infl uential role for national governments involves establishing a national Eco2 Fund Program, which may serve as a conduit for fi nancing programs and disseminating knowledge on global best practices. Canada and Sweden have used similar mechanisms to support cities. In Sweden, a local investment program, which lasted from 1998 to 2002, allocated SKr 6.2 billion (€671 million) to 211 local investment programs in 161 municipalities, involving 1,814 projects (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2004). From municipalities, businesses, and other organizations, this national investment leveraged SKr 27.3 billion (almost €3.0 billion), of which SKr 21 billion (about €2.3 billion) represented investments directly related to sustainability and the environment. It has been estimated that 20,000 full-time short-term or permanent jobs were created through this process. (For more details on this program, refer to part 3.)

Figure 1.4 illustrates one possible model for a National Eco2 Fund Program. The national government would adapt the Eco2 initiative to local circumstances, working in partnership with the World Bank, other international agencies, development organizations, and the private sector. It would allocate resources among cities and administer funds.

Whatever the involvement of national government in the program, it is important for local governments to adapt their Eco2 pathways to the priorities currently established at the national level. This means fi nding points of commonality and adopting terms and language

similar to the terms and language used by the national government. In this way, the national government automatically becomes an ally and a potential partner.

Engage the international community, best practice cities, and the World Bank in the Eco2 Cities Initiative

Engaging the World Bank and other partners directly in the Eco2 pathway is an option for every city. The Eco2 initiative can off er cities a variety of literature, including guidelines and technical reports, to support every stage of the Eco2 pathway. On a case-by-case basis, the World Bank, in concert with national governments and global development partners, may be in a position to assist in fi nancing Eco2 integrated solutions. For example, the World Bank can help cities integrate and consolidate a variety of fi nancial mechanisms given that Eco2 projects will tend to need diff erent types of fi nancing at each stage and may qualify for multiple types of funding. The World Bank’s various fi nancial instruments are examined in chapter 7 (part 1) and in part 3.

Other global development partners may also be willing to provide support to cities in cases where special expertise is needed and resources can be found to cover costs. Best practice cities, for example, are often glad to share information and may provide additional assistance and support to cities directly or through a joint capacity-building initiative with the World Bank.

Outline a process for building capacity

Capacity building involves the familiar process of professional development and demonstration projects. The DSS, described in this chapter and in part 2, should be a key element in any capacity-building plans. The city-based DSS includes methods and tools without which it is almost impossible to adopt an integrated approach to design and policy. Most methods and tools within the city-based DSS are well supported by tool developers and may be accompanied by useful handbooks, guides, and tutorials.

As cities engage in outlining a process for capacity building, it is important to recognize that the Eco2 initiative represents a signifi cant departure from standard urban planning, development, and management. The examples of integrated infrastructure cited in chapter 1 are not yet commonplace. The large majority of growing cities, including those located in the developed world, are still unable or unwilling to contain urban sprawl, optimize land use and infrastructure, adopt life-cycle costing, or apply many of the alternative designs and policies used in best practice cities. For these reasons, an Eco2 pathway must incorporate a carefully planned process to manage change and pay special attention to adopting new ideas for leadership, visioning, collaboration, and analysis.

Develop Eco2 fl uency

Another challenge associated with any change in standard practice is the task of familiarizing the city leadership group with the key concepts and helping offi cials to understand what is truly diff erent about the new approach and why it may be especially benefi cial. Individuals need quiet time to absorb new ideas. The Eco2 Cities Initiative provides resources, including this book, that can help introduce key concepts and terms. Case studies are an excellent place to start. Talking with best practice cities or viewing video testimonials from other experienced decision makers may also be helpful in providing leaders with the confi dence to adopt and promote a new approach.

Developing fl uency with the concepts might require special sessions for local politicians and executives that allow these offi cials to explore new concepts and practice defending new approaches. Within the Eco2 initiative, for example, the concept of collaboration involves consensus decision making at diff erent tiers and a formal commitment by stakeholders to attend regular meetings and align their policies

in cases where consensus exists. These distinctions need to be made clear and to be accepted because they expand on the traditional view of best practice in governance.

Fluency is also important in realizing the concepts of ecological design. The looping and cascading of resource fl ows within a city may be explained using graphical case studies. It may be helpful to gather key decision makers together for several hours in a comfortable environment to discuss the case studies and the key lessons learned or even to participate in mock workshops and design exercises. The fl uency campaign is aimed at helping decision makers become comfortable in using a new language for design and investment.

References

Beatley, Timothy. 2000. Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities. Washington, DC: Island

Press. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. 2004.

“Local Investment Programmes: The Way to a Sustainable Society.” http://www. naturvardsverket.se/Documents/ publikationer/91-620-8174-8.pdf.

CHAPTER 4

An Expanded Platform for Collaborative Design and Decision Making

The principle of the expanded platform speaks to the importance of adopting a design and decisionmaking process that is more well integrated, adaptable, and lasting. If we want to improve economic and ecological performance through integrated, fi ne-scaled, fl exible, and long-lasting solutions, we must also pursue shifts in the institutional arrangements that enable design and decision making. In many ways, the constructed environment is a mirror of the way we think and relate.

The solution is twofold: (1) engage stakeholders at all scales in a collaborative process as part of every major project, and (2) develop an overarching planning framework for sustainability and resiliency that includes goals, targets, and strategies. Each of these elements is discussed in this chapter. The elements are mutually supportive. The collaboration at all scales generates the skills, goodwill, and creative interchange needed to adopt new business models. The shared planning framework provides the context for integrated project design and also aligns everyone’s plans and policies with a common set of community goals.

Collaboration is also a new form of governance. By engaging stakeholders at all scales, the city creates a planning forum that is more appropriate to mixed economies in which private sector groups often control a majority of the infrastructure systems. Because the process is driven by longterm goals and strategies, it can help cities compensate for the impacts of frequent election cycles, which tend to focus attention on short-term agendas and crisis issues.

The single greatest diffi culty in adopting collaborative arrangements is the lack of any institutional champion to lead and guide the process. Almost by defi nition, no department, group, or government has the mandate, funds, or independence to undertake such a broad, cross-cutting process. Without a sponsor or host, the process never gets started. This is one reason so few collaborative models exist at the city scale. It is also a key reason the Eco2 Cities Initiative proposes that cities

assume leadership in creating a platform for ongoing collaboration. Methods and tools to help cities organize an expanded platform for collaboration and to help cities use this platform to develop eff ective planning frameworks, including regional growth strategies, are included in the city-based decision support system (part 2).

The Core Elements of a Platform for Collaboration

A triple-tier platform

The city can lead a collaborative process on at least three levels or tiers (see fi gure 1.5). Each tier aff ects the others, and in an ideal world, every city should lead a collaborative working group at every tier. In practice, the process may be incremental or periodic. However, it is still important to diff erentiate the options. The tiers refl ect the varying levels of control and infl uence.

Inner tier: The house in order (corporate operations) The fi rst and most fundamental tier is the collaboration that may occur within and among the departments of the city. At this innermost tier, the city has a great measure of control. Here, the city government may address how well it functions as a corporation and how well it works as a team to put its house in order.

Various departments may routinely collaborate to make decisions that are more well integrated and more eff ective. Cross-cutting goals and targets may be adopted and incorporated into the strategic plan. A reporting and monitoring process may be implemented that informs the wider community of how well the city is looking after its various assets, including employees, equipment, capital, publically owned buildings, and so on. Special internal programs may be warranted. For example, the city might reduce transportation costs for employees by means of ride sharing, bicycle storage, a new parking policy, the purchase of effi cient vehicles, tele-work, and so on. Such a project might require changes in the facilities in buildings and employee benefi ts, changes that may only be possible through a collaborative process involving many city departments. Other internal initiatives might include improving the effi ciency of building operations, procurement processes, waste management systems, and energy use.

Whatever the program or project, this innertier collaboration provides the city with an immediate opportunity to learn how to lead an eff ective process and demonstrate the benefi ts of the process. The city may use the collaborative process as a model for all effi cient and sustainable corporate operations. In almost every sector worldwide, the leaders in sustainability not only provide sustainable products and services, but also take pride in corporate performance (for example, their green headquarter offi ces). The same logic applies to cities. There is no excuse for failing to collaborate internally because the city may initiate the process unilaterally. The benefi ts extend well beyond internal operations. It is always easier for cities to lead a collaboration process externally with stakeholders and partners if the city has already succeeded internally.

Middle tier: The city as a provider of services The middle tier of the collaborative platform may be focused on municipal services—the various public services delivered by city government to residents and businesses within city boundaries. Although the services and associated investments may be largely or completely

The future seems to lead quite clearly to a consensus-led approach where everything is discussed and the participation of all interested groups spans all phases of the development plan process.

Source: Lahti (2006).