ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network working with more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development.
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network working with more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development.
Capacity building and city-peer learning in East Asia and the Asia Pacific Regions
The Kaohsiung-ICLEI Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Community of Practice (Community of Practice) serves as a capacity-building and peer-learning cohort for 15 cities and regions across East Asia and the Asia-Pacific. These cities are committed to achieving climate neutrality and advancing innovation and smart city strategies for sustainable transformation by 2050.
The Community of Practice is designed to build a powerful cohort of leading cities, towns, provinces, and subnational states that will actively collaborate over two years, from March 2025 to December 2026. As part of the program, participating cities will engage in a series of capacity-building workshops and peer-learning events, starting with the inaugural workshop in March 2025, hosted in Kaohsiung City.
The Community of Practice is chaired by the City of Kaohsiung and supported by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability’s World Secretariat and ICLEI’s Kaohsiung Capacity Center.
Through capacity building and peer-to-peer exchange and learning, the Kaohsiung-ICLEI Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Community of Practice aims to:
Tailor-made capacity-building workshops led by ICLEI and invited experts from international organizations, including the UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub and Mission Innovation, will provide immersive and hands-on experiences addressing key challenges and opportunities in achieving climate neutrality under the following focus areas:
What's happening with the Community of Practice?
How innovative finance tools and AI-based risk modelling can enable cities to turn their climate strategies into funding-ready projects.
Local and national government representatives, experts, and local practitioners on sustainable mobility and innovative finance gathered at the Kaohsiung Net Zero Institute on 22-23 October 2025.
The second in-person thematic capacity-building workshop series is held on 22–23 October, hosted by Kaohsiung City, Chair of the ComP.
The ComP delivered its first in-person capacity-building workshop series, providing strategic tools to advance urban transformation through circular development and agenda-serving innovation.
Signed on 21 March at the CityCOP High-Level Forum, the agreement kickstarts a powerful cohort of cities committed to accelerate climate neutrality and smart city solutions.
As part of the program, participating cities will engage in capacity-building workshops and peer-learning events, starting with the first in-person workshops series on 18-19 March 2025, hosted in Kaohsiung City, which is the Chair of the ComP.
The community of practice invites Asia-Pacific cities to participate and contribute to capacity building and peer exchange on climate neutrality topics. The community also will have visibility at global advocacy events to raise the profile and ambition of cities in the region.
If you have further inquiries regarding the Community of Practice, please contact: cities.with.kaohsiung@iclei.