ICLEI SD Lab – Northeastern University

Back Completed Start date: 15.01.2019 End date: 28.06.2019

ACTIVITY INFORMATION

What we did

ICLEI SD Labs Program is one of the initiatives developed within the framework of ICLEI South America's Leaders of the Future action course, which allows strengthening the link between higher education institutions and local governments through case studies regarding the challenges faced by public administrations. The SD Lab with Northeastern University is currently studying Fortaleza's Climate Action Plan. Fortaleza is an Urban-LEDS II project city, and their Climate Action Plan was developed in 2015. The city has recently published their last updated GHG Emissions Inventory and is also carrying out a Vulnerability and Risk Assessment and an Adaptation Plan, which reinforces the need of their Climate Action Plan's update. Through ICLEI SD Labs Northeastern, ICLEI aims to foster the development of a partnership between the academy and public administration with a constructive exchange of information and experience. Included in this program are the analyses of strategic plans and the scientific critique of public policies and other projects related to sustainable development. For the development of the Leaders of the Future activities, which involved SD Labs, ICLEI South America started partnerships with other institutions also involved in projects related to education and international academic exchange, such as Campus B, an agency specialized in academic exchanges.

How we tracked

In order to achieve a successful performance of ICLEI SD Labs, post-Lab activities such as monitoring and evaluation analysis will be conducted with all stakeholders involved (students, partners, local officers from Fortaleza's city hall). The group of students will also present their work to an Examination Board including members from Fortaleza's City Hall, Urban-LEDS II Working Group, teachers from UNIFOR and ICLEI SAMS staff. Besides that, considering Urban-LEDS II activities planned for 2019, ICLEI SAMS will actively work on Fortaleza's Climate Action Plan update, starting out with the Lab's inputs.

What we achieved

A group of students from Northeastern University has been studying Fortaleza’s current Climate Action Plan, its actions and goals, and how far they have advanced. They have also been studying American projects, policies and initiatives, in order to be able to explore how policies, technologies, and cultural differences in various countries have helped grow and implement sustainable efforts and to make comparisons between sustainable energy technologies and policies in US and Brazil, and Boston and Fortaleza. The Lab’s products will be a written proposal and a one page executive summary to the mayor summarizing suggestions and appointments, and an oral presentation.