Two Years of Successful Communications and Strategic Engagement Campaigns

August 29, 2022

In early 2020, CDIA and Clickable Impact joined forces to spread the word on climate change in cities. Two years after, the partnership has enabled CDIA to raise awareness on climate issues, share innovative solutions, and engage with cities through the creation of communication materials and the conduct of high-value outreach activities.

“Climate policies and strategies are usually in place at the national level, yet, it is oftentimes the operational pathways that are missing in cities,” said Ramon Abracosa, CDIA Program Manager. “Clickable Impact had given us the tools by which we can reach out to more cities, exchange insights, and pursue concrete on-the-ground climate actions.”

With support from the European Union (EU) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD), CDIA is implementing the Cities and Climate in Asia (CICLASIA) Program with a budget of €6 million to support the preparation of climate‑compatible, low‑carbon, and resilient urban investments for 10 to 12 secondary cities in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Part of this is an envelope for communication and visibility amounting to €200,000. CDIA developed a roadmap to operationalize this component with the objectives of raising awareness on key challenges surrounding climate change and urbanization, disseminating innovative solutions, sharing experiences in preparing resilient and low-carbon urban infrastructure investments, and promoting EU’s support to the climate agenda in Asia through CDIA.

With guidance of AFD and ADB, CDIA and Clickable Impact completed all the activities under the roadmap, as follows:

• Animated webpage: https://cdia.asia/climate/

This interactive webpage provides key information on how cities can build their resilience, by “following” the journey of a cyclist as she travels through a city and observes how climate change impacts urban infrastructure. Visitors will then see a range of solutions they can implement to mainstream climate resilience into their urban development projects.

• CDIA Virtual Clinics

Organizing a regional event for cities was among the activities under the roadmap, but as an in-person event was no longer possible during the pandemic, CDIA and Clickable Impact devised the Virtual Clinics to help city managers build their capacities in developing bankable and climate-focused infrastructure projects.

Through the 9 clinics held from 2021 to 2022, CDIA was able to engage meaningfully with officials from 34 cities in 13 Asian countries, thereby exchanging inputs, lessons, and experiences in preparing projects and linking them to finance. Out of the city engagements, CDIA has approved two project preparation studies amounting to nearly $1 million. Moreover, the clinics have provided an opportunity for CDIA to engage with its network partners, such as PPP Center of the Philippines, PT SMI, SMMR and UNECE; help build knowledge on project bankability, climate resilience, and capacity development; and increase visibility to target audiences.

• Videos

CDIA and Clickable Impact produced four videos to document the goals, added value, and anticipated impacts of CDIA projects:

1. Introductory video – describes the development issues in cities and how they can address them with support from CDIA.
2. Partnerships toward Resilient Urban Infrastructure – themed around partnership to share how CDIA is adding value to cities and funding agencies. It features the Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment Project in Cambodia and Chattogram Sewerage Project in Bangladesh.
3. Building Institutional Capacity for Climate Resilience – describes how CDIA facilitates the preparation of projects with climate co-benefits and integrating capacity development into infrastructure development. It features the Climate Resilience in Bac Kan and Ha Nam Project in Viet Nam.
4. Bringing Climate-Resilient Infrastructure to Cities in Asia and the Pacific – highlights how a holistic resilience framework can help cities deliver not only climate benefits but also socio-economic growth, environmental improvement, and good governance. It features the Green Growth and Climate Change Resilience in Dong Ha, Viet Nam and the Local Devolution and Disaster Risk Reduction Management Program in the Philippines.

• Publication: Climate, Infrastructure, and Your City

This book tells stories from cities that, with support from CDIA, have taken steps to integrate climate resilience into their urban infrastructure projects. It also illustrates CDIA’s collaborative work with various governments, funding agencies, donors, and development partners in building more livable and resilient cities in Asia and the Pacific.

• Other deliverables

Clickable Impact also supported CDIA to engage with partners via its social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Social media campaigns such as “Better My City” and “Urban Breakfast”, along with strategic and high-value daily posts on themes central to CDIA’s work contributed to better visibility and engagement with partners.

They further developed 20 feature articles under the partnership, which shed more light on climate change and urban development issues in Asia and the Pacific. Examples of these include: Attracting Climate Finance to Build Urban Resilience, Closing the Gender Gap through Climate-Resilient Infrastructure, How Nature-based Solutions Can Bring Climate-Resilient Future to Cities, and Three Ways for Cities to Strengthen the Implementation of Global Sustainability Agendas.

Clickable Impact is an interdisciplinary consulting group with a highly experienced mix of communications and development professionals. It has produced communications strategies and marketing campaigns for various global and regional development organizations such as the World Health Organization, Mekong Business Initiative, and multiple departments within ADB across operations and knowledge groups.

“CDIA’s track record of demonstrated sustainable impact is extraordinary,” shared Trevor Weltman, partner at Clickable Impact and principal consultant for the CDIA project. “The trust fund has catalyzed billions of dollars’ worth of sustainable urban infrastructure investments over the last 15 years, for cities that traditionally cannot develop sustainable projects or attract financing on their own. CDIA takes seriously its mission to support secondary cities in our region, and Clickable Impact is proud to have contributed to their meaningful work these past two years.”