Research Symposium

In view of the role ICLEI is playing in the sustainability research arena, particularly at the interface of research-policy-practice, and in light of the organization’s commitment to convening different stakeholders to co-create actionable knowledge for science-informed decision making to support subnational governments in their transition towards further sustainability, ICLEI has designed a Research Symposium as part of ICLEI World Congress 2021-2022.

This Research Symposium, the 6th in ICLEI’s 32-year history brought together leading urban sustainability researchers, innovators, and city leaders from across the globe. Due to the significance of research-informed discussion and policymaking, reiterated on recent global stages such as the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), it was our most ambitious ICLEI research symposium to date.

It was also the stage to launch the updated Global Research and Action Agenda, the primary outcome of the Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference (the conference which was hosted by Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and UN-Habitat, co-sponsored by IPCC, with ICLEI as one of the core partners, held in October 2021). The City Research Agenda is the other key agenda (developed by the GCoM’s Research & Innovation Technical Working Group) that was launched on this day.

The 2022 Research Symposium had been designed mainly as an in-person event, but also a limited virtual offering had been planned to allow attendees from all over the world to tune in and take part in some of the discussions. Virtual attendees were able to listen to some sessions and panel discussions, and where possible, directed a limited number of upvoted questions from the chat function to the speakers. In addition, virtual attendees were able to watch the Research Market Place. 

This event, which was designed and delivered under ICLEI’s Global Research Strategy, is co-organized by the City of Malmö, the World Maritime University (WMU) – Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute (GOI), and ICLEI.

Photo credit: Photo by Miguel Henriques on Unsplash