Professionals Roundtable

The everyday work of urban professionals shapes the fabric of cities, impacting people’s lives on the ground. As such, it is crucial to strengthen the relationships between professionals and other grassroots and civil society actors. Convened by the Habitat Professional Forum (HPF), a voluntary mechanism comprised of over 24 international associations, the Professionals’ Roundtable will bring together built-environment professionals and other stakeholders to address this need. Attendees will review achievements since WUF 11 in implementing the HPF Roadmap to Recovery and work to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 and the New Urban Agenda.

The Roundtable will focus on the role of professionals in enhancing participation in urban decision-making and planning, and achieving SDG 11.3.2. The key background documents that will be shared include the Professionals' International Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development, and findings from the monitoring efforts related to SDG11.3.2.

The event will inform and engage attendees through interactive discussions on four strategic topics. Each of these focus areas will be examined through the lens of participation and WUF12’s key dialogue themes:

1. Professionals' contribution to local actions for sustainable cities and communities: From principles to action (implementing the HPF Roadmap).
2. Accelerating SDG achievement through the New Urban Agenda: Reinforcing and integrating local action (coordination across stakeholders and sectors).
3. Partnerships of communities with professionals: Engaged representation and SDG localization (partnership with local communities).
4. The way forward: Sharing new solutions from professionals to support communities, cities and regions (state of the art and capacity building).

Respectively, these conversations will emphasize implementation of the HPF Roadmap, coordination among stakeholders and across sectors, partnership with local communities, and state-of-the-art and capacity building.

The session will begin with a keynote segment moderated by the HPF Chair and Co-Chair. This will be followed by breakout discussions that will enable attendees to voice their input. Conclusions from these discussions will inform the next work plan of the Habitat Professional Forum, guiding its efforts to mobilize professionals globally and highlighting commitments for further action towards sustainable urbanization.

Objectives

• Accelerate commitment to SDG11 and implementation of the New Urban Agenda, by identifying barriers to and opportunities for implementing the NUA for both urban professionals and governments, addressing the Rights to the City, benchmarking progress of SDG11, and meeting the special needs of communities and informal settlements, This includes linkages to the monitoring and reporting of SDG 11.3.2. on participation and democratic structures.
• Promote the participatory action needed for recovery, regeneration and reconciliation, and to accelerate SDG achievement through the NUA. This involves supporting sustainable urban planning and governance by partnering with local communities and engaging professionals for SDG localization with cities and regions.
• Serve as the official launch event for the HPF International Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development, and to solicit support from urban professional organizations to sign on to the Charter at the end of WUF 12, close of year 2024.

Expected outcomes and impact

• The roundtable will serve as the official launch event for the HPF International Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development and solicit support from urban professional organizations to sign on to the Charter at the end of WUF 12.
• Attendees will be informed about the Roadmap and HPF’s ongoing work, and encouraged to sign a commitment to the Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development.
• The Declaration/Statement from HPF will be finalized with inputs of the session and prepared for delivery to international organizations and stakeholders.
• The results of the roadmap’s implementation will be shared at the next World Urban Forum in 2026.

Guiding Questions

• How can professionals contribute to the Roadmap to Recovery to ensure a just and restorative response to crises such as pandemics, wars and disasters?
• How can professionals reinforce urban action to accelerate the achievement of SDGs through the New Urban Agenda and the Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development?
• How can professionals better foster engagement in SDG localization through partnerships between local communities and governments at various scales (city, region and national)?
• How can professionals improve their approaches to providing community-relevant and fit-for-purpose expertise at the local level?
• How can we generate disruptive solutions to address multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional crises?
• What do we know about strengthening civic engagement in urban planning and management?