Welcome to Sustainable Cities

Welcome to the course Sustainable Cities! The next three weeks of this course are devoted to the exploration of urban adaptation governance. We will discuss what the governance of urban adaptation is, why it is so important, and how you can contribute to it.

Learn how cities can successfully adapt to environmental change

Global urbanization and climate change are presenting humanity with considerable challenges. Urbanization is a leading driver of environmental change and resource depletion – a trend that will only accelerate as our cities continue to grow. More than half of the global population now lives in cities, and urban environments are facing serious challenges in dealing with climate-related risks, including the hazards posed by more extreme weather events such as droughts, heavy rainfall, and heat waves, as well as rising sea levels.

In this course, you will investigate targeted governance strategies for making urban environments more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate risks. In particular, you will analyse the physical, social, and spatial processes that are shaping current climate-related risks in urban environments.

Each week of the course has a specific focus:

• Week 1: Climate risks and cities
• Week 2: Cities as systems
• Week 3: Governing urban adaptation

Every week you will learn by engaging in different activities, such as watching videos, undertaking quizzes, reading articles, doing exercises, and discussing urban adaptation governance related topics with other learners.

What are your learning goals?

At the end of the course you should be able to:

• Describe the human, ecological, and physical processes that are shaping climate related risks in urban environments.
• Assess risks and barriers to successful urban adaptation based on concrete case studies.
• Identify how urban climate governance and urban planning can help build resilience and advance urban adaptation.
• Apply targeted governance strategies for climate adaptation in urban environments.

Share with others

We are looking forward to your contributions in the comment sections.

Also, consider joining us on social media to build the debate. For those of you who use Twitter, the hashtag #FLurbanadaptation will help you to share ideas and experiences of the course.