At the concluding session of the Forum, the Advisory Board to the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT tabled an initial report on the Forum's events. The report outlines key recurring messages from throughout the Forum, including the need for municipal leaders to take risks and innovate; the importance of transparency and accountability; and the need for citizens to be informed of challenges and the steps taken by government to address them.

In addition, the International Institute for Sustainable Development generated daily reports in English and French to document the various sessions of the Forum. Photos of the different sessions and events were also available. The daily reports, final report, and photo highlights are available on the International Institute for Sustainable Development website.

Overall, participants agreed on a number of key principles such as the need for partnerships among public, private and civil society sectors, and the importance of adopting an inclusive approach that includes slum dwellers, women, youth, the private sector, and local authorities.

Approaches based on the power of technology and urban agriculture for sustainable development were also considered critical to promoting and ensuring urban sustainability.

Participants shared new ideas and exchanged best practices , agreeing that the networking and information exchange was a valuable outcome of the Forum. Although they stressed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution , they were able to learn from what others in the developed and developing worlds are doing in their cities.

Among the many innovative approaches, mechanisms and concrete actionable ideas exchanged in Vancouver were the following:

• The Global Urban Sustainability Solutions Exchange (GUSSE): An online tool to discuss, review and apply best practices.
  


• CITIZENShift: An interactive platform from the National Film Board of Canada to explore social issues.
  


• MetroQuest: Software for users to see how decisions being made by city planners will affect communities.
  


• Measuring Up Toolkit: A guide to help make cities more inclusive and accessible.
  


• Habitat JAM: A global, online discussion on urbanization that produced 70 actionable ideas, in preparation for WUF3.
  


• The commitment by Vancouver to create 2010 new garden plots before the next winter Olympics in 2010.
  


• An agreement between the City of Porto Alegre, Brazil and GEOMAX International to demonstrate how to better manage municipal information.
  


• The Sustainability Corner where WUF3 participants were invited to share their own solutions and ideas.
  


• An announcement by the International Development Research Centre of $1.2 million CDN in new funding for its Focus Research Cities program.
  


• A photo contest by the International Development Research Centre that showcased creative ways people are tackling the challenges of urban living.
  


• Millennium Campaign's “ voices against poverty” box: a recording booth that travels to major global events to build public support for the Millennium Development Goals.
  


• The Government of South Africa established a formal partnership with slum dwellers to buy land and build houses.
  


• The Mumbai Police Department formed a partnership with slum dwellers in Mumbai for community policing.
  


• AIMF project to increase the tax base of the local government of Niamey, Niger.
  


• A draft of the World Charter on the Right to the City and Aberdeen Agenda at the Commonwealth Local Governments Forum.
  


• Development of the book, “The Place of Children” to show how young people living in poverty are helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
  


• The announcement that the Canadian International Development Agency will provide over $14 million CDN to several urban development partners for projects that seek to improve local governance and the local environment.
  


• Thinking Big: Responding to Urbanization in the Developing World, a Canadian International Development Agency booklet with excerpts from leading urban/development thinkers and successful urban projects.
  


• The Land and Poverty Observatory: a decision-making tool that helps keep better track of urban and housing programs.
  


• Action-planning workshops on HIV/AIDS and housing.

In addition to these and many other ideas and best practices discussed and exchanged at WUF3 (see pages 18-25), numerous memoranda of understanding (details on page 24) on specific urban issues and initiatives were signed during the Forum.

Further reports on aspects of WUF3 and next steps are and will be available on UN-HABITAT's website.

The next (fourth) session will be held in Nanjing, China in 2008.