26 February 2014: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/CoA) co-hosted a discussion panel for the launch of the Winter 2014 issue of ‘Americas Quarterly,’ centered on the theme ‘Our Cities, Our Future: Making Cities Healthy, Green and Sustainable.’

The issue of ‘Americas Quarterly’ features an article by Ellis Juan, General Coordinator, IDB Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative, on how IDB is helping cities combat climate change. Other articles spotlight initiatives in Bogota, Colombia, Curitiba, Brazil, and Mexico City, Mexico. The issue also offers an overview of how various North and South American cities are addressing challenges in affordable green housing, waste management and recycling, energy efficiency, governance, citizen engagement, water management, carbon dioxide emissions reductions, transportation and public spaces.

The panel examined the efforts of cities in the Americas to become healthier and more sustainable, as well as the role of multilateral institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the business sector in supporting their transition towards a green economy.

Moderated by Americas Quarterly Editor-in-Chief Christopher Sabatini, the panel featured Ellis Juan, IDB, Timothy Docking, IBM Emerging Market Funding Group, Abha Joshi-Ghani, World Bank Institute, and Michael Sorkin, City College of New York. Among other items, the panel discussed: enhancing the role of public-private partnerships; fostering city-to-city knowledge sharing; promoting citizen engagement and monitoring; improving availability of data on the sustainability challenges facing cities; fostering the role of cities in combating climate change; and increasing city resilience to natural disasters. The panel was held on 26 February 2014, at IDB headquarters in Washington, DC, US. [Publication: Americas Quarterly, Winter 2014 Issue] [IDB Panel Broadcast] [AS/CoA Website] [IDB Press Release]