Eco-Cities Background

In October 2008 the Ministry of Environment of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), jointly with the Municipality of Greater Amman, held an Environmental Forum entitled “Environmental Cities of the Mediterranean” at the Dead Sea. The Forum was organized in response to a growing awareness of the communities of the region to promote and incorporate environmentally sustainable practices in their municipalities in order to address the increasing environmental footprint posed by urban areas.

In order to officially launch the 2nd Eco-Cities Forum a Kick-off Conference was organised from December 2-3, 2010 during the Mediterranean Economic Week. The main objectives of this conference were to bring together the « Eco-cities » organizational partners, formally announce the second edition of the Eco-Cities Forum to be held in October 2011 and identify the main environmental priorities that will be addressed during the 2011 edition. A series of distinguished speakers were invited and the sessions were structured so as to encourage the participation of the audience. The kick-off conference served to formalize the main thematic areas to be addressed during the 2011 event – water and waste management.

The Second “Eco-Cities of the Mediterranean” Forum was held from October 11-12, 2011 in Marseille France, under the framework of the Mediterranean Economic Week. This was the second in a series of fora aimed at strengthening the capacity of cities in the Middle East and North Africa region to address their most critical environmental issues.