In this issue:

1. ICLEI member news
2. ICLEI World Congress 2009 in Edmonton - Connecting leaders
3. ICLEI in World Economic Forum's Council on Urban Management
4. G-8 endorses halving global emissions by 2050
5. Public procurement high on the European – and ICLEI’s - agenda
6. European Green Capital Award - Only two months left to apply!
7. Over 1,000 participants in Biofuel Cities European Partnership!
8. Apply now for the European Energy Service Award 2008!
9. ICLEI training on Water Management at World Water Week
10. 1st Buy Recycled Network Convention in Barcelona
11. New events
12. Event reminders

1. ICLEI member news

Almada and Zaragoza are best LIFE-Environment Projects 2007-2008

EMAS LAB, a project led by ICLEI member city Almada (Portugal), was considered to be one of the 21 best LIFE-Environment projects completed during 2007 and early 2008. ICLEI member Zaragoza (Spain) was also included in this forerunners group with the project OPTIMIZAGUA.

The goal of the EMAS LAB project was to select EMAS indicators and develop the corresponding benchmarks, as well as to develop tools and methodologies for its implementation that could be used in local authorities throughout Portugal. OPTIMIZAGUA focused on policy objectives for water quantity, in order to ensure and promote sustainable water abstraction and sustainable use of surface and ground waters.

The award aims to improve dissemination by identifying those LIFE projects whose results, if widely applied, could have the most positive impact on the environment.

For more information, visit
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/bestprojects/best2007-2008/index.htm

2. ICLEI World Congress 2009 in Edmonton - Connecting leaders

ICLEI World Congress, a key event for ICLEI members, ICLEI’s strategic partners and experts, will take place from 14 - 18 June 2009 in the City of Edmonton (Canada).

The congress will be a golden opportunity to learn about the achievements of the most advanced cities and towns, and to build upon past successes to advance local action for sustainability. More than 800 delegates worldwide will be able to learn from each other and interact beyond regional boundaries.

The event will facilitate exchange and capacity-building among local governments and other stakeholders who play leading roles in the path towards sustainability. It will be a dynamic platform with keynote presentations, reports, debates, workshops, networking events, site visits and an exhibition.

The programme will showcase the vast work of ICLEI members on advancing sustainability and it will be enriched by global strategists and leaders sharing their vision on the opportunities and challenges for local governments in the coming decades.

ICLEI invites municipalities to reach out to neighbouring communities, sister cities, other partner municipalities and associates, to encourage them to join in Edmonton and discuss future strategies of local sustainability.

Registration will open soon. ICLEI looks forward to seeing you in Edmonton!

For more information, visit www.iclei.org/worldcongress2009 or contact world.congress@iclei.org.

3. ICLEI in World Economic Forum's Council on Urban Management

ICLEI Secretary General Konrad Otto-Zimmermann accepted an invitation from Prof. Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, to become a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Urban Management. He will attend the Inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda to be held in Dubai from 7 - 9 November 2008.

The World Economic Forum will form Global Agenda Councils on the foremost topics in the global arena - such as Urban Management - and will convene 15 to 30 of the world’s leading experts to capture best knowledge on each issue and integrate it into global collaboration and decision-making processes.

The Network of Global Agenda Councils will have a major impact on shaping the global agenda by monitoring and prioritising global challenges, elaborating solutions and being available in crisis management situations. It will also act as an advisory board to the World Economic Forum and other parties.

For more information, click here.

4. G-8 endorses halving global emissions by 2050

Meeting in Toyako (Japan) at the beginning of July, the Group of Eight leading industrial nations (G-8) endorsed the halving of world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  The United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy also called on all major economies to join the effort to stem the potentially dangerous rise in world temperatures.

The draft climate communiqué agreed upon mentioned that mid-term goals would be needed to achieve the shared goal for 2050, but gave no numerical targets.

The statement puts the focus of fighting global warming on United Nations-led talks to create a new framework when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The talks are set to conclude in Copenhagen in December 2009.

For more information on the final communiqué, visit www.g8summit.go.jp/eng/doc/doc080714__en.html

5. Public procurement high on the European – and ICLEI’s - agenda

As part of the package of measures in the Sustainable Production and Consumption and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan released on 16 July, the European Commission also issued a Communication called "Public Procurement for a better environment", which aims to address the obstacles preventing the further take up of Green Public Procurement (GPP). With the recent development of a Training Toolkit on GPP, ICLEI has proved its active involvement in responding to the Commission’s calls for action in the field.
This is also illustrated by the increasing popularity of ICLEI’s Procura⁺ Campaign, which is happy to welcome seven new participants: the City of York (UK), the Limousin Region (France), Agència de Residus de Catalunya (Spain), ESPO - Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (UK), Ville de Saint-Denis and Municipalité de Mouans-Sartoux (France), and ARPAT Toscana (Italy). By joining the Campaign, they are reaffirming their commitment to implementing Sustainable Procurement and gaining an opportunity to showcase their achievements in this field.

ICLEI offers to keep you up-to-date on the latest news on Procura⁺, the European Sustainable Procurement Campaign, and ICLEI’s Sustainable Procurement activities in Europe in its new look quarterly update. Do not hesitate to send your contributions to procurement@iclei.org. News from Procura⁺ Participants and ICLEI members enjoy publishing priority!

For more information on ICLEI’s Sustainable Procurement activities,
visit www.iclei-europe.org/procurement

6. European Green Capital Award - Only two months left to apply!

Does your city have a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards? If so, apply now to the European Green Capital Award! You could become a role model and encourage other cities to commit to ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development. Winning this title could also bring about additional benefits for your city such as increased tourism, more investment and an influx of young professionals.

The Green Capital Award will reward each year a European City with a population of more than 200,000 (or the largest city in countries which do not have a capital that large) that is leading the way with environmentally friendly urban living.

Entries will be assessed on the basis of ten environmental criteria including climate change, transport, air, waste and water. The jury, which includes ICLEI, will select the winners for 2010 and 2011 later on this year.

Seize this opportunity to promote your efforts in developing green urban living in your city!

For more information, visit www.europeangreencapital.eu
or view a brief presentation video of this initiative.

7. Over 1,000 participants in Biofuel Cities European Partnership!

One year after its launch, the Biofuel Cities European Partnership, a platform designed for all stakeholders in the area of biofuels for transport, has raised a huge amount of interest, with an impressive 1,040 people registered to date as participants.

The Partnership, driven by ICLEI together with six other partners, has been offering its participants an increasing range of information and access to numerous activities and resources, encouraging them to engage in dynamic networking and to form new partnerships. The reason for this success lies also in the ever-increasing public interest in the topic.

Taking into account the recent European policy measures and the concerns about the potential risks of biofuel production, the neutral stakeholder platform will intend, during the second half of the project, to contribute to the debate on how biofuels can be integrated into the European energy mix and transport solutions in a sustainable manner.

Help us contribute to driving debate and progress in the biofuel sector. Join the Biofuel Cities European Partnership now!

For more information, visit www.biofuel-cities.eu

8. Apply now for the European Energy Service Award 2008!

Since its creation four years ago, the European Energy Service Award has honoured outstanding success and dedication to energy efficiency through energy services in Europe. In 2008, it will reward energy agencies, energy service companies, public facilities, energy consultants, etc for innovative ideas and solutions in the following categories: Best Promoter, Best Provider and Best Project in the public, commercial and lighting sectors.

ICLEI encourages its members to send their application before the closing date on 7 September 2008. The award ceremony will take place on 7 October 2008 in Brussels.

This Award is part of the European Energy Service Initiative, which was developed and launched in 2005 by the Berlin Energy Agency (Berliner Energieagentur) to provide a promotional platform for energy services in Europe.

For more information, visit www.energy-service-initiative.net or
contact Anja Krechting at krechting@berliner-e-agentur.de.

9. ICLEI training on Water Management at World Water Week

Planning to attend the Stockholm World Water Week in August? If so, be sure not to miss the ICLEI-organised free training session on ‘Integrated Urban Water Management – What’s in it for the City of the Future?’  The session will be held in parallel to the World Water Week taking place from 17 - 23 August in Stockholm, Sweden. Targeted at senior decision-makers and planners working in local governments, this three-hour session is arranged as part of the European Commission funded project ‘SWITCH – Managing Water for the City of the Future’.

The executive training will be delivered by experts from the SWITCH project partnership. It will serve to raise awareness of the opportunities, benefits and costs of an integrated approach to urban water management. In particular, the session will examine whether such an approach could result in more efficient and sustainable uses of water resources in an urban environment.

The training session is free of charge and will take place in the Stockholm International Fairs and Congress Centre (venue for the World Water Week) on 19 August 2008.

For more information, visit www.switchtraining.eu

10. 1st Buy Recycled Network Convention in Barcelona

Organised by the Waste Agency of Catalunya, a new participant of the Procura⁺ Campaign, the 1st Buy Recycled Network Convention (XCR) took place from 3 – 4 July in Barcelona (Spain).

The event brought together around 300 participants interested in Green Public Procurement (GPP) and recycled/recyclable and biodegradable products. ICLEI was invited to present the European context on GPP in a roundtable, as well as the Procura⁺ Campaign together with representatives from the XCR, London Remade and the Catalogue of Recycled products in Belgium.

The Buy Recycled Network (XCR) is a virtual meeting place for public authorities, companies and private consumers wishing to buy and sell recycled, recyclable and/or biodegradable products, with the aim of creating a partnership between agents and stimulating the market for these products.

For more information, visit http://xcr.arc.cat or contact xcr.arc.dmah@gencat.es.

11. New events

BYPAD final conference
18-19 September 2008, Tartu (Estonia)

How can you improve the cycling policy in your town, city or region? The final BYPAD (Bicycle Policy Audit) conference will gather representatives from local and regional governments that have implemented BYPAD and will present their cycling policies and exchange experiences of using the tool during the past 9 years.

BYPAD is an instrument that serves for the evaluation of local and regional cycling policies and quality improvements. It has been developed, applied and continuously improved since 1999, with support from the European Commission, and ICLEI as one of the network partner. More than 100 cities and regions in 20 European countries have been evaluating and improving their cycling policy with BYPAD, which has become a European quality standard in the area.

The 'EU-Asia Sustainable Waste Management Cycle: Integrating Best Practices of Solid Waste Management Policies' (EA-SWMC) is a project supported by the Asia Pro-Eco Programme of the European Commission. It aims to implement measures that will ensure the management of solid waste and cleansing process complies with environment best practices.

As a promoter of the project, ICLEI is pleased to announce that the EU-Asia Solid Waste Management Conference will be held on 29-30 October 2008 in Perak (Malaysia). The conference will provide an information-sharing forum to exchange ideas and search for best practices of waste management in the EU and Asia.

Participants will benefit from receiving a broad range of information, such as technology innovations for future Solid Waste Management (SWM), EU policy and regulatory framework on SWM, findings from international projects, economic instruments, financing methods and best practices examples.

12. Event reminders

Second International Conference on Sustainable Tourism
Sustainability, Competitiveness and Identity in Tourism Destinations
10 - 11 October 2008, Rimini Riviera (Italy)

The ICLEI in Europe newsletter is produced by the European Secretariat of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. Copies are available on request. Editors: Stefan Kuhn (responsible), Ciara Leonard, Lydie Gerboin.

Comments and questions are welcome - please write to Lydie Gerboin at information.services@iclei.org, Leopoldring 3, 79098 Freiburg, Germany,Tel: +49-761/36 89 2-0, www.iclei-europe.org

ICLEI is a membership organisation of local governments and their associations. To date more than 800 municipalities and municipal associations of all sizes from around the world have made a unique commitment to sustainable development by joining ICLEI. They support the work of ICLEI through their membership fees as well as through their experience and creativity in the development and implementation of projects and campaigns to address the globe's biggest problems. Within the organisation they are part of a network of peers that can profit from each other's knowledge. For membership information please have a look at our website or contact: membership.services@iclei.org

Copyright 2008 ICLEI European Secretariat GmbH, Freiburg, Germany. All rights reserved.