Webinars at glance
Engaging dialogue on pressing urban issues The COVID-19 induced pandemic was brutal. It was a lesson for the world economies to be best prepared for the worst. Most importantly, the pandemic highlighted how knowledge is power and for the betterment of the community, knowledge sharing is key for human existence to thrive. With this thought in mind, Urban Update undertook the initiative of organising a series of webinars for experts to share their learnings, experiences and promote dialogue amongst the key stakeholders Team Urban Update
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s part of this, Urban Update collaborated with various organisations and put together a total of _ webinars as part of _ diverse series. These webinars indulged in conversations with experts, bureaucrats, representatives of urban local bodies, and social welfare activists that have been actively involved in improving the functionalities of the urban landscape.
E-dialogues
As part of AIILSG and Urban Update’s collaboration, this series of webinars was started. Under this series, the institute collaborated with UNHabitat, United Nations Centre for Regional Development, Gwalior Smart City and Bilaspur Smart City etc. In the e-dialogues of 2021, the following topics were discussed - Digitalization in Waste Management; Addressing Urban Issues with Innovation; Empowering Women by Building Skills and Entrepreneurship Development; Accelerating Urban Action for a Carbon-free World. E-dialogue’s journey in 2021, started with Dr Kulwant Singh moderating the session with a focus on how the 21st Century is about the incorporation of digitalisation in all sectors of the economy and human activities. Along with Dr Singh, Rohit Kakkar, Deputy
42 December 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
Advisor (PHE), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India; and Praveena Sanjay, Director, World Institute of Sustainable Energy, Pune, were present. The panellists discussed how the COVID-19 induced pandemic reflected on the ultimate usage of digital technology. The second e-dialogue event picked up the same notion on how digi-tech and innovation are key for the future. Innovation has been and continues to improve governance and quality of life of people in cities and how giving space to start-ups can give a new push to cities to achieve sustainable development goals. The session was organized in collaboration with Dream Hatcher Incubation Centre and was attended by Kakul Mishra, National Programme Head, National Institute of Urban Affairs and Deepti Raj, Senior Project Associate, World Resources InstituteIndia. The third webinar discussed how women entrepreneurs around the world need to be recognised and integrated into the workplace. The panellist list comprised academic experts and NGOs striving towards making women-friendly working spaces. Several schemes such as PM Ujjwala, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Nirbhaya were discussed. The final e-dialogue was hosted
by Kushwant Singh, CEO, 3R Waste Foundation. The esteemed panel included Sanskriti Menon, Senior Programme Director, Centre for Environment Education; Rajeev Vijh, Founder and Director, Kriyanvit Consulting and Sunita Sanghi, Former Advisor, NITI Aayog.
CityNet
CityNet is the leading pioneer in providing network communications and technology solutions. AIILSG in collaboration with CITYNET, organised five webinars in a series ‘Localisation of SDGs’. These webinars ranged on discussions of urban planners worldwide pushing for urban local bodies to focus on equitable and sustainable urban expansion that does not harm the environment. They suggested the countries globally to undertake measures and policies to inch closer to achieving the SDGs, and how urban development at large cannot be successful without factoring in inclusivity. The COVID-19 pandemic is being considered by many as a lesson for policymakers and world leaders. The transmissibility of the disease has made it immensely clear that without ensuring universal access to basic civic services for all, no one can be considered safe. These primarily include water, sanitation and health services.
