Get involved in IUCN's urban initiatives

(Directed mainly to the IUCN family)

Means of involvement

The "IUCN Cities List" (an e-mail list)

This list is composed of members of the specialist group described immediately below, as well as IUCN leaders, members of other IUCN commissions and cooperating organizations, and a few others who have expressed strong interest in IUCN's work as it relates to urban people and urban places.

We send circular e-mails to this list every few days. They are about key issues, events, and resources, as well as matters internal to IUCN's networks.

Each message is about a single subject, making it easy to forward it to others who might be interested.        

The Cities and Protected Areas Specialist Group of IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas

Click here for detailed information about the "Cities Specialist Group" and a list of its current members.

Membership in the Cities Specialist Group is by invitation. Anyone may ask to be included, but preference is given to those directly involved in connecting conservation of nature with urban people and urban places, either as practitioners or researchers.

Although expertise and willingness to contribute are most important, we strive for gender balance and wish to include younger professionals and people from all world regions. In addition, with a view to promoting cooperation within IUCN, we have asked the other IUCN commissions to suggest from among their members people who have a particular interest in urban matters. At any given time, the Cities Specialist Group has about 90 members from some 30 countries.

When we started out in 2004, we decided to cast a wide net and take an incremental and exploratory — rather than strategic — method to planning our activities. This somewhat opportunistic approach has paid off. For example, we were asked by the IUCN Secretariat to work with UNESCO in developing the concept of Historic Urban Landscapes. Among other things, this is helping us build bridges to global communities that have been difficult to reach, such as those concerned with the built environment.

We are putting together a systematic plan for the WCPA Cities Specialist Group that will relate to cities as parts of larger ecosystems, and to the broader IUCN urban work that we have proposed (see below). Draft papers will be circulated for comment.  

Members of the Cities Specialist Group must contribute in some way: by participating in a working or advisory group; by providing information; or by organizing events. Member involvement is assessed at the end of each year.

Working groups and advisory groups of the specialist group

The working groups and advisory groups are listed here. A prerequisite to membership in such sub-groups is membership in the Cities Specialist Group. Some groups, such as Dark Skies, currently have a limit on the number of members they can accommodate.    

World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)

Appointment to membership in the World Commission on Protected Areas is a formal process separate from appointment to one of WCPA's specialist groups or task forces. In other words, members of

the Cities Specialist Group are not automatically members of WCPA.

The WCPA Members Guide, published in 2008 and posted at http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/membersguide2008_1.pdf

provides detailed information, although some of it (especially regarding staff and regions) is outdated.

IUCN Cities and Conservation Initiative

In 2004, IUCN's World Conservation Congress approved a resolution, "Cities and Conservation," calling for IUCN as a whole to pay more attention to urban people and urban places. This resolution originated in what has become the Cities Specialist Group. 

An informal working group on Cities and Conservation within the Cities Specialist Group has been a base for pulling together a broader IUCN effort. A draft brief summary of next steps is posted here. A more detailed paper is in process and will be linked to this page. In late 2009, we started working with the IUCN Secretariat and other IUCN commissions to identify other nodes of urban activity within IUCN's complex structure.  

How you can contribute to and benefit from involvement

A word about funding. IUCN's commissions and their units are volunteer networks. IUCN provides no direct financial support to them. Their members' time and expenses are covered by their employers, or by contracts or grants members secure on their own. In many cases, commission members donate their time and pay for their own expenses. Occasionally other organizations cover travel expenses to meetings at which specialist group members are asked to participate.  

Provide information. Tell us what you are doing in relation to the purposes of the Cities Specialist Group and the IUCN "Cities and Conservation" resolution. Give us information about events, publications, new organizations and projects, and other resources that will be of interest to others in the network.    

React to information and requests that we send you. Circular e-mails to the IUCN Cities List provide news about resources, events, and opportunities to contribute to activities.

Bring up issues that you believe need to be addressed. Members' suggestions have resulted, for example, in a workshop on cities and conservation in the world's Mediterranean-type regions (and adoption of an IUCN Recommendation on that subject), and a working group on biosphere reserves in urban areas.  

Help make connections. The Cities Specialist Group's leadership puts a high priority on making connections among people with similar goals and interests. Much of this goes on behind the scenes.      

Inform others in your own networks about the specialist group and the resources on our Web site.

Help organize and participate in meetings and conferences. Examples are given in the "Accomplishments" section of the Web site (see the links under "Specialist Group Activities" on the home page).  

Set up an informal network within the specialist group, including as appropriate members of other IUCN commissions, to facilitate contact among people interested in similar issues. 

Offer your assistance to leaders of projects and working and advisory groups. See the home page for listings.

Consider organizing an activity under Cities Specialist Group auspices. For example, those who put together the Dark Skies Advisory Group needed a home in WCPA and we decided it was a good fit.

Request cosponsorship of an activity by the specialist group. Examples are Urban Nature 2006, organized by the South African National Biodiversity Institute; and a Paris-based initiative (to be announced) to create a global network of urban protected area "observatories." If you wish to organize an activity with the specialist group's co-sponsorship and use its logo, contact the group leader (see "Contact" below). Note that any such co-sponsorship requires significant participation by members of the specialist group. Permission from others is required to use the WCPA and IUCN logos.   

Arrange for exchanges of leaders and experts. Several such exchanges have taken place, for example, between managers of urban protected areas in Kenya and Brazil. 

In your country or region, make contact with fellow members of the specialist group (listed here). For their e-mail addresses, see circular e-mails or contact the group leader (see "Contact" below). 

Establish contact with an IUCN Regional or Country Office near you (click here for a directory) to help support its work and encourage its staff to include an urban dimension in their activities. 

When traveling, consider visiting with fellow specialist group members. On several occasions, this has led to speaking opportunities and joint activities.

Comment on plans. As noted above, draft plans for the Cities Specialist Group will be circulated in draft form with a request for comments. 

Contact: Ted_Trzyna[at]InterEnvironment[dot]org.

[12/2009]