Bridging Democratic Deficits: Global Experts, North American Action

Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to the interactive nature of learning labs, only those with a seat may participate. Please arrive early to secure your spot!

America's planning challenges - climate emergencies, housing crises, migration pressures, deepening inequities - are shared by cities worldwide. The UN-HABITAT Professionals Forum (HPF) Roadmap to a Just and Regenerative Recovery and the International Participatory Charter offer new frameworks for rethinking participation, resilience, and justice in planning.

This Learning Lab brings together American planners and international experts who have applied elements of these frameworks in contexts ranging from post-disaster recovery to Indigenous reconciliation, informal settlement upgrading, and climate adaptation. They explore how these global lessons can inform and strengthen overall North American planning practice.

The Roadmap's 22 propositions call for outcome-driven planning, locally led recovery, and technology-enabled participation. The Charter adds a rights-based foundation, participatory benchmarks, and tools for bridging democratic deficits. Through facilitated exercises, map your community's participatory strengths and gaps, apply international case study insights, and design actionable strategies tailored to your jurisdiction.

The presentation culminates in a co-created HPF North American Planning Pledge - a shared commitment to embedding rights-based, participatory, and climate-resilient approaches in North American planning, backed by proven methods from around the world. The Pledge will be shared at the UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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