Funders’ Forum for Sustainable Cities

This network aims to increase philanthropy’s role and effectiveness in advancing sustainable and inclusive growth in cities; tackling urban poverty, promoting equitable development and opportunities; and strengthening local governance and citizen participation in local decision-making.

Independent of where they are, their size, or even stage of development, cities share a number of core characteristics and face the same fundamental challenges. Cities are also key spaces for philanthropic investment, impact and innovation across all spheres of life. Foundations have the attributes and assets to support the processes, capacities and innovations, both at the local level and across geographic boundaries, that are essential to building a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable urban future.

Focus areas

• Infrastructure needs
• Community well-being and public safety
• Good governance and leadership transparency
• Citizen participation in decision-making
• Social inclusion
• Sustainability
• Resilience

Activities

• Organising peer-learning webinars on examples of successful approaches and methodologies in cities and thematic webinars on the global processes linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Habitat III agenda
• Compiling a series of case studies on effective philanthropic involvement in cities
• Maintaining an online sharing and learning platform to discuss common challenges and share useful resources
• Organising an annual autumn conference reaching a wider network of philanthropic actors and featuring local examples and success stories

Network background

The creation of the Forum in 2011 was one of the key outcomes of the joint EFC-Council on Foundations-WINGS Global Philanthropy Leadership Initiative (GPLI).

The Funders’ Forum on Sustainable Cities (FFSC) is part of the EFC’s ongoing commitment to collaboration and peer-learning, as outlined in the EFC Strategic Framework 2016-2022.