News

Hermosillo, Sonora – The first workshop for the Emerging and Sustainable Cities (ESC) initiative was held this week in Hermosillo, Sonora, to train local authorities on how to implement this urban sustainability methodology in their city.

Representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the North American Development Bank (NADB), the Mexican education/research institute Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) and the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) gathered in Hermosillo to initiate talks with the municipal authorities concerning the implementation of the ESC methodology and steps to be taken in analyzing long-term sustainability in the four key areas of the environment, urban development, fiscal management and competitiveness.

During this initial four-day workshop, IBD experts and municipal and state authorities established working relationships to gather information and address current and future plans and projects in those key areas and thus understand the challenges the city faces in terms of sustainability.

COLEF, a strategic partner of both IBD and NADB, will be responsible for applying the ESC methodology for this project, and once the analysis is completed, a strategy will be developed for planning and implementing the studies and projects needed to achieve local sustainability.

This strategy will be reflected in an action plan, which can serve as a public policy tool for the City Council of Hermosillo, which will use it to define concrete actions that will help the City achieve sustainability in the medium and long term.

Subsequently, NADB, in coordination with the local authorities, will provide support during the development of technical, financial and/or legal feasibility studies for prioritized projects under the action plan.

ESC is a non-reimbursable technical assistance program of IDB that provides direct support to national and subnational governments in the development and implementation of urban sustainability plans and uses a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to identify, organize and prioritize urban actions to tackle the main roadblocks that prevent the sustainable growth of emerging cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The current initiative for the Municipality of Hermosillo is being co-funded by NADB.

“We are pleased to collaborate with IDB on this initiative for Hermosillo, a city that meets the necessary requirements for carrying out environmental sustainability actions and projects,” stated Mr. Gutiérrez. “Once this plan is implemented in Hermosillo, we hope to replicate it in other communities throughout the border region.”