WUF3 built on the success of WUF2 held in Barcelona, Spain in 2004. Canada, in partnership with UN-HABITAT and through a close alliance with the GLOBE Foundation in Vancouver, launched a marketing and communications campaign to raise awareness of the importance and the challenge of stimulating action at the local level. The World Urban Forum is a unique international conference open not just to officials but to everyone. To meet the challenge from UN-HABITAT to make the event more interactive and inclusive, several strategies were adopted to promote the widest possible participation.

Within the Government of Canada, a dedicated secretariat was established under the authority of the Minister responsible for Housing, and was tasked to coordinate Canada's Forum-hosting responsibilities, working closely with other federal departments and agencies and with other Canadian urban partners.

The Government also hired a professional event organizer – the Vancouver-based GLOBE Foundation – to manage the marketing and logistical requirements of the Forum.

A detailed website with practical information about the Forum was subsequently created, and newsletters circulated periodically to over 20,000 people around the world.

To ensure broader Canadian partner engagement, the Government established a National Advisory Committee (NAC), comprised of over 40 people representing different sectors of society and regions of Canada. The NAC was co-chaired by Madame Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International and Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, and the Honourable Michael Harcourt, former Premier of British Columbia and Mayor of Vancouver. The Committee provided input to Canada's recommendations to UN-HABITAT on the themes, design, and program of WUF3.

A more localized partners network – the Vancouver Working Group (VWG) – was also established with the support of federal authorities to mobilize and focus the enthusiasm of local players from all parts of society. The Working Group involved over 50 organizations representing academic institutions, federal, provincial, and municipal governments, and non-government organizations including the private sector. They contributed advice, resources, partnerships, and research in preparation for WUF3. For example, a series of research papers on urban issues was produced through a partnership involving the Province of British Columbia, the Environmental Youth Alliance, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the Canadian Institute of Planners, the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, and others.

The VWG also coordinated local events that occured in conjunction with WUF3, such as the World Youth Forum and the World Planners Congress. In addition, monthly breakfast meetings were sponsored in cooperation with the Greater Vancouver Regional District to share information and build awareness and momentum leading up to WUF3. The decision by the Regional District to continue funding this breakfast series is an example of the local legacy of WUF3. Local sustainability practitioners will continue to network and to learn from each other.  

At the request of the Government of Canada, the GLOBE Foundation also developed a green meeting strategy for WUF3. The WUF3 Climate Legacy was designed to offset greenhouse gas emissions generated due to the event through the direct purchase and retirement of verified emission reduction credits. The WUF3 green procurement strategy reduced the ecological footprint of the event by using recycled and natural materials for participant bags and conference materials, and by requiring that more than 75% of motorcoaches be fuelled with B5 and B100 biodiesel. Participants were given free passes to the city's public transportation system and participant bags were made by Mothercraft/urban Aboriginal women. The implementation of the strategy by GLOBE has been evaluated by Meeting Strategies Worldwide Inc. and WUF3 received a 4 Star MeetGreen Certification, making it the top-ranked green meeting using this certification process.

For Canada, the WUF3 greening strategy will be a potential model for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver/Whistler.

Canada and UN-HABITAT agreed that the greater involvement of city officials in the WUF3 program would be critical to its success. The Forum had to be relevant for mayors and other local government practitioners. To this end, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities was engaged to work closely with the Barcelona-based United Cities and Local Governments secretariat to help shape the program, especially the key local government sessions.

Together they developed a Mayors' Roundtable, incorporated the Global Municipal Village into the Exposition, introduced a training series, and designed a municipal government day at WUF3. Recognizing the important role of sub-national governments in local sustainability, and the value of partnerships among orders of government, Canada engaged the provincial and territorial ministries responsible for local government during the WUF3 preparations. Also, while in Vancouver, the provincial and territorial ministers held parallel meetings with Canada's Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister, Lawrence Cannon, and joined the Ministerial Roundtable on June 19.

To fulfill UN-HABITAT's request that WUF3 be “as inclusive as possible,” the Government of Canada provided financial support both to UN-HABITAT and to other partners in order to facilitate wider and balanced participation. This funding allowed hundreds of people from developing countries to participate in WUF3. A number of other governments also provided financial support to enable the travel of additional participants to Vancouver.

Ensuring that there was a balance of participants by not only region but also sector and gender was important for open and useful discussions. As a result of the efforts of Canada, the GLOBE Foundation, UN-HABITAT, key NGO partners, and other donors, participation was very strong from a number of different sectors, each with a role to play in urban issues. Ministers from over 50 countries and hundreds of mayors from around the globe attended the Forum. Participants in unprecedented numbers from non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academic institutions, youth, aboriginal, and women's groups came to Vancouver.

In an effort to encourage maximum interaction at WUF3, Canada, supported by China and the Russian Federation, planned significant interpretation services for the Forum. As a result, more than two-thirds of the over 200 events at WUF3 were accessible in two or more languages, and almost all of the plenary sessions were accessible in the six official UN languages.