CityNet invites you to submit a proposal to hold a side events during this year's Congress that will be held on 5-8 November in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The CityNet Congress 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the Network of cities and stakeholders commited to sustainable urban development in the Asia Pacific region. All proposals will be considered and decided upon through a selection committee at the CityNet Secretariat. Please contact CityNet Program Officer Felix Kalkowsky at programs1@citynet-ap.org to register your interest.

The CityNet Secretariat has prepared a series of activities for CityNet's members that are ranging from the Congress that is held every four years to various workshops throughout 2017. This year will also mark CityNet's 30^th anniversary. Lots of our activities are organised in collaboration with prominent partners. Keep yourself updated with the activity announcement and mark your calendar for the opportunities!

CityNet is encouraging its member-cities to submit applications for CityNet Services, one of the most sought after regular programs. CityNet Services is a platform where members conduct sustainable learning exchanges across the network. It can be in the form of technical assistance, study visits, and/or city-to-city partnerships. For further information on how to apply for CityNet Services, you may email the CityNet Secretariat at programs2@citynet-ap.org.

The 3rd WeGO Smart Sustainable City Awards is an international competition that recognizes excellence in ICT, e-Governance, and smart city initiatives for the ultimate goal of urban sustainability and citizen well-being. Applications are ongoing until April 14, 2017, and WeGO invites all cities to submit applications and be recognized for their work on smart sustainable city development. Learn more and apply for the WeGO Smart Sustainable City Awards by clicking on this link.

The CityNet Secretariat is developing the Medium Term Plan for 2018-2021 which will serve the purpose of reviewing past work and establish a vision for the future to improve the CityNet's role. This Plan will be carried out using the input of members through the survey. Please take few minutes to complete this survey to help us understand your needs and expectations and provide any further details that will assist us to meet your objectives. This survey questionnaire may take 15-20 minutes of your time and may also be dependent on the respondent's pace. Thank you in advance for participating!

A workshop on the implementation of SDGs was held in Thimphu, Bhutan on January 21-23 and in Barisal on February 7-9 where participants discussed the challenges they were facing and built Action Plan for the SDG implementation in the cities. The Chairman and Director General of Society for Development Studies Dr. Vinay Lall, one of CityNet Associate Members, pointed out the need for inter-departmental partnership to ensure the success of the SDG implementation.

The Korea Transport Institute, Seoul Metropolitan Government and the World Bank are jointly hosting the 6^th LUTP-Seoul on September 10-16, 2017. This workshop will again take place in Seoul, and cover important issues for urban transport leaders such as integrated transport planning, ICT in transportation, PPP, and other key challenges. Participants will have opportunities to participate in presentations, group discussions, site visits to Korea's cutting-edge transport related institutions, and networking sessions. 

In January, HELP-O finished designing a set of sustainable waste management awareness stickers that were distributed to residents in selected communities across Galle. These stickers have been made using data from three community consultations that were held late last year. Last month the China Garden Ward was also selected as a participant in the awareness campaign.

In January, an end of project assessment was conducted in Iloilo to identify the measurable outputs of the CBARAD Project. Current management practices and the disaster risk management capacities of stakeholders were examined and compared with the baseline data from the start of CBARAD II. Surveys were completed by 52 focal persons from the CBARAD project and 30 people participated in focus group discussions.