International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) are undertaking a joint initiative to organize the first annual national conference in association with diverse development partners. The conference will be held for 3 days from 17 to 19 December, 2016 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

Bangladesh has one of the highest population densities and the highest growth of urban population in the world. 

 

In Bangladesh, more than 30% population live in city and by 2050, it will be more than 50%. This population growth and rapid urbanization tend to follow an unplanned pattern, making Bangladesh a disaster prone country. 

 

When a disaster happens, any system of the city can fail resulting in cascading impacts that can disrupt the availability of clean water, electricity, and communications. The complexities of urban risks demand a special focus within the new framework of action to absorb disaster and shocks, as well as the ability to restore the urban system to pre-shock levels. 

 

So, it is important to know cities’ current status of resilience and planning, identify the knowledge gap regarding resilience and how to reduce that gap. 

 

Relevant government and non-government organizations, policy makers, academics and communities have valuable knowledge and experience but there has been little sharing within or amongst them. Adequate knowledge of how such risks interconnect in their emergence at the city level is the first step towards helping cities builds resilience. 

 

Knowledge sharing will help in learning how to build urban resilience. So developing a framework with integration of urban resilience into mainstream policy, development plans, and everyday decision making is much more needed to undertake necessary action within appropriate timeframes. This will involve bringing together diverse departments and sectors to identify appropriate measures for preparedness, response, and recovery. 

 

The conference will enhance the scope of public and private partnerships with inclusive CBOs in building city-level reliance. This will eventually help in creating a knowledge sharing network, formulate policy on relevant issues and implement those action plans through informed advocacy. 

 

Further information about this conference, please contact Country Coordinator ACCCRN-ICCCAD, Sarder Shafiqul Alam via email ratan.badla1@gmail.com.