Leveraging the power of science to implement the New Urban Agenda: The role of Knowledge-Action Networks in creating healthy, sustainable cities

Urban expansion is expected to reach unprecedented levels in the next decades. By 2050 it is predicted that two thirds of the world population might be living in towns and cities (UN Habitat, 2016, 2016). Cities play an increasingly important role in global sustainability, especially as they will be at the forefront of challenges related to health and climate for example, in the future. As such, there is a window of opportunity for action. Yet, current and emerging research being undertaken on urban systems is often perceived as inaccessible and siloed, and not specifically addressing the challenges faced by urban decision and policy-makers as well as practitioners internationally. Given such challenges and opportunities, Future Earth has assembled Knowledge-Action networks in the areas of Health and Urban science that provide an engagement platform for researchers, national and municipal decision-makers, and planners and practitioners to co-design and co-produce knowledge for action to accelerate implantation of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. Through presentation and discussion of pilot-projects, innovative research, new data-sets and scenarios demonstrating the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in both the Global South and Global North, the event demonstrates how bringing an integrated approach to scientific research, knowledge transfer, policy making and investment is producing transformational change. Following a brief intro to Future Earth's Knowledge-Action networks, six representatives, three from each knowledge-action network will present these innovative case studies following a Pecha Kucha presentation style incorporating visualizations to enhance engagement at the event. Event attendees will then be encouraged to discuss presentations with focus on noting synergies and highlighting critical opportunities for knowledge-action networks for implementing the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.