From Habitat Jam 2005 to World Urban Forum 2006
People from all walks of life and 194 countries participated in last year’s Habitat JAM in December, a unique 72-hour internet event focused on solving some of the world’s most critical urbanisation issues. The event generated hundreds of actionable ideas from people and many of these will be presented at the coming World Urban Forum 2006 (WUF 3) in Canada in June.
The Habitat JAM was sponsored by the Government of Canada in partnership with UN-HABITAT and IBM. The event included many people who would typically never have an opportunity to attend a World Urban Forum (WUF). But in June 2006, their voices, hopes, ideas and recommendations will be presented at WUF 3 in Vancouver, BC, Canada – don't miss this opportunity to learn from their insights. Their input is summarised in an initial report.
The Habitat JAM was the first event of its kind - the largest public consultation ever held on urban sustainability. Using advanced online tools, the Habitat JAM was a groundbreaking event that enabled real-time dialogue and exchange among an unprecedented number of participants.
The Habitat JAM was a demonstration project designed to help facilitate a more effective and inclusive World Urban Forum, by engaging, empowering and stimulating tens of thousands of global citizens, rich and poor alike, with the ultimate goal of turning idea into action on critical issues related to urban sustainability. But it is only a first step. For the Habitat JAM to truly be successful, the ideas and recommendations from those who participated in this event must live on. The actionable ideas from the JAM need to be analyzed and validated to determine their viability in terms of implementation. They need to be front and center at WUF3 – influencing the topics of dialogue and networking sessions. And they need to drive the agendas of government and organizations whose role it is to improve the lives of the world citizens living in urban centers.
For the majority of participants the JAM experience was very positive.
• 69 per cent of almost 1,400 survey respondents, said they were satisfied with their overall Habitat JAM experience.
• 91 per cent agreed that that the Habitat JAM brought together people who might otherwise
never be able to share ideas/information.
• 79 per cent agreed that the Habitat JAM is a valuable preparatory event for World Urban
Forums.
• 44 per cent of respondents said the JAM made them more likely to attend WUF 3.
The Habitat JAM faced many challenges throughout its lifecycle, but there is little
argument that given the experimental nature of this initiative, the Habitat JAM was an enormous success in terms of its inclusiveness, global reach and the over 600 actionable ideas brought forth by its participants.
The World Urban Forum, Vancouver, Canada, June 19-23, 2006
Canada will host the next UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum in 2006 — a key international event that will bring the global community together to find real solutions to the challenges facing cities and communities across the world.
The agenda for the five days at WUF3 will be designed to encourage information sharing and networking around the theme of Sustainable Cities: Ideas to Action.
