Business, Foundations and Philanthropies Roundtable

Collaboration between businesses and foundations is essential for achieving sustainable urban growth. By leveraging their unique strengths, businesses and foundations can drive innovation, enhance community engagement and promote economic, social and environmental sustainability within all urban settings.

This roundtable aims to explore how the private sector and foundations can work effectively with local authorities, United Nations agencies and other financing institutions to address the multifaceted challenges of urbanization. The session offers a platform to share successful experiences of public-private-philanthropic partnerships in closing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 financing gap, thereby deepening the understanding of how public, private and foundation actors can complement each other in achieving sustainable urban development. By encouraging dialogue and fostering collaboration, we aim to identify synergies and maximise the impact achievable through effective partnerships.

Linkage to WUF12 theme

This roundtable aligns with the WUF12 overarching theme and Dialogue 3, "Stronger Together," emphasising the power of partnerships to bridge global ambitions with local realities. The session SDG 11 by showcasing how multi-sectoral collaboration can make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 

Objectives

• Gain insights from experts in urban sustainability, philanthropy and the private sector on their roles in advancing sustainable urbanization, current initiatives, needs and collaborative efforts to bridge the SDG 11 financing gap.  
• Engage in in-depth exchanges with representatives from the public, private and philanthropic sectors to explore real-world applications and challenges. 
• Examine successful public-private-philanthropic partnerships that have effectively addressed urban issues like affordable housing, smart city initiatives and sustainable transportation. 
• Discover how the private sector’s focus on innovation and efficiency can align with foundations' strategic vision and community engagement to create holistic urban solutions. 

Expected outcomes and impact

The session will develop a deeper understanding of the complementary roles of the public sector, private sector and foundations in accelerating sustainable urban development, investment and implementation at the local level.

• The discussion will highlight successful examples of innovative financing mechanisms, public-private collaboration models, and strategies shared with the private sector and foundations network to facilitate closing the SDG 11 financing gap.
• Participants will formulate an effective action roadmap for partnerships between public, private and philanthropic sectors that contribute to holistic urban development, balancing short-term profitability with long-term impact.

Guiding Questions

• What are the key factors underpinning effective funding models and partnerships between cities and businesses that drive impactful urban development?
• How can foundations and philanthropies contribute to completing the value chain of investment in sustainable urban development?
• How can cities attract and sustain private sector investments to accelerate sustainable urban development and implementation at the local level?
• What opportunities are there to co-create and scale successful urban interventions through effective partnerships between local governments, businesses and philanthropies?