Apply for the FAO Green Cities Network, a global community of practice uniting municipalities. Deadline by 1,000 cities by 2030.

Sustainable Urban Development: The FAO Green Cities Network Platform

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🌆 NETWORK CORE & TARGET METRICS

Sponsoring Agency: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Strategic Anchor: The Green Cities Initiative (GCI, launched 2020)
Global Target: Tangible transformation and resilience building in 1,000 cities by 2030
Core Areas: 1. Urban and Peri-urban Forestry | 2. Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture | 3. Sustainable Bioeconomy
SDG Alignment: Direct contributions to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land)
Membership Fee: Free of charge for all qualified municipal authorities

The FAO Green Cities Network serves as an international, data-driven community of practice designed to help municipal authorities, urban practitioners, and regional development partners transform rapidly expanding urban spaces. The platform acts as the operational nerve center for the broader Green Cities Initiative, driving multi-actor involvement to transform cities into green, self-sustaining oases.

The FAO Green Cities Network platform links local governments with technical resources to implement integrated, circular solutions. By bridging the gap between urban design and natural ecosystems, the network enables cities of all sizes to tackle rapid urbanization challenges, minimize environmental footprints, and strengthen institutional climate resilience.

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The Three Core Strategic Pillars

The FAO Green Cities Network framework focuses on three interconnected thematic domains to drive sustainable urban planning and territorial development:

1. Urban and Peri-urban Forestry (UPF)

Ecosystem Services: Designing and managing urban tree canopies, municipal parks, and green corridors to expand public access to green spaces.
Microclimate Regulation: Utilizing structural greening arrays to mitigate the effects of urban heat islands, improve air quality indexes, and establish natural buffers against floods and wind currents.
Urban-Rural Linkages: Integrating surrounding peri-urban woodlands into municipal planning to conserve natural biodiversity hubs.

2. Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA)

Agrifood Systems Transformation: Embedding short-supply-chain food production layouts directly into city infrastructure via community allotments, vertical operations, and rooftop greenhouses.
Nutritional Security: Improving urban populations’ access to fresh, safe, and affordable agricultural produce while reducing the carbon footprint of transport logistics.
Resilient Food Systems: Backing initiatives like the City Region Food Systems Programme to secure municipal food lines against external shocks or climate variations.

3. Sustainable Bioeconomy Systems

Circular Resource Management: Optimizing the collection, processing, and redistribution of municipal bio-wastes to eliminate urban landfill pressure points.
Organic Waste Recycling: Converting raw organic food leftovers and marketplace waste into nutrient-rich compost inputs for local urban farms.
Bioenergy Infrastructure: Deploying integrated bioenergy capture systems to produce sustainable heat, power, or localized industrial services from residual biological resources.

Institutional Prerequisite & Membership Eligibility

The FAO Green Cities Network maintains an open-access model to ensure equitable participation for diverse municipalities across the Global South and North.

Evaluation Category	Institutional Membership Criteria
Organizational Intent	A clear corporate commitment to putting citizen well-being at the center of green, inclusive, and resilient urban transformations.
Policy Integration	Capacity to embed agrifood metrics, green spaces, and circular bioeconomy targets directly into territorial development master plans.
Peer Engagement	Absolute willingness to participate in voluntary, non-binding continuous learning exchanges, training sessions, and city-to-city knowledge transfers.
Administrative Support	Appointment of an official internal municipal focal point to coordinate data logs and track collaborative progress with the FAO Secretariat.

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Strategic Benefits for Member Cities

Joining the FAO Green Cities Network grants participating municipal administrations direct access to international development toolkits:

Tailored Technical Assistance: Direct access to specialized technical expertise, data modeling systems, and policy guidelines curated by the FAO and international sub-partners.
Climate and Green Financing: Technical guidance to design bankable project proposals, helping cities access green funds and climate investment portfolios.
International Visibility: Showcasing successful municipal interventions on global platforms, including high-level segments like the International Green Cities Conference.
Peer-to-Peer Solutions: Participating in city-to-city benchmarking exercises to adapt, replicate, and scale innovative practices pioneered by similar urban jurisdictions.

Application Guidelines and Portal Instructions

Municipal authorities can apply for the FAO Green Cities Network through a formal admission through a transparent, step-by-step electronic submission process.

Required Submission Actions:

Internal Coordination: Secure the formal endorsement of the Mayor’s Office or an authorized municipal body. Where required by national law, confirm alignment with central or government mandates.
Profile Formulation: The FAO Green Cities Network applicant must compile documentation outlining your current municipal planning mechanisms, active policy frameworks, resource allocations, and spatial master plans.
Portal Access: Navigate to the official FAO Green Cities portal and access the centralized digital form: https://www.fao.org/green-cities-initiative/city-network/green-cities-network-application/en
Data Verification: Complete the mandatory tracking fields, designate your institutional focal point, upload relevant supporting documents (under a 5 MB file size limit), and log your electronic signature.

Administrative Notice: Upon submission, the FAO Green Cities Network application packets undergo evaluation by the FAO Green Cities Secretariat. Approved candidate cities receive official notification of admission and immediate access to restricted monitoring tools, global forums, and peer-led capacity-building workshops. For inquiries, reach out to the coordinating team at Green-Cities-Network@fao.org.

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