Through the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the world tried to adjust to the multiple changes in their lifestyles. One such change was that of the introduction of Webinars. Seeing that the role of urban development had increased manifold after COVID-19 displayed the shortcomings in the civic services of cities, Urban Update too undertook the initiative of organising webinars to promote dialogue and discussion among key stakeholders of urban development.
As part of this initiative, Urban Update collaborated with numerous organisations and put together a total of 25 webinars as part of five diverse series. These Webinars ranged from transportation to disaster mitigation.
E-Dialogues
As part of AIILSG and Urban Update’s collaboration, this series of webinars was started. A total of 17 editions have so far been conducted on topics including ‘COVID-19 and the Search for a Vaccine’ to ‘Urbanisation in Independent India’. The panelists for the webinars included eminent dignitaries like Dr Animesh Kumar, Deputy Head (Asia-Pacific), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction; Dr Sewa Ram, Professor of Transport Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi; and Vimlendu Jha, Founder, Sweccha India. Covering a wide range of topics from unemployment to the environment, from the National Education Policy to Housing For All, E-Dialogues served as a platform for detailed discussion and deliberation between experts, policy makers and the general public.
Mayors’ Dialogue
Under this series, Urban Update, in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs and AIILSG, organised a total of two webinars. The main aim of this series was to provide a platform for Mayors from across the country to come together to discuss and share their experiences of handling a pandemic as severe as COVID-19. Panelists for this series included Sanyukta Bharia, Mayor, Lucknow; Sanjeev Bittu, Mayor, Patiala; Dilip Kumar Agasty, Mayor, Durgapur; and Uday Madkaikar, Mayor, Goa. The topic for the first edition was ‘Making Cities Pandemic Resilient: The Role of Elected Representatives’ and that of the second edition was ‘Leadership and Pandemic Response’. Not only did Mayors contribute experience, they also appreciated the concept.
Webinars on Waste Management
In collaboration with UN-Habitat, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), AIILSG, and 3R Waste Foundation, Urban Update organised three webinars under this category. The first two editions of this category – ‘Sustainable Solid Waste Management during COVID-19’ and ‘The Challenges of Plastic Waste Management’ were a pre-event of UNCRD’s 3R Waste and Circular Economy Forum.
Next in the series – ‘Waste Management and Climate Change’ focused on how organised and responsible waste management can play a big role in reversing the effects of climate change. Trish Hyde, Director, Plasticity, Australia; and Prashant Lingam, Senior Project Officer, UN Development Programme, India, were some of those who were part of the panel in these three Webinars. The Webinars served as a knowledge-sharing platform for municipal officials.
Webinars on Migrants
For this series, Urban Update collaborated with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, AIILSG, Indian Institute of Human Settlements and Foundation EMDA Southasia, to organise a total of two webinars on the topics ‘Urban Labour Rights and State Response in Time of COVID-19’ and ‘Affordable Rental Housing for the Urban Poor – Demand, Supply and Management Dynamics’. The panel for these webinars included Prof Ravi S Srivastava, Director, Centre for Employment Studies, Institute for Human Development and Amrit Abhijat, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Housing For All), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Webinar on Disaster Management
This is the newest series of webinars and workshops in collaboration with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), AIILSG and Foundation EMDA Southasia. Aimed at increasing awareness among urban local bodies and local governments regarding disaster preparedness, only one edition has been organised so far as part of this series on the topic “Disaster Risks, Mitigation and Sustainable Communities’. Mihir R Bhatt, Director, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute and
Dr Birupakshya Dixit, India Coordinator, Practical Action, along with Prof Vinod C Menon, Former Member, National Disaster Management Authority and Prof Santosh Kumar, Head, G&IDRR, NIDM, were part of the panel for
this webinar. Thus, Urban Update firmly believes in the power of knowledge sharing and discussion and feels that only when people come together with experts and policy makers can both understand the problems that the other side faces and work on the appropriate solutions they suggest for the same.
