We have two new staff members that we are very pleased to introduce to you.

The first is Edna Aguinaga, our Network Project Officer for Latin America. Edna has worked in sustainability issues for over 10 years, in developing and developed countries. She is originally from Mexico. She holds a Master's degree on Environmental Science and Technology from the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from La Salle University in Mexico. She has extensive experience with corporate and non-profit sectors and has worked and facilitated workshops in more than 25 countries. Edna's role at Sustainable Cities is to be the main liaison with our Latin American cities, providing support for their initiatives and expanding the Network. Her areas of expertise are strategic planning, sustainability indicators, fundraising / sales and project management.

We are also excited to welcome Alex Aylett, SCI's new Research Director.  Based in Montreal, Alex is a sustainability researcher and consultant, and a Trudeau Scholar in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia. He has worked on urban sustainability in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Africa. His role will be to expand the links between SCI and urban sustainability researchers, and facilitate the development of a research agenda tailored to the needs and interests of our network.

FOR INFORMATION ON OUR NEW RESEARCH PROGRAM, CLICK HERE.

Welcome to our newest Network Members!

Tulancingo is the 2nd largest city in the Mexican state of Hidalgo with a population of 130,000 people. It is located less than 100 km from Mexico City and it is the most important textile producer in the country. The municipal government is currently implementing the “Municipal Development Plan 2009-2012”, and their interest in joining the network is to strengthen their plan by learning about sustainability in other cities and how they are facing the social, environmental and economical issues at the municipal level. At a national level, they have actively participated in the Local Urban Observatories and the Mexican Association of Municipal Institutes of Planning.

We look forward to working together!

Sustainable Cities International and our newest member city, Campbell River, will be engaging on a 4-month youth engagement project.

This project has three objectives. The first is to support the re-establishment of the Campbell River Youth Advisory Council. The second is to develop a youth engagement strategy for the City of Campbell River. Finally, this project will seek to identify one or two youth-led sustainability projects that can be developed in collaboration between City Staff, the YAC and SCI in the hope of securing funding for implementation.

The project is co-funded by the Tweedledum Foundation and the City of Campbell River.

The City of Campbell River, British Columbia, the third largest city on Vancouver Island, has joined the Sustainable Cities International Network. At a meeting held 28th June, City Council voted unanimously to sign an MOU with the Network.

With the appointment of their Sustainability Manager, Amber Zirnhelt, in 2010, Campbell River has been actively pursuing sustainability initiatives including a sustainability review of their current official community plan, a community energy and emissions plan and award winning projects such as a green roof on the Council building.

Patricia Gordon, the Director of the Sustainable Cities International Network attended the Council meeting and earlier in the day met with City staff to share experiences on sustainable community planning. Pat said, “Campbell River will be a great asset to the Network. It is a city that has embraced sustainable development in a comprehensive way. They are open to sharing their experiences as well as learning from others. We welcome them into our Network”.

The community of Iqaluit is looking for professional consulting services for the City of Iqaluit’s Sustainable Community Plan. The City is interested in receiving proposed submissions from qualified consultants who will assist in the preparation of principles, concepts, recommendations and a multi-year implementation plan of the community’s Sustainability Plan. The successful consulting team will work closely with the Sustainability Coordinator as a mentor and advisor throughout the process. The successful consultant team will deliver their report and recommendations to the Sustainability Coordinator.

See the attached RFP for full details.

Iqaluit Sustainability RFP (587 KB)

Congratulations to our Youth-Led Development Officer, Eric Brown, who was selected to join the Youth Advisory Group of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Eric has been working very hard implementing our CIDA IYIP program over the last 2 years. Not only has the program reached new heights for us, but we've been receiving great feedback from our member cities and our interns. We are sure he will bring great experience to the advisory group at UNESCO!

The members of the Youth Advisory Group have three main functions in line with the Commission's mandate: liaison, advisory, and participatory. They are also asked to share their point of view regarding a variety of issues and to support the development of new partnerships and projects in the communities.

Well done, Eric!