ISOCARP Vice-President Shipra Narang Suri was invited to deliver the Keynote Address at UN-HABITAT Kosovo’s World Habitat Day celebration in Pristina on the 1st of October. Organised on the first Monday of October each year, the theme for WHD2012 was “Changing Cities, Building Opportunities.” Addressing a gathering of nearly 75 professionals and policymakers from across Kosovo, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, Dr. Narang Suri observed that while cities are often called the engines of economic growth or magnets of hope, the question to be asked is - what kind of cities can be such positive forces? And what is the type of planning that can build such cities, where the battle for the MDGs and that of climate resilience can be won. She also highlighted ISOCARP’s main areas of work, and called upon Kosovar planners to join ISOCARP and engage actively with the global community of planners. A day before the event, Dr. Narang Suri also participated in a cycle tour of Kosovo – Tour de Culture - organized jointly by UN-HABITAT and Cultural Heritage without Borders.

ISOCARP Vice-President Shipra Narang Suri was recently invited to make a presentation before the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UN-ECE) Committee on Housing and Land Management in Geneva. During initial discussions during the World Urban Forum, representatives of the UN-ECE expressed an interest in collaborating with ISOCARP on spatial planning issues in Europe, especially in the transition countries. ISOCARP’s presentation at the ECE was attended by Committee members (representatives from over 50 countries), other UN agencies and partner organisations of the ECE such as OECD, Habitat for Humanity and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Dr. Narang Suri highlighted ISOCARP’s core strengths, areas of work, and potential areas of collaboration with UN-ECE. In a seminar that followed, she also made a presentation titled “Compact, smart and climate-neutral: The urban planner’s perspective on sustainable cities”. The presentations were well-received and there was enormous interest in ISOCARP and its work, especially from countries such as Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia and Russia. ISOCARP and UN-ECE have agreed to exchange letters of cooperation and develop a brief concept note on future activities within the coming weeks.