Rome, 5 October 2020 – Co-organized by UNIDO and the Finance Center for South-South Cooperation and featuring the City of Vienna and Eurocities as partners, Bridge for Cities 2020 was virtually held on 5 October, successfully advancing city-to-city networking and partnerships among relevant urban stakeholders worldwide in order to recover from the socio-economic impact on cities of COVID-19 and accelerate the attainment of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.

Titled “Driving the Decade of Action: COVID-19 and the future of Cities”, the fifth edition of Bridge for Cities provided a platform for the exchange of best practices and lessons learned regarding inclusive growth and job creation, technology-based behavioral shifts and ecofriendly solutions for long-lasting urban transformation.

In this framework UNIDO ITPO Italy facilitated the intervention of Mr. Carlos Mario Marin Correa, Mayor of Manizales, as well as the participation of several Italian small and medium enterprises through the organization of ad-hoc virtual booths in the dedicated online expo area.

"It is important to align the mayors’ agendas with the SDGs in order to set out a local action plan to tackle climate change, as well as to develop resilient infrastructure to mitigate this effect" commented Mr. Carlos Mario Marin Correa at the green economic recovery roundtable of Bridge for Cities 2020, illustrating the multiple initiatives in terms of eco-friendly technologies, resilient public transportations, efficient water treatment, data transparency and environmental safeguard adopted by the city of Manizales to achieve urban sustainable development according to the 2030 Agenda.

On the sidelines of the virtual conference, the winners of the Global Call “Innovative Ideas and Technologies vs. COVID-19 and Beyond” promoted by UNIDO and inspired by UNIDO ITPO Italy also participated in Bridge for Cities 2020 as exhibitors. In this context, plasticpreneur, Telespazio S.p.a. and Shanghai ZhiZhong Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. had the opportunity to showcase their awarded proposals – small-scale machines for PPE production, an Earth Cognitive System for COVID-19, and an innovative technology for safe and efficient disinfection, respectively – offering sustainable solutions for cities and urban development in the post-COVID scenario.