12th High Level Seminar on Sustainable Cities
Concept Note

(Draft as of 18 February 2022)

Date
21–22 February 2022 (Monday and Tuesday)

Expected participants
National and local government officials
NGOs/NPOs working for sustainable development of cities
International/Regional organisations

Organisers
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR
Ministry of the Environment, Japan
ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC)
ASEAN Secretariat

Format
Zoom webinar

 
OUTLINE
 
The High-Level Seminar (HLS) on Sustainable Cities (former title: HLS on Environmentally Sustainable Cities) is organised annually as a platform to gather influential East and Southeast Asia policymakers, experts, and practitioners working to make cities clean, green, and sustainable since 2010. The HLS provides opportunities for participants to share and promote their latest ideas and initiatives on sustainable city development; explore collaboration potential; and, importantly, develop specific recommendations to the East Asia Summit Environment Ministers Meeting, which includes ASEAN Environment Ministers, on practical cooperation activities on environmentally sustainable cities.
 
In response to the needs of transformative changes to more sustainable, resilient, and zero-carbon city in the context of green and inclusive recovery, many cities in the region began to take new initiatives. The 12th session of HLS (12 HLS), which is organised by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR; ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities; and the ASEAN Secretariat will focus on not only sharing of good practices of cities related to SDG11 and other environmental SDGs, but also new initiatives towards 2030. The 12HLS will be organised fully online for two days as a webinar series consisting of three parts: opening high-level plenary, thematic segment, and the concluding session, each of which exchange views and discuss the direction of cities’ development.
 
PROGRAMME
 
DAY 1: Monday, 21 February 2022
Laos Time: UTC+7
Japan Standard Time: JST (UTC+9)
Opening and High-Level Segment
09:00 (UTC+7) 11:00 (JST) Opening Remarks
  • Mr. Phouvong Luangxaysana, Vice Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR
  • Mr. SHODA Yutaka, Vice Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan
  • Dr. Sugumari Shanmugam, Undersecretary, Climate Change Division, Ministry of Environment and Water, Malaysia 
09:30 (UTC+7) 11:30 (JST) Photo session
09:40 (UTC+7) 11:40 (JST) High Level Segment
  • Mr. KITAHASHI Kenji, Mayor of Kitakyushu City
  • Mr. Viengthong Hatsachanh, Mayor of Luang Prabang City
  • Mr. Renato Y. Gustilo, Mayor of San Carlos City
  • Mr. Vijai Ummaralikhit, Panusnikhom Municipality, Thailand [Download PDF]

Moderator:
Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General, UCLG-ASPAC
10:40 (UTC+7)
12:40 (JST)		 Report from the Secretariat on the SDGs Frontrunner Cities Programme
  • Ms. Shom Teoh, Programme Manager, Sustainable Cities, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
    • [Download PDF]
11:00–13:00 (UTC+7)
13:00–15:00 (JST)		 Break
Thematic Segment
13:00 (UTC+7)
15:00 (JST)		 Thematic segment [1]
Circular Economy (focus: Wastes and Marine Plastic Debris)
  • Dr. VU Dinh Hieu, Vice Director, Vietnam Institute of Seas and Islands (VISI), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam [Download PDF]
  • Mr. YAMASHITA Shin-ichi, Assistant Director, Resources Recycling Promotion Division, Civil Life & Environmental Affairs Department, Nagasaki Prefecture [Download PDF]
  • TPr. Ts. Norliza Hashim, the Chief Executive of Urbanice Malaysia, a Centre of Excellence for Urban Wellbeing and Sustainability
  • Dr. Vongvachira Ovararin, Vice-Mayor, Nakhon Si Thammarat City Municipality [Download PDF]
  • Mr. Chek Noy, Deputy, Public Transportation, Sanitation, Environment and Public Order, Battambang Municipality

Moderator:
Premakumara Jagath Dickella Gamaralalage, Director of CCET, IGES
14:30 (UTC+7)
16:30 (JST)		 Break
14:40 (UTC+7)
16:40 (JST)		 Thematic segment [2]
Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management (focus: Climate Adaptation and Nature Based Solutions)
  • Mr. Le Ngoc Thao, Hoi An City Government Hoi An [Download PDF]
  • Mr. Ismet Adipradana, Sub-coordinator on Land-use planning, land and environment, City Planning Agency - Semarang City [Download PDF]
  • Mr. Albert Magalang, Chief, Climate Change Service, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Philippines [Download PDF]
  • Dr. Marcella D'Souza, Director, WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS) [Download PDF]
  • Mr. KUYAMA Tetsuo, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) [Download PDF]

Moderator:
Dr. Srinivasan Ancha, Principal Climate Change Specialist and Climate Change Focal Point for Southeast Asia Asian Development Bank
16:00 (UTC+7) 18:00 (JST) Closure of the DAY 1
DAY 2: Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Laos Time: UTC+7
Japan Standard Time: JST (UTC+9)
Thematic Segment
9:00 (UTC+7)
11:00 (JST) 		Thematic segment [3]
Monitoring and Evaluation of the SDG Progress: Voluntary Local Review (VLR)
  • Dr. Fernando Ortiz-Moya, Policy Researcher, City Taskforce, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
    [Download PDF]
  • Ms. Annie Syazrin Ismail, Senior Assistant Director, Sustainable Development Unit, Shah Alam City Council
    [Download PDF]
  • Mr. ORII Ryoichiro, Executive Director of Development Cooperation Department, Yokohama City [Download PDF]
  • Mr. Mohamad Iman Rachmadi, Secretary of Board of Planning, Research and Development, Surabaya City Government, Indonesia [Download PDF]
  • Mr. Samiuddin Ahmed, Regional Sustainable Development Consultant, Environment and Development Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific [Download PDF]

Moderator:
Dr. Azmizam Abdul Rashid, Deputy CEO, Urbanice, Malaysia
10:10 (UTC+7)
12:10 (JST)		 Break
10:20 (UTC+7)
12:20 (JST)		 Thematic segment [4]
Integrated approach towards sustainable and zero carbon cities
  • Ms. SHIMIZU Hitomi, Shimokawa Town, Hokkaido [Download PDF]
  • Dr. Sameer Deshkar, Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture and Planning of Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) [Download PDF]
  • Ms. Sirinya Lim, Division Director of Innovation Economics Division, Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council, Thailand [Download PDF]
  • Dr. Bijon Kumer Mitra, Deputy-Director, Integrated Sustainability Center &Adaptation and Water Unit, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) [Download PDF]

Moderator:
Ms. KATAOKA Yatsuka, Programme Director, City Taskforce, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

Closing Plenary
Moderator: Dr. Vong Sok, Head of Environment Division, ASEAN Secretariat
11:20 (UTC+7)
13:20 (JST) 		- Reflection of the seminar (elements to be included in the Output Document) by IGES
  • Ms. KATAOKA Yatsuka, IGES
- Closing remarks
  • Mr. Sounadeth Soukchaleun, Deputy Director General, Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR
  • Mr. SHODA Yutaka, Vice Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan
12:00 (UTC+7)
14:00 (JST) 		Closure of the seminar
CONTACT
 

Any enquiries should be directed to the Secretariat via email at [email protected].