3 June 2015, India — A briefing paper entitled “Capacity Building for Building a Sustainable and Smart Urban India” has been recently published and released by Mr. Sanjay Kothari, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, during the inaugural session of the project completion conference of CBA2014-04NSY-Divya Sharma, a capacity building project implemented by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and supported by APN through its Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE).

Download e-Copy of the Briefing Paper: Capacity Building for Building a Sustainable and Smart Urban India

The said project focused on designing and delivering a series of training programmes on urban climate resilience for elected representatives and municipal officials from various urban local bodies (ULBs) in four Indian states—Uttarakhand, Goa, Odisha and Maharashtra. The key messages from this experience have gone beyond the theme of the training and presented challenges of larger issues including training and capacity needs at the ULBs’ level.

The briefing paper contains feedback received from the training programmes and drawn recommendations in addressing multiple challenges related to capacity building of ULBs in India. It is envision to serve as a reference paper and disseminate findings toward shaping a culture of learning and continuous education that equips urban managers, engineers, planners, and decision makers to deal with recent developments in technology and new demands of the future cities in India.