Professionals Roundtable (World Urban Forum 1…

The everyday work of urban professionals shapes the fabric of cities, impacting people's lives on the ground. As such, it is crucial to strengthen the relationships between professionals and other grassroots and civil society actors. Convened by the Habitat Professional Forum (HPF), a voluntary mechanism comprised of over 24 international associations, the Professionals' Roundtable will bring together built-environment professionals and other stakeholders to address this need. Attendees will review achievements since WUF 11 in implementing the HPF Roadmap to Recovery and work to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 and the New Urban Agenda.

The Roundtable will focus on the role of professionals in enhancing participation in urban decision-making and planning, and achieving SDG 11.3.2. The key background documents that will be shared include the Professionals' International Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development, and findings from the monitoring efforts related to SDG11.3.2.

The event will inform and engage attendees through interactive discussions on four strategic topics. Each of these focus areas will be examined through the lens of participation and WUF12's key dialogue themes:

1. Professionals' contribution to local actions for sustainable cities and communities: From principles to action (implementing the HPF Roadmap).
2. Accelerating SDG achievement through the New Urban Agenda: Reinforcing and integrating local action (coordination across stakeholders and sectors).
3. Partnerships of communities with professionals: Engaged representation and SDG localization (partnership with local communities).
4. The way forward: Sharing new solutions from professionals to support communities, cities and regions (state of the art and capacity building).

Respectively, these conversations will emphasize implementation of the HPF Roadmap, coordination among stakeholders and across sectors, partnership with local communities, and state-of-the-art and capacity building.

The session will begin with a keynote segment moderated by the HPF Chair and Co-Chair. This will be followed by breakout discussions that will enable attendees to voice their input. Conclusions from these discussions will inform the next work plan of the Habitat Professional Forum, guiding its efforts to mobilize professionals globally and highlighting commitments for further action towards sustainable urbanization.