UDS - Urban Development and Sustainability

CANOPUS worked from 1997 to 2005 in partnership with the Foundation for Urban Development and Sustainability (UDS) to establish an international Research and Training Centre (RTC) on Sustainable Urban Development in Switzerland in cooperation with the United Nations University (UNU) and RIO Impuls. In 2003, parts of the initiative were taken over by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in the context of a Research and Training Programme for Africa in collaboration with the UNU.

The goal of the project was to support sustainable development of urban areas in developing countries (largely focussed on Africa) through an academic research centre and a platform for the exchange of know-how, experiences and capacity building in urban planning and development. Expertise will be shared and provided to local and national governments, NGOs and UN agencies. Target beneficiaries are young scholars and postgraduate students in developing countries as well as local decision-makers, senior staff or professionals involved in pilot projects in target cities and municipalities.