As part of its continued commitment to promote the nexus approach, the cities of Naga and Santa Rosa in the Philippines formally renewed their partnership with the GIZ Urban Nexus and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia Secretariat (ICLEI SEAS) through separate ceremonial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing. Mayor John Bongat of Naga City and Mayor Danilo Fernandez of Santa Rosa represented their respective cities during the event.

The MoU signing coincided with the GIZ Urban Nexus team’s scoping visit which aimed to look at the progress of both cities vis-à-vis their respective nexus pilot projects. This MoU is anchored on the regional project, Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: The Urban Nexus (herein after referred to as the nexus project). The nexus project is currently in its second phase and will last until December 2018.

The cities of Naga and Santa Rosa have been working on the nexus project since its first phase, which ran from 2013 to 2015. The nexus approach looks at synergies across water, energy, and food sectors and how these can be mainstreamed into urban development planning. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). ICLEI SEAS serves as the project’s implementation partner in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Download the Urban Nexus project factsheet here.