The eighth session of the Municipalities Best Practices Forum is set to kick off on 2 June at the Umm Al-Quwain Cultural Center, convening high level delegates including His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, as well as directors from various municipalities across the UAE and municipality work experts.

Held under the theme "UAE Cities and Climate Change, 2015-2030”, the forum is being organized by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment’s Coordination of Municipal Affairs Office, in cooperation with the Forum Committee.

The event will focus on how municipalities can take action to combat climate change, a strategic priority of the UAE, through the adoption of new environmentally friendly technologies and developments as well as through hosting workshops on the latest city sustainability and efficiency research streams taking place in the country.

Given the significance of climate change and the environment on the UAE’s future prosperity and the essential front-line role that municipalities play in these efforts among their local populations in conjunction with a wide range of stakeholders, a concerted effort has been made to widen the number of universities and companies taking part in these efforts. This is to allow different stakeholders to highlight policies and practices that have been successfully adopted while enabling them to develop new partnerships at a local government level.

In addition to climate change related work, as in previous years, the forum will continue to serve as an important opportunity for municipalities to come together to share best practices and collaborate on greater joint working initiatives with the private and public sectors in all areas of municipality competencies.