JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGAUNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH & SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR LOCAL DEMOCRACY (ICLD), KISUMU LOCAL INTERACTION PLATFORM (KLIP), AND UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG Millions of waste pickers collect household waste daily in cities around the globe to earn a living. Through their everyday work, they develop new technical solutions and engage in novel ways of organization and management. They induce innovative policies and governance arrangements through inventive forms of participatory co-production of environmental services and tackle several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. With increased urbanization, solid waste management shall remain a critical issue in most cities of the world to be considered in; urban planning and governance as it affects the livelihood of a huge segment of city duelers as well as the cleanliness and health of the urban environment.   The conference panel session shall discuss; inclusive urban planning and governance, grassroots initiatives and knowledge, strategies for circular economy, stakeholder engagement and linkages at city, regional and global levels, localizing implementation of SDGs at city levels and potential for city-to-city learning as they revolve around “urban sustainable solid waste management” as the main theme, and the different approaches and positions taken by different cities. Its objective is to disseminate the findings and recommendations resulting from 10 years international collaborative research work undertaken across various cities in the world as published in scientific articles, books, policy briefs and reports published by Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) and other organizations.   The target audience includes; city mayors/managers, policy makers, politicians, researchers, NGOs, Civil Society, local government officials, international organizations, etc.   The session will consist of;

1. An overview of research findings and recommendations by researchers.
2. Presentation by mayors on how they engage with the findings and recommendations.
3. Presentation of innovations and challenges by waste pickers’/actors’ organizations.
4. Presentation by national (NEMA) and supportive organizations (UN-Habitat, Wiego)
5. Lessons learnt and ways forward.

  In overall the session is to present how research findings can influence urban planning and improvement/development of policies, and contribute towards developing strategies for development and planning of the cities. It also demonstrates how to achieve inclusive urban planning and governance as well as provision of basic services in intermediary cities.