African Centre for Cities, along with Prodig, French National Centre for Scientific Research, French Institute of South Africa and the French Institute for Research in Africa, are presenting a one-day workshop entitled Cities, geo-technologies and data-driven urbanism.  The programme is structured into four sessions with two sessions of strategic input from research and practice by various presenters (see below) and two work sessions to discuss and synthesize the inputs. WHEN: Monday, 11 June 2018 TIME: 08:30 to 16:45 WHERE: Room 3B, RW James Building, Upper Campus, University of Cape Town   While a curated group of people have been invited to the workshop, five places are still available. These places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. To secure your spot send an email to elisabeth.peyroux@cnrs.fr or call  +2772 250 7804.   PRESENTATIONS: Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives on cities and geo-technologies – Elisabeth Peyroux, National Centre for Scientific Research, Prodig, & Nancy Odendaal, School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, UCT Technology and spatial governance in Southern cities – Nancy Odendaal, School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, UCT (Big) Data, knowledge, and their use in decision-making and policy-making: Perspectives from ICT4D – Ulrike Rivett, Department of Information Systems, School of IT, UCT Disruptive technologies, new power relationships and challenges to urban governance – Sabelo Mahlangu, School of Architecture and Planning, Wits University & Samy Katumba, Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) Linking research, practice and higher education – Herrie Schalekamp, Centre for Transport Studies (CfTS), UCT Geospatial data analysis: The significant rise in local service levels coming from Cityspec intervention in Monwabisi Park and Lotus Park (Cape Town) – Chris Berens, GIS expert, Knowledge Management, VPUU & Nhlanhla May, Spatial Data Analyst, VPUU City making and the rise of urban and technology-oriented development interventions in Nairobi – Prince Guma, Human geography and Planning, University of Utrecht ICT for e-Culture: cultural storytelling and innovative services. The “Smart Square” in Hamburg and its application in Cape Town – Sumarie Roodt,  Department of Information Systems, Commerce Faculty UCT & Jens Bley, HafenCity University Demo of 3D scanning technologies applied to the built environment – Jason Stapleton CEO Metascale Services and Consulting (MSC)  

Working at the interface of climate science, urban policy and practice: developing ideas of distillation and receptivity WHEN: 12 June 2018 TIME: 3:00 to 4:30 WHERE: Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Science Building, Upper Campus, University of Cape Town The last seminar in the 4 part series on cities and climate change will focus on how the worlds of climate science and urban policy making and implementation are being brought closer together in ways that might support more evidence-based decision making on urban matters that are climate sensitive. Drawing primarily on the efforts of, and experiences from, the Future Resilience of African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) project, the speakers will present ideas and practices of distilling relevant, actionable climate information and fostering greater receptivity to engaging, co-producing and acting on climate information. Central to this is the creation of city learning labs as a space for bringing together a diversity of people and knowledge to generate new thinking and possibly nudge processes of decision making in new directions. Experiences of designing and implementing such labs in Maputo, Lusaka and Windhoek will be discussed in relation to emerging concepts of distillation and receptivity. The seminar will provide an opportunity to share insights about working at science-policy-practice interfaces between those working in the climate space and those working in other urban science-policy domains, like health, water management, housing and biodiversity. CHAIR: Prof Sue Parnell SPEAKERS: Dr Chris Jack, Principal Scientific Officer, Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG), and ACDI Senior Fellow Dr Di Scott, African Centre for Cities Dr Izidine Pinto, Climate System Analysis Group