Masterclass des Maires Francophones: for sustainable cities
© UM6P / CUS
The Masterclass des Maires d'Afrique Francophone, which brought together leaders and experts from 7 to 9 November, was an enriching experience for the future of African cities and their sustainability.
The event, organised by the African Cities Lab and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), brought together leaders of major African cities to discuss the challenges of rapid urbanisation and the use of urban data. It laid the foundations for closer cooperation with a view to sustainable and inclusive urban development.
Over the course of two days, alternating lectures and discussions, a number of themes and issues were addressed:
- Urban data: collection, processing and applications
- Citizen participation and transparency in municipal decision-making
- Optimising urban resources to meet needs, including housing and basic services
- Sustainable mobility and transport
- Integrating technologies for smart and resilient cities
Participants were also able to discover UM6P's Center of Urban Systems (CUS) and the start-ups Pogo and ENAKL, pioneers in the field of urban mobility. The discussions were enriched by visits to sites such as the Green Energy Park and STARTGATE, illustrating technological solutions for smart cities.
Through workshops led by CUS experts, participants were introduced to tools such as Google Earth Engine for modelling urban expansion and natural risk management, while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This Masterclass enabled participants to discover practical and innovative solutions for building more resilient and sustainable African cities, while promoting cooperation and exchanges of best practice.
African Cities Lab
A key player in urban development in Africa
African Cities Lab is a joint initiative led by EPFL (Switzerland), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (Morocco), Université de Carthage (Tunisia), Sèmè City campus (Benin), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), University of Cape Town (South Africa) and University of Rwanda (Rwanda), whose main objective is to contribute to sustainable urban development on the African continent. The initiative, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), aims to create a digital education platform and support the development of educational content in urban planning and management and sustainable urban development in Africa.
