Towards institutionalized local competency frameworks for urban resilience: Pilot project in Belize and Zambia (with UN-Habitat)

This participatory workshop uses a live simulation based on a real ejido case in Mexico to explore land governance, stakeholder dynamics, and urban development conflicts. Through role-playing, negotiation, and digital voting exercises, participants experience how different actors compete over land use priorities such as housing, agriculture, environmental protection, and economic growth.

Using Mentimeter and collaborative decision-making tools, the session highlights how power asymmetries and financial influence shape planning outcomes, often outweighing collective interests. The exercise encourages critical reflection on participation, inequality, governance, and the tensions between public interest and profit-driven urbanization, while exploring strategies for more balanced and inclusive land governance.