Corporate Social Review Magazine 3rd & 4th QUARTER 2012 | Page 115

Chris Guenther Senior Associate, Sustainability [email protected] Mohammed Al-Shawaf Manager, SustainAbility [email protected] — Strategies for business engagement What are the most effective strategies for business to engage with local governments and their citizens to advance sustainability in cities? Who should initiate, and what are the relative advantages of open, multi-stakeholder forums versus more targeted, bilateral partnerships? — The value of city-to-city alliances What have the increasing number of city-to-city sustainability alliances accomplished in their relatively short histories? How have they leveraged their growing linkages to make progress on sustainable development that would not have been possible without the network(s)? — Rural + urban What aspects of rural life serve sustainable development better, and can these lessons be drawn into cities also? — "Nameless, faceless" cities and their implications A lot of (primarily Southern) cities are growing in terms of demographic and economic power, but, as one interviewee noted, remain largely "nameless and faceless" to the majority of observers outside of their regions and countries. If a city's brand is an important element to the way it prioritizes and makes decisions around sustainability, how will the "covert" nature of these cities in?uence their sustainable development? And what is the role of businesses in in?uencing that sustainability prioritization in covert cities as opposed to wellrecognized large cities? — The role of purpose-built sustainable cities What will be the impact of urban sustainability laboratories (such as Masdar) to prototype sustainability interventions within existing cities? Do these purpose-built cities hold lessons for urban sustainability and, in turn, for sustainability overall? We welcome any feedback — insights, comments or questions. We are also seeking sponsors and research partners to help shape and support further work on these topics. To share feedback, or to inquire into partnership or sponsorship, please contact Mohammed Al-Shawaf (als h a w a f @ s u s t a i n a b i l i t y. c o m ) o r C h r i s G u e n t h e r ([email protected]). To access the full report please go to our website www.corporatesocialreview.org.za Photo: Chris Krichhoff CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW 113