Susta-Info:

• supports local authorities and experts in attaining sustainable development, by establishing a portal and web based database, making knowledge on local sustainable development accessible to a large group of targeted users
• makes knowledge on local sustainable development easily accessible through generalized formats and search methodologies and
• can be accessed in English, French, German and Spanish

Susta-Info provides:

• access to research projects funded under Key Action City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage of 5FP
• access to the current EU 6FP projects on urban management, sustainable land use, water treatment and management, and urban mobility
• access to urban research projects supported by UN-HABITAT and case studies from the UN-HABITAT best practices database

Susta-Info stimulates international co-operation among UN-HABITAT and the European Commission on the one hand and among local practitioners on the other. Susta-Info invites research programs and institutes to suggest opportunities for cooperation.

Building Sustainable Cities

• Urban and regional planning
• Land use management
• Architecture, urban design and built fabric

Building sustainable cities is a theme that addresses a wide range of challenges, from what to do about urban sprawl to encouraging the use of sustainable construction techniques to dealing with issues of inner city decline and the regeneration of distressed neighbourhoods. The theme incorporates well-known disciplines: urban planning - which focuses on the physical, social and economic development of metropolitan regions, municipalities and neighbourhoods; land use - which concentrates on the ways in which different patterns of land use can cause different stresses, what the consequences of these stresses are and how they can be managed or corrected and the built environment - management of which has shifted towards a more sustainable approach in the construction industry, and which requires input from various actors - local and regional planners, individual construction firms, city councils, architects and engineers and the residents that occupy the urban space.

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Transport and Mobility

Transport and mobility is a theme that covers infrastructure and communications as well as transport and travel patterns. The importance of promoting environmentally sustainable transport is illustrated in the many synergies it has with other aspects of development - improvements in sustainable transport can lead to improvements in human health through reduction of urban air pollution, as well as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, road deaths and injuries and the reduction of traffic congestion levels. In developed regions such as across Europe, meeting Kyoto emission targets as well as domestic renewable energy targets, is helping to drive policies that encourage towns and cities to implement sustainable urban transport. Cities are moving towards alternative fuels such as hydrogen for public transport, as well as aiming to reduce car use where possible. Developing nations are actively finding ways to promote urban productivity and to improve living standards in urban areas by meeting transport needs in a sustainable manner to address the challenges of rapid motorization, insufficient investment in urban transport planning and poor traffic management.

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Urban Governance

Urban governance is characterised by principles of sustainability, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, security, civic engagement and citizenship. Increasing the capacity of local governments, cities and regions to practice good urban governance, promote transparency and fight crime and corruption are all central to creating and implementing good strategies for urban development.

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Water Management and Sanitation

Water management and sanitation are heavily important issues given the worldwide explosion of urban populations in the last fifty years. The growing trend of more urbanised societies and increasing concentration of population and economic activities in large cities has major implications for freshwater use and wastewater management. Water demands from city enterprises have become more and more significant, with many major cities drawing freshwater from increasingly distant watersheds as local surface and groundwater sources become yet more depleted or polluted. Between a quarter and a half of the urban population in low and middle-income countries lacks provision for water and sanitation of a quality that greatly reduces risk of human contamination from faecal-oral pathogens, and with provision for water and sanitation expanding at a much slower rate than population growth in most low and middle-income countries, this is a theme that requires serious attention.

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Waste Management

Waste Management - as society becomes wealthier and more urbanised, it creates more rubbish. The majority of our waste still ends up in incinerators or being dumped in landfill sites, both of which create severe environmental damage. A shift to more sustainable consumption patterns and a different approach to waste management are required, with emphasis on waste prevention, recycling and reuse and improving final disposal and monitoring of waste.

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Air Quality

Air quality can have a significant impact on the quality of life in our communities. In most areas of Europe, principal pollutants include combustion from space heating, power generation or motor vehicle traffic. Indoor sources of air pollution such as cooking fires and tobacco smoking also contribute to general human exposure, and air pollution can be most severe in cities in developing countries. Of greatest concern in monitoring air quality in large cities is the health and well-being of urban residents. The concentration of ambient air pollutants in many cities is high enough to cause increased mortality, disease prevalence, cardiovascular problems, as well as having a damaging impact on both buildings and vegetation. The rapid growth in the number of global 'megacities' suggests a strong need for prevention of pollution problems before they occur, and a need to support local governments in their activities to protect the climate and preserve air quality.

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Energy

Energy is essential to meeting basic human needs, stimulating and supporting economic growth and enhancing quality of life in human settlements. Current levels of energy services are failing to meet the needs of the poor, and a third of the world remains dependent on traditional biomass fuels for cooking, while almost as many people lack access to electricity, a situation which entrenches poverty. Access to energy services is therefore essential to supporting overall development, and problems such as limited access to appropriate financing schemes for purchasing cleaner energy devices and harmful indoor air pollution within informal settlements need to be addressed.

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Poverty

Poverty, particularly in urban areas, is a multidimensional phenomenon. The urban poor face many challenges in their everyday life, such as limited access to employment opportunities, inadequate and insecure housing, violent and unhealthy environments, limited access to health and education and little or no social protection. In order to reduce urban poverty, policy responses and programs need to be structured around labour, productive assets, education and health and social capital. Eradication of poverty requires not only the participation of those who are living in poverty, but other actors such as local organisations, agencies, institutions and social movements.

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Culture

Culture and cultural diversity can bring a renewed value to life, as well as act as a positive force in support of dialogue, mutual understanding, reconciliation, social stability and reconstruction. Cultural industries are an important source and revenue and jobs, and preserving cultural treasures ensures their long-term contribution to tourism and regional economic development, allowing future generations to benefit from them as well. Cultural assets are at particular risk in urban areas from high pollution levels and other related effects, and a growing number of research projects are focusing on creating innovative techniques to repair and conserve them.

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