Thousands of European local governments have signed up to the Aalborg Commitments, the Covenant of Mayors and other local sustainability schemes but what about the results? For local governments to deliver on their commitments, we need more than tools, schemes and frameworks. Can research provide the missing piece of the local sustainability puzzle?

The second Informed Cities Forum will bring together local policy makers, researchers working on urban sustainability and the representatives of the institutions behind the main European local sustainability schemes to take stock of local governments’ achievements so far and outline a new vision for local sustainability, in preparation for the Rio+20 UN Conference in 2012.

Building on the success of our 2010 event, the discussion on the cooperation between local policy makers and researchers will continue, but this time using the experience and data gathered during the initiative's European-wide explorative application of two research-based sustainability management tools. By setting the conference in the medieval interiors of Naples' Castel dell’Ovo, participants will be inspired to engage in an open debate, reflection and meaningful interaction, away from the hectic pace of everyday life.

The project is coordinated by ICLEI and implemented in partnership with Northumbria University (United Kingdom), Ambiente Italia (Italy) and Åbo Akademi University (Finland). The Informed Cities Forum is organised in cooperation with the Municipality of Naples, the Province of Naples and the University of Naples Federico II.

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