A new foundation-led network, Funders’ Forum on Sustainable Cities has grown out of the Global Philanthropy Leadership Initiative (GPLI). The aim: to explore and develop the work of foundations on urban sustainability.

The network brings together experiences from different parts of the world and will articulate the role and impact of foundations on cities and citizens; develop principles and guidelines for effective philanthropic investment in cities; increase foundations’ influence and participation in international dialogues on urbanization; and create a space for systematic knowledge sharing both inside and outside the foundation community. Founded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the German Marshall Fund, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Fundación AVINA and Realdania, the forum aims to have about 30 members representing all world regions in two years’ time.

Its work has three themes: population and infrastructure; community wellbeing and public safety; and good governance, leadership and the effective execution of policies. In 2013, the network will look at how foundations support innovation in two areas: advancing citizen participation and good governance in cities; and catalysing new financing vehicles for urban development. The Funders’ Forum is organizing a half-day programme on these two issues as part of the European Foundation Centre’s Annual Conference later this year,[1] whose core theme is sustainable cities. The results will inform the forum’s principles and will frame the network’s first annual conference. This will bring together foundations and their partners in city initiatives from civil society, local government and business, and will be held in autumn 2013.

1 EFC Annual Conference, Sustainable Cities – Foundations and Our Urban Future, 30 May-1 June, Copenhagen, Denmark. http://www.efc.be/aga

For more information
Contact Sevdalina Rukanova at the EFC. Email srukanova@efc.be.

GPLI
GPLI is a joint initiative of the Council on Foundations, the EFC and WINGS involving 30 foundation leaders from around the world. It has acted as a catalyst for collaborative initiatives such as the Funders’ Forum and the Tunisia Joint Fund.