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
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