The Aalborg Commitments baseline review of urban sustainability undertaken in Riga, Latvia reveals significant discrepancies between the sustainability criteria of the Aalborg Commitments and municipal statutes and planning documents. An analysis of the European Common Indicators (ECI) and the State of the Environment in Riga indicators indicates that they can only partially fulfil a monitoring function for the implementation of the Aalborg Commitments. To gain insight into the institutional arrangements and governance practices of the municipal government and administration in the context of sustainability City Council deputies and municipal administration structural units and personnel were surveyed. Survey results indicate that deficiencies in governance such as knowledge about sustainable development, policy integration, intersector cooperation, municipality and stakeholder cooperation and urban management practices contribute to development policies and outcomes that are weakly supportive of sustainable development and act as barriers to the mainstreaming of sustainable development in Riga.
Background
Smart cities combine new and emerging technologies with a vision of more efficient and, proponents claim, more sustainable urban environments. Sustainability is often seen as a by-product of smart city technology—instead of being the driving force behind smart cities.
Bullfrog Power, Canada’s leading green energy provider, brought together a panel of business leaders to discuss how to bring sustainability to the fore in the adoption of smart city technologies. The panel was moderated by...
As global population grows, urban population is growing even faster — with 2.5 billion more city dwellers expected by 2050, according to the United Nations. And while urbanization can bring benefits in terms of economies of scale, social cohesion, technological innovation, transportation efficiency and more, cities can also be breeding grounds for poverty, pollution and malaise.
To help inspire cities to make the most of the opportunities and minimize downsides of growth, the World Economic Forum recently...
What is this report about?
Resource efficiency is now a key objective of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The flagship `Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe` initiative (EC, 2011a) sets out a framework to support a shift towards a resource‑efficient and low-carbon economy in many policy areas. It also gives practical guidance on how to achieve such an economy (EC, 2011b). The Seventh Environment Action Programme, `Living well, within the limits of our planet`, also identifies a resource-efficient, green and...
What is this report about?
Policy backgroundScarcity of natural resources poses a threat to the continued prosperity and well‑being of the world`s population. As the global economy and population grows and the standard of living rises, the demand for natural resources increases and this threatens the security of supply. Resources are defined as all inputs into the economy (EC, 2011a). `These resources include raw materials such as fuels, minerals and metals but also food, soil, water, air, biomass and...
Our current pattern of resource use is leading to the depletion and, consequently, scarcity of natural resources (1), the degradation of ecosystems and volatile and increasing prices of natural resources. On a planet with finite resources, the challenge is to find a way of delivering greater value and more services with fewer inputs (EC, 2011a). Resources are defined as raw materials, such as fuels, minerals and metals, but also food, soil, water, air, biomass and ecosystems (EC, 2011b).
Resource efficiency is a...
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