Local government professionals worldwide have a new forum for sharing knowledge about three interrelated urban challenges: climate change, food security, and water and sanitation. These topics are at the center of the USAID-funded CityLinks program and the new CityLinks website developed by ICMA.

CityLinks is where U.S. good practice meets international good practice, and ICMA is hosting the new CityLinks site on the Knowledge Network (KN), a robust knowledge sharing community of 18,000 users from around the globe. The KN allows these users to interact, share, and exchange resources and information by posting key documents, asking and answering questions, and participating in discussions on topics of mutual interest.

About CityLinks

The five-year CityLinks program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provides an umbrella for city-to-city partnerships between U.S. local governments and those in developing and transitioning countries. In addition to cities, the program brings together participants from counties and other local governments, and from nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, and other sectors. 

Partnerships formed under the program will address one or more of the three key urban challenges, and the partners will work together to develop sustainable, locally appropriate approaches to those challenges. ICMA heads a team of seven partners and resource organizations that will implement the program.

The new website provides a “one-stop shop” for CityLinks resources and information. On it, users will find:

• The latest news and blog posts
• Information for U.S. local governments and for USAID Missions interested in starting CityLinks partnerships
• Links to the three CityLinks topics on the KN: climate change, food security, and water and sanitation.

About the Knowledge Network

The Knowledge Network is open to anyone interested in local government. Its 18,000 users have access to more than 6,000 documents ranging from citizen feedback surveys to climate change approaches to transportation control measures. After creating personal profiles, users can share relevant experiences through blog entries, post questions to which the online community can freely respond, form groups focused on specific topics or projects, and set up alerts for news and blog posts.

Because the new CityLinks site is housed within the Knowledge Network, it provides access to documents and questions from the entire community of users, including ICMA’s 9,000 members, CityLinks partner organizations, participating local governments, and countless others. Professionals with an interest in any of the CityLinks topics are invited to contribute. When any user uploads and posts a document, it becomes available to the entire community of participants. To learn more, visit the Knowledge Network or contact international@icma.org.