Urban Environmental Sustainability in the Developing World
The goal of the Pathways to Urban Sustainability Initiative is to enhance
the capacity of city leaders in developing countries to use science and
technology to achieve their economic development goals while also
protecting critical environmental resources and improving the health
and livelihoods of their residents. Over the past year, the Academies
launched this ambitious program through on-the-ground planning
activities in China, South Africa, Tanzania and Mexico. We are
currently raising funds for the next phase of the initiative, which
will include an international symposium to examine the major trends,
challenges, and potential paths forward to urban sustainability in
developing world cities, and a set of on-the-ground projects in China
to be carried out in partnership with the Chinese Academies of Science
and Engineering and other leading Chinese science and technology
institutions.
More Information
Workshop
on Urban Environmental Sustainability, February 2006 (PDF,141 KB)
Steering
Group Membership (PDF,88 KB)
Biographical
Information (PDF,131 KB)
Site
Visits to China, South Africa and Mexico (PDF,199 KB)
Workshop Participants (PDF,89 KB)
UES
Workshop Presentations
The next thirty years will be critical to Earth's future. Two
billion additional people will be added to the world's
population and absorbed into cities and towns of developing countries.
The need to find a balance among economic growth, public health, and
protecting and managing the planet's natural resources is
obvious. The proposed program will demonstrate how scientific knowledge
and technology can be used to help guide economic growth in developing
countries in ways that will protect public health and the
Earth's critical environmental and natural resources.
For more information about the Pathways to Urban Sustainability
Initiative, please contact Derek Vollmer at dvollmer@nas.edu
