On 18-19 May 2016, an international Forum on “Shaping Smarter and More Sustainable Cities: Striving for Sustainable Development Goals” took place in Rome. This strategic event is aimed at stimulating countries to  effective solving of the urban problems and introduction of environment friendly urban services based on technological innovation, including smart transportation system, smart heath care, smart energy and smart education as well as achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The event was organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) jointly with the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy and The Chamber of Commerce of Rome.

The Ukrainian delegation also attended the Forum. In particular, Vitaliy Lukov, mayor of Voznesensk city, Mykolaiv region, presented the innovative experience of this city. Starting from 2006 Voznesensk is cooperating with the UNDP that supports the local initiatives on implementation of energy efficient measures and e-governance. For instance, every citizen of Voznesensk has its electronic medical card and all medical information for the local hospitals is collected in the single online database.

The national program of supporting sustainable urban development, including induction of smart cities concept that is actively promoted by the UNDP, was presented by Vyacheslav Negoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine.

The Forum participants also looked into the risks posed by urbanization in the modern world due to depletion of resources such as land, clean water and air, as well as risks to sustainable development (overcrowding in cities, effects of the climate change, natural and man-made disasters). On the other hand, the experience of the countries with stable and transparent governance shows that development of information and communication technologies during the last two decades allows for achieving improvement of urban climate by lowering energy use and harmful emissions while boosting socio-economic growth.

Sustainable Development Goals were adopted at the UN General Assembly last year as an action plan in 17 key areas in the period till 2030.  Sustainable cities and communities is the 11^th Goals and its implementation is closely interrelated with smart cities principles.