On 10th March 2014, municipal officials from Durban (eThekwini Municipality), South Africa will be visiting officials from Broward County and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as part of an USAID-sponsored CityLinks Exchange Visit. The aim of the exchange will be to further the existing cooperation between these organisations in support of the implementation of their Durban Adaptation Charter Regional Partnership. The Durban Adaptation Charter is a global initiative to drive climate change adaptation at the local and district municipal level, and the Regional Partnerships are formed between organisations that have a regional influence in affecting climate change action.

As such, Durban (host of the DAC) and Broward County/ Fort Lauderdale (SE Florida Regional CC Compact) have developed a parternship around sharing knowledge and experience in the fields of sea level rise, biodiversity and stormwater management. The first part of the exchange visit was conducted in South Africa in July 2013. This is now the return visit, and eThekwini Municipal officials look foward to gaining deeper insights into governance mechanisms of the Compact. Durban has already started the development of its own regional Compact as a direct result of the learning gained from the first half of the exchange visit. Another outcome has been the signing of the Florida organisations with the Durban Adaptation Charter. They are thus the first leaders in the USA to sign up to the Charter.