The Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit (GMIS) – a joint initiative between the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) – convened a roadshow at the Nice Acropolis Convention Centre, on the margins of the Innovative City Convention. The event, co-organized by the Côte d’Azur University and UNIDO, and moderated by Prof. Edward Lorenz, brought together numerous public and private sector experts who discussed, inter alia, France’s digitalization potential to develop sustainable cities.
“One of the biggest challenges many regions are facing is how to achieve sustainable development. GMIS contributes by mobilizing new technologies and providing a platform for the exchange of new ideas that can be implemented on the ground,” said Lorenz.
Namir Hourani, Managing Director of the GMIS Organizing Committee noted that: “It’s amazing to see what France is doing to advance innovation. At the Innovative City Convention, I already met so many people, including start-ups and disrupters. This further cements the vision that only a multi-stakeholder ecosystem can make a difference.”
During the event, UNIDO’s Adot Killmeyer-Oleche presented the new UNIDO Implementation Handbook for Eco-Industrial Parks in the context of Sustainable Development Goal 11 on inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. She said that as well as providing local residents with clear environmental benefits, compared with traditional industrial parks, eco-industrial parks have many social benefits for urban dwellers, including providing jobs for local people, and offering better working conditions.
“UNIDO’s work on industrial parks can make a significant contribution to enhance sustainable cities,” Killmeyer-Oleche said. “The collaboration with city authorities, architects, start-ups, consumer organizations and other non-traditional stakeholders will ensure that eco-industrial parks are inclusive and sustainable.”
The development of sustainable cities requires integrated interventions in sustainable planning, sustainable investment, and sustainable technologies.