This training event is designed as a high learning executive workshop that will help participants to develop skills and knowledge to address environmental and climate change impacts on cities. The learning programme draws on the experience of UN-Habitat and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and their development partners. Participants will get acquainted with the tools and methodologies developed through the implementation of Local Agenda 21 programmes, the Sustainable Cities Program, Cities and Climate Change Initiative and the Global Compact Cities Programme, their evolution and their application by local governments in order to build sustainable and climate resilient cities.

The first part of the course provides the participants with an overview of the evolution of the global Local Agenda 21 movement and other local programmes which aim to build sustainable and resilient cities. Case studies will highlight integrated local approaches that emphasize broad stakeholder engagement and participatory planning but also environmental and institutional sustainability. Participants will be able to reflect on these aspects as well as on social inclusiveness and local economic development strategies within a very interactive learning environment. This first part of the training will conclude with examples showing how cities have expanded these concepts to build low carbon and climate resilient communities.
The second part of the learning program will actually focus on key tools and associated methodologies, giving the training event a more problem-solving and practical orientation. Using a practice-based learning approach, participants will apply different tools focusing on the case studies and reflect on the applicability and suitability of these tools and approaches to their own city and context. The third and final part of the learning program is organized as a final plenary session format, designed as a guided-brainstorming session, when participants will share their experiences and will discuss other tools that are available or are needed in response to the challenges identified by Rio+20. The training event hopes to identify critical areas for further research and tool development.

The learning objectives for the participants are:
? To increase knowledge about Programmes, Methodologies and Tools associated with Local Agenda 21 and sustainable cities development initiatives;
? To learn about and apply tools and methodologies to selected case studies;
? To understand how such tools and methodologies can be applied by local authorities and communities, and assess their applicability to their own context;
? To explore gaps in the tool box in view of the challenges and solutions identified by Rio+20

0-5 minutes: Introduction to the learning event, the co-organizers, its objectives and methodology
5-10 minutes: Very brief self-introduction of participants
10-30 minutes: Presentation ? local sustainability, experiences since Rio (1992) [UN-HABITAT]
30-40 discussion
40-50 minutes: Presentation ? measuring local sustainability [Global Compact Cities Programme]
50-60 minutes: discussion
60-80 minutes: Introduction to tools [stations will be set up in the training room, where participants can familiarize themselves with up to 3 tools] (the following tools will be introduced: i. Developing an Environmental Profile, ii. City Consultations and setting up Issue Working Groups, iii. the force field analysis of environmental forces, vi. formulating strategies and action plans, v setting up a monitoring system, vi. urban vulnerability assessments, vii developing climate change adaptation plans).
80-130 minutes: Group Work- applying the above tools to case studies
130-150 minutes: Final Plenary; feed-back from working groups, sharing experiences and discussion on other tools that are available or are needed in response to the challenges identified by Rio+20

Please list any training techniques used in this course.
The tools, reports and case studies will be made available on-line to participants interested in attending this learning event. The first part of the programme will focus on the presentations of global experiences as well as tools and methodologies applied in different cities with different results.
This will be followed by a case study-based learning session through which participants will work in groups to analyse and pick up the most critical lessons learned or obstacle to be considered. This will be done with support of matrix and analytical templates to help systematize knowledge and fasten the analytical exercise.
The tools and methodologies are introduced at ?learning stations? where the tools are presented with a poster and brief explanation by trainers in order to quickly enable participants to focus their discussion in small groups and get acquainted with the specific tool such as the environmental planning and management tools, the force field analysis of environmental forces, multi-stakeholders consultation, vulnerability analysis for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and other tools..
Participants will work for 50 minutes in guided groups where participants apply the discussed tools to the presented case-studies (task-based learning).
Participants will also be given enough time to reflect on the learned in a final plenary.

? On the individual level, participants? capacities will be developed for understanding existing tools, the underlying methodology and they will learn where to find tools to support local development initiatives.
? Participants will further appreciate that institutional capacities need to be built at the local level and that multi-level governance is important.
? Gaps on the individual and institutional level as they relate to local governments and programmes will be identified; efforts to develop capacity development tools and programmes in order to fill these gaps will be undertake by the organizers.