A Risk Sciences International Case Study

World Urban Campaign

World Urban Campaign webpage screengrab
RSI logo

Case Study Client: UN-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya

Listing of the client in no way affirms the client's support, sponsorship, or validation in any form of Risk Sciences International or the RSI staff member(s) who conducted this project during their stay with RSI or prior to joining the company. This case study is displayed for informative purposes only to demonstrate the capacity of RSI staff members. This case study reveals no proprietary information or information deemed sensitive.

Mandate

In 2009, UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency responsible for human settlements, wished to launch a global campaign, modeled on similar global campaigns run by other UN agencies, that would bring together the UN, civil society, business, and governments, especially those representing local authorities. It was recognized that continuing a splintered approach to urban issues was not a good strategy. This was particularly important in light of the mounting risks faced by urban centers worldwide. Massive rural to urban migration has turned many small towns into megalopolis-size sprawls.

The mandate called for Cemil Alyanak to join forces with Nicholas You, of UN-Habitat, to jointly develop the strategy behind the campaign, bring together all the stakeholders, develop a win-win strategy, and ultimately launch the project onto the world stage.

Work

The project began with a series of consultations with UN-Habitat at UNON in Nairobi. In addition to Cemil Alyanak and Nicholas you, the project grew to include many key stakeholders both within UN-Habitat and from other organizations. Among the key organizations included in the early stages were United Cities and Local Governments, Cities Alliance, the World Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Cisco, and UN agencies interested in urban health, notably the World Health Organization. In all cases, the process participants were of the highest level. Of note, the process including some federal government representation, notably from the U.S. Department of State, from the Government of Kenya, and from major municipal governments, notably Paris and Barcelona.

The strategic development phase included a risk assessment both of the new organization, per se, and of its output. Would such a bridging organization have operational implications? The project also included all of the basic work of finding a name, a logo, a mission statement, even its physical address. The team, under the leadership of Alyanak and You, were also tasked with the creation of the governance structure, notably the steering committee and board. Both of these were formally founded in a special meeting in Alicante, Spain, prior to the launch of the campaign.

The launch occurred in Rio de Janeiro during the World Urban Forum 5 on 26 March 2010. Cemil Alyanak presented the campaign, including a launch film, to a crowd of 18,000, in addition to the many thousand watching live around the world.

Outcomes

Now based in Nairobi, Kenya, the World Urban Campaign has grown beyond expectations. It has developed into a multi-stakeholder effort with multiple programs with great leverage in the urban agenda as well as SDG11. A hoped-for outcome has been the campaign's impact on risk. During the off years of the World Urban Forum, the World Urban Campaign remains the best forum for dialogue among all urban actors.

Posted in

More RSI Case Studies

RSI presents a very small selection of case studies to highlight some of its key work.

WHO/FAO Food Safety Risk Analysis Tools

RSI background logo
Read More

ABO RBDM Framework

Risk Based Decision Making diagram

The Alliance of Blood Operators (ABO) needed a coherent risk management framework to guide decision-making on the delivery of blood services by its member organizations, which would help produce consistent decision-making processes and outcomes across the different national jurisdictional and regulatory structures. The RBDM approach was meant to support a shift in risk decision-making in national blood services organizations from one focused on minimizing all risks to blood quality and supply, with little concern for costs, to a risk-based approach in which resources are allocated according to risk and the application of financial resources and management rigour is proportional to the risk they are addressing.

Read More

Communicating health risks of smoke

RSI studies health risks of smoke

Environment and Climate Change Canada, with Health Canada, wanted to understand perceptions of the health risks from smoke from wildfires and from residential burning (winter heating using wood stoves, and fireplaces), and public health communication approaches and messages used in these contexts. This information would support revisions of the health messages used in the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). The AQHI expresses the health risk associated with three common urban air pollutants, and is calculated at monitoring stations in communities across Canada to inform the public of the risk level of current local air quality conditions.

Read More

International Organization for Migration

Risk management project by RSI's Cemil Alyanak while in Tajikistan

Under the supervision of Director Purcell and his cabinet, the six-month project began with an internal review of attitudes, projects, responsibilities and management reporting lines. The work uncovered multiple inconsistencies and inefficiencies. What’s more, there were very real risk consequences at the operational level.

Read More

International Herald Tribune

RSI's Cemil Alyanak undertook a complete analysis of the International Herald Tribune

The original mandate aimed to find a new direction for the world renowned International Herald Tribune just as both the World Wide Web was in its infancy, and the newspaper faced increased competition from international and regional editions of established newspapers and magazines such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times.

Read More

Geneva International Airport

Risk communication project at Geneva International Airport

Geneva International Airport was concerned that its signage was become problematic. Not only was it aesthetically overwhelming after decades of revisions and additions, it was becoming a safety risk with…

Read More