UrbanShift Urban Planning Consultant – UNEP Cities Unit

• Country: Paris, France
• No of vacancies: N/A
  
• Salary: N/A 
• Organization: UNEP
• Gender: Both
• Deadline: 2024-01-01

Duties and Responsibilities
The Cities Unit acts as a hub for UNEP’s work on sustainable urban development. Contributing to the UN system-wide strategy on sustainable urban development and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, UNEP Cities Unit focusses on the 3-D: decarbonising, decoupling and detoxifying, and investing in nature; and particularly integrated approaches in line with the International Resource Panel Report Weight of Cities and the GEO for Cities report.

UNEP is the lead agency for the GEF-7 UrbanShift Global Platform, implemented together with three City-Based Organisations (WRI, C40 and ICLEI). The objective of the Global Platform is to provide support and opportunities for learning and peer-to-peer exchange to the cities involved in the 9 country child projects (Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone). UNEP Cities Unit is leading the Advocacy Component of the programme. Its goal is to promote the importance of cities in the achievement of the goals of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) at global and regional level and on raising awareness of policymakers on the project, its goals, tools and achievements.

As part of its work on sustainable urbanization and feeding into the UrbanShift programme, UNEP Cities Unit is also leading a workstream on sustainable approaches to neighbourhood planning, building on the Integrated Guidelines for Sustainable Neighbourhood Design launched in 2022. A training module on “Green and Thriving Neighbourhood” has been developed for UrbanShift City Academy, and more activities (including in-person trainings in Africa and Asia) are planned under UrbanShift.

The consultant will support ongoing programmes and projects of the Cites Unit, within the Energy and Climate Branch, Industry and Economy Division of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in particular the activities of the UrbanShift Programme. In collaboration with the Programme Manager, the consultant will undertake the following activities:

1) Support the coordination and implementation of the UrbanShift advocacy activities.
a. Contribute to the development of concept notes, agendas, and any other needed documents (speaker briefs, invitations, run of shows, presentations, meeting reports, etc.) in support of the implementation of the 2024 UrbanShift Advocacy Plan. Including:
i. Support the planning and delivery of the UNEA-6 Cities and Regions Summit.
ii. Support the organization of the UrbanShift Partnership Engagement Meeting and of the Advocacy Task Force
b. Attend regular UrbanShift core team meeting to provide updates to UrbanShift Core Team as needed.
c. Support the Cities Unit contribution to the program, including the review of documents and planning of activities.

2) Support the coordination and implementation of the Sustainable Cities and Neighborhoods activities
a. Support the conceptualization of future strategic activities, including by preparing concept notes, TORs, and background research as needed, and by identifying fundraising opportunities related to Sustainable Urban Planning and Urban Nature.
b. Contribute to the planning and coordination of the City academies on Green and Thriving Neighborhood.
c. Support tasks related to the strategic development of the Sustainable Neighborhood approach.

3) Support other activities of the Sustainable Urban Planning workstream of the Cities Unit
a. Participate in weekly team meetings.
b. Contribute to the organization of meetings, coordination of partnerships, and production of knowledge products related to cities.
c. Contribute to the development of talking points and briefings related to cities
d. Perform other duties as required in support of the delivery of the work of the Cities Unit.
Qualifications/special skills
• Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in urban planning, international relations, development studies or other relevant area. A first level university degree in combination with five additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of 6 months of previous working experience in research or programme coordination, preferably with a focus on urban development, sustainability and environmental protection.
• Prior experience or exposure to working with UN agencies are desirable.
Languages
• Fluency in written and spoken English is a requirement. Knowledge of Mandarin and / or French is an advantage.

APPLY NOW