2023•06•01     Bonn, Germany

© Arianna Flores Corral / UNU-EHS

Cities are homes to many of us. They are places where we can work and learn together and they form hubs for creativity, inspiration and hope. However, cities also account for 75% of CO2 emissions worldwide.

If given a choice, who would not want to live in a sustainable city with clean air and green places, for example? This can become a reality if cities work on reducing their CO2 emissions to eventually reach zero carbon emissions. Such a transformation needs to be socially just, meaning that the livelihoods of citizens and communities should be secured throughout the process.

You can help to raise awareness of the many amazing activities taking place in our cities from which we can all learn.

Showcase activities that are contributing to zero carbon and more inclusive and sustainable cities! Are your neighbors organizing workshops or creating urban gardens? Is the youth in your community organizing events to clean the park, river or open space close to your neighborhood? Take photos of your neighbors and communities learning and working together to create a more sustainable and socially just city for all.

This photo competition is an initiative of the Transformative Urban Coalitions project, formed by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), the World Resources Institute – Ross Center for Sustainable Cities (WRI), and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), in collaboration with the Paris Committee on Capacity-building, with support of the International Climate Initiative from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Deadline for entries is 15 July 2023 at 23:59 CEST.

Photographs will be judged on their originality, creativity, photographic quality and relevance to the theme. The choice will be made according to the discretion of a jury. The best photos and a short video comment on the photos will be exhibited at the 5th Capacity-building Hub, organized by the Paris Committee on Capacity-building, at United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, UAE.

In addition, the prizes for the 3 best photos are:

Best photo:

• One private online mentoring session to meet Academy Award-winning filmmakers and learn more about innovative ways to document and represent their city.
  • Mathilde Bonnefoy: French film editor and director. Run, Lola, Run was the first of six films she edited for Tom Tykker; it was nominated for an ACE Award. She edited Soul of a Man and Invisibles for Wim Wenders. As editor and co-producer of Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour, she won both an ACE and an Oscar.
  • Dirk Wilutzky: film producer and director. Together with Mathilde Bonnefoy, in 2015 he won the shared Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the documentary Citizenfour. Currently he is filming a series of short documentaries to inspire new narratives of attractive and sustainable urban futures, as part of the “Transformative Urban Coalitions” project under the International Climate Initiative.
• A payment of 800 USD

Second best photo:

A payment of 500 USD

Third best photo:

A payment of 300 USD

More information on the photo contest and how to enter is available here.