Future Earth’s Urban Knowledge-Action Network is a global network of researchers and other innovators in policy, business, civil society, and more. We’re working to solve the most pressing challenges facing cities worldwide. We build new knowledge and tools to accelerate real-world transitions and transformations toward cities that are sustainable and livable.
Key Contacts
Tri Atmaja
Administrative Officer, Urban KAN
Our Challenge
Cities play an increasingly important role in global sustainability. Occupying less than 2% of the world’s land area, urban areas simultaneously produce most of the world’s waste and GDP. Cities are also complex settlements in which economies, cultures, biodiversity, and infrastructure from public transportation to sewage systems interact in sometimes unexpected ways.
This complexity can make it challenging to understand how actions in one area, such as to improve air quality, might affect another, such as climate. We believe that addressing these complexities requires taking the entire system, both within and beyond cities, into account when generating knowledge. It also requires bringing together people and groups from all walks of life to work together to design and produce solutions that respond to the real-world needs of urban areas across the globe.
We work in three key areas:
- Building a community of practice and mobilising capacity among innovators in research, policy, business, non-governmental organisations and the general public for sustainable urban futures;
- Facilitating, co-designing, synthesising and amplifying research to support the implementation of global sustainability initiatives at the city level, including the New Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement;
- Bringing knowledge to action by building networks, democratising data and bringing underrepresented voices into global policy and planning discussions.
Our Work
Building a community of practice
- Urban webinars: Learn about the latest findings in urban research and participate in training and capacity building opportunities for researchers, city officials, urban planners, and more (stay up-to-date by joining our Urban community below).
- Urban community: Connect to a global community of thousands of researchers and other innovators in Future Earth member portal.
- Innovate4Cities: The Innovate4Cities Conference (I4C Conference) is a virtual global and regional event that convenes science, innovation, policy, and practice united by a common objective: enabling cities to take accelerated and more ambitious climate action. The Urban Knowledge-Action Network played a key roll as a Partner organization. More about our engagement here.
Facilitating and amplifying research
- Global Research and Action Agenda 2022: This Research Agenda was developed in 2022 through our collaboration with UN-Habitat, The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and several other partners within the Innovate4Cities Conference
- Urban publications: See a list of publications and blogs relevant to the Urban Knowledge-Action Network.
- Global Climate Research Agenda: Learn about our work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to chart a path for scientific research on cities and climate change.
Turning knowledge into action
- Nature in the Urban Century: Read about this project, exploring new ways of integrating biodiversity into urban planning and design.
- URBES Futures: Find out about an effort to examine strategies for valuing urban biodiversity.
Our Strategy
The Urban Knowledge-Action Network convenes an engaged research base, focused on the co-design and co-production of knowledge and tools to provide solutions to the greatest sustainability challenges facing cities. We work to incorporate the latest research findings into government, business, and community decisions and policies.
Who we are
The main structure of the Urban KAN consists of the Steering Committee and Advisory Group. The Steering Committee is leading the advancement and implementation of the vision and mission in line with the broader Future Earth objectives. The Advisory Group provides guidance and feedback on strategic directions, priorities, and progress towards agreed objectives for the Urban Knowledge-Action Network. The Advisory Group also facilitates and extends the network of experts and institutions in and outside of research communities. Across these two entities, there are several active Working Groups that focus on targeted topics. This KAN is hosted by the Future Earth Global Secretariat Hub Japan and receives administrative support by The Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo.
Steering Committee
Advisory Group
