The parties will cooperate in innovation, education and science. The data collected during research and new education programs launched in TSU will help specialists in urban planning and urbanistic make the space of Siberian settlements more inclusive, safe, sustainable and clean, thus improving the quality of life.

“We are looking for the answer to questions of how cities should develop, what are the reasons of economic and social inequality, and what must be done to achieve balance”, Eduardo Moreno says. “We are not a scientific organization, so we need the best researchers. The signing of this memorandum with TSU is very important for us, because universities have accumulated the critical mass of knowledge that the UN hopes to use to identify the factors that cause global problems, aiming to find solutions”.

Eduardo Moreno noted that TSU is the first organization that UN-HABITAT partnered with in Russia. Cooperation with the fist Siberian university will allow for research in Siberian and arctic cities, the results of which the UN needs to develop a strategy for successful development of these territories.

Along with this, the signed memorandum stipulates new academic programs in TSU to train professionals for private and government sectors of urban development, the development and launch of an international master program in 2018 called Management of cities and regions of the future, which is focused on the issues of urban development in Siberia, Russia, CIS and Eurasia.

“We invite other cities and universities to join our project, because without serious analytical work, it is difficult to make the right decisions”, TSU rector Eduard Galazhinskiy noted.

We would like to add that in February 2018, IX Global Urbanistic Forum takes place in Malaysia, where the parties will finalize joint activities and discuss the roadmap for future research, data collection and analysis of Siberian cities.

Reference: The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT is aimed at facilitating sustainable development of settlements. It was founded in 1978. UN-HABITAT in cooperation with its regional and information offices carries out over 300 programs and projects in more than 90 countries, focusing on city management, provision of housing, formation of the basic utility services and infrastructure development.