GRID-Arendal Biennium Report 2012 - 2013

10 Communication and outreach

10.1 Enhance the impact of UNEP work through communications and outreach products; organise outreach events; facilitate lectures; provide technical and publication services

UNEP publications produced and disseminated During 2012-2013 GRID-Arendal facilitated the production of a range of UNEP reports in both printed and digital (PDF and e-book) formats. Some of these publications are available in alternative language versions. Many of the publications have been further described under relevant sections of the Work Programme.

• UNEP’s flagship Global Environment Outlook-5 (GEO-5) 109 report was launched on World Environment Day in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, on the eve of Rio+20. GRID-Arendal undertook major responsibility for the production of the full, 528-page, English version of the report and of the Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) in all six official UN languages. 110 This involved the preparation of complex maps and graphics and the professional and accurate layout of all versions in hardcopy (print) and electronic formats (pdfs on USB drive and as an e-book). The SPM was launched prior to the full report at the meeting of UNEP’s Governing Council in February 2012. • The Dniester Atlas 111 was launched on 29 November 2012 in conjunction with the signing of the bilateral Treaty on Cooperation on the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Dniester River Basin by the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Moldo- va, Mr. Gheorge Salaru, and the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Mr. Eduard Stavytskyi. The event took place at the Italian Parliament during the Meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 112 Con- vention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention). 113 • A package of public material related to the report City-Level Decoupling: Urban Resource Flows and the Governance of Infrastructure Transitions 114 by UNEP’s International Re- source Panel (IRP) was developed by GRID-Arendal. The package included professional and accessible versions of the full report, the SPM, the Case Studies, a fact sheet and a set of postcards in hardcopy (print) and electronic formats (pdfs and as an e-book). This is the first of four IRP reports that that will be converted into attractive, appropriate mate- rial and media that are accessible and tailored to the target groups.

Environment for the futurewewant

Buildinguponpreviousworkof the International ResourcePanelonDecouplingNaturalResource UseandEnvironmental Impacts fromEconomic Growth, this reportexamines thepotential for decouplingat thecity level.While themajority of theworld’spopulationnow live incitiesand citiesarewheremost resourceconsumption takesplace,both thepressuresandpotentials tofindways to reconcileeconomicgrowth, wellbeingand the sustainableuseofnatural resourceswill thereforebegreatest incities. Analysing the roleofcitiesas spatialnodes where themajor resourceflowsconnectas goods, servicesandwastes, the report’s focus ishow infrastructuredirectsmaterialflows and therefore resourceuse,productivityand efficiency inanurbancontext. Itmakes the case forexaminingcities fromamaterialflow perspective,whilealsoplacing thecitywithin thebroader systemofflows thatmake it possible for it to function. The reportalsohighlights theway that thedesign,constructionandoperationof energy,wste,water, sanitationand transport infrastructurescreatea socio-technical environment that shapes the “wayof life”of citizensandhow theyprocure,useanddispose of the resources they require. Itsapproach is innovative in that it frames infrastructure networksas socio-technical systems, examiningpressures forchangewithincities thatgobeyond technicalconsiderations.The importanceof intermediariesas thedominant agents forchange isemphasized,aswellas the fact that socialprocessesanddynamics need tobeunderstoodand integrated intoany assessmentofurban infrastructure interventions and the reconfigurationof resourceflows. A setof 30case studiesprovideexamples of innovativeapproaches to sustainable infrastructurechangeacrossabroad range ofurbancontexts thatcould inspire leaders ofothercities toembrace similarcreative solutions.Ofcourse, innovations inandof themselvesdonot suffice if theyarenot integrated into larger strategic visions for the city,andaseachcity isunique, interventions need tobe tailored to the setofchallengesand opportunitiespresent ineachcase.

City-LeveL DeCoupLing urban resource flows and thegovernanceof infrastructure transitions

UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme P.O.Box30552Nairobi,00100Kenya www.unep.org nitedNationsEnvironentProgra e P.O.Box3052Nairobi, 010Kenya . . r

Tel: (25420)7621234 Fax: (25420) 7623927 E-mail: uneppub@unep.org web:www.unep.org Tel: (25420)7621234 Fax: (25420)7623927 E-mail:unepubunep.org eb:w .unep.org

Formore information,contact: UNEPDTIE Sustainable,Consumption andProductionBranch 15 ruedeMilan 75441ParisCEDEX09 France

Tel:+33 1 44371450 Fax:+33 1 4437 1474 E-mail: unep.tie@unep.org www.unep.fr/scp

U nited n ations e nvironment P rogramme

ISBN:978-92-807-3298-6 JobNumber:DTI /1587/PA

109. http://www.unep.org/geo/geo5.asp 110. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish 111. http://www.grida.no/publications/dniester-river-atlas/ 112. http://www.unece.org/ 113. http://www.unece.org/env/water/text/text.html 114. http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Publications/CityLevelDecoupling/tabid/106135/Default.aspx

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