Telangana, UN-Habitat Ink Pact To Drive Climate-Resilient Urban Development
Telangana and UN-Habitat signed a cooperation pact to promote climate-resilient, sustainable and inclusive urban development across the state.
The state government and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on Monday signed a ‘framework of cooperation’ agreement to strengthen collaboration for sustainable, inclusive, resilient and future-ready urban development. The agreement would focus on climate-resilient urban development, the commissioner and director of municipal administration (CD&MA) said.
Sustainable infrastructure includes water, wastewater and solid waste management, nature-based solutions, digital transformation, capacity building, project development and innovative urban financing. The National Institute of Urban Management (NIUM) would be the platform for urban innovation, knowledge and capacity development.
The partnership will provide opportunities for urban local bodies (ULBs) to access technical knowledge, international good practices, capacity building and innovative solutions. Special focus will be on smaller and emerging cities, with emphasis on context-specific, affordable and scalable solutions.
Dr T.K. Sreedevi, secretary, municipal administration department and Director-General, NIUM, and Patrick Canagasingham, director, regional programmes division, UN-Habitat, signed the agreement.
NIUM, in collaboration with UN-Habitat and ULBs, will also facilitate city-level assessments, project identification, project preparation, applied research, knowledge exchange and demonstration projects. The partnership will help ULBs strengthen their institutional and technical capacities and develop practical solutions that can be scaled across the State.
A laboratory approach to urban innovation will also be explored, enabling selected ULBs to test innovative solutions in areas such as climate resilience, heat mitigation, rainwater management, urban services and digital planning, with successful models taken up for replication.
The Framework of Cooperation Agreement is in alignment with Telangana Rising 2047 said officials of the CD&MA.
The partnership supports the Telangana Rising vision by strengthening urban institutions and enabling cities to respond effectively to the State’s future growth and urbanisation. It seeks to promote knowledge-driven urban development, innovation, sustainable infrastructure and improved urban services, contributing to more livable, resilient and future-ready cities.
Partnership Outcomes is expected to strengthen ULB capacities, improve project preparation, facilitate access to technical expertise and global good practices, and develop replicable urban solutions. It will also support knowledge partnerships and demonstration projects, enabling successful innovations to be adapted and scaled across Telangana and, where relevant, across India and internationally.
The UN-Habitat delegation included Shubhagato Dasgupta, chief, planning and finance; Aline Machado Da Matta, head, Geneva liaison office, and head, Unitac, and Nilesh Prakash Rajadhyaksha, country programme manager.
