The Cities and Climate Solutions webinar series is co-organized with the City Diplomacy Lab at Columbia Global Centers | Paris. This webinar is co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF).
This webinar brings together representatives from Maharastra and Montpellier to discuss waste management, waste reduction, waste valorization, public health, and the circular economy. The discussion is moderated by City Diplomacy Lab Director Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi.
Overview
In the face of the climate crisis, cities across the world are emerging as integral problem-solvers in the development of an effective, multi-layered response. This series, launched in Spring 2023 with events on food and water, aims to bring together the representatives of cities that have implemented some of the most impactful and sustainable actions.
This second season of the webinar series kicked off in November 2023 and covers the topics of air, energy, and waste. Each webinar will see the participation of representatives of three cities and will be moderated by a representative from Columbia University. In order to encourage geographic representativeness, each webinar will host city representatives from different regions and countries.
This series celebrates the leadership of cities and provides inspiration for the thousands of cities and local governments around the world committed to shaping the global response to climate change.
Speakers
Montpellier
A social change maker and expert in Corporate Social Responsibility, London-born, Clare HART is passionate about gender equality and social inclusion through grassroots mobilization, and a fervent charity activist. She is Vice-president of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole for European and International Relations, and a City councillor for Montpellier alongside Mayor Michaël DELAFOSSE.
Maharashtra
Mr. Sameer Unhale is the State Joint Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Government of Maharashtra. Currently, he is working on digital transformation and data initiatives, affordable housing, and issues relating to the larger urban areas. He has worked in the executive/leadership position of Municipal Commissioner of Municipal Corporation in the cities of Ulhasnagar, Dhule, and Nanded. Mr. Unhale wrote several books, including How will India solve its urban problems: stories of innovation, sustainability, inclusion and Smartness (co-authored with Dr. Biniti Singh, October 2020), and City Reflection : Practitioner’s experience in Urban Governance amidst Uncertain Times (October 2022).
Moderator
Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi is the founding director of the City Diplomacy Lab. He is a lecturer in City Diplomacy at Columbia Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE | Paris), Sciences Po - PSIA, and École Polytechnique.He regularly advises international organizations, national governments, city networks, and municipalities on how to fully unfold the added value of city diplomacy.Author of City Diplomacy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), he holds a dual PhD in Political Theory from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris) and Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS, Rome).