The Mayor’s Manual Podcast taps into the solutions that frontrunners and changemakers - from the government, private sector, and knowledge institutes - want to see on every mayor’s manual. From the kitchen table at AMS Institute, our Managing Director Kenneth Heijns and Sacha Stolp, Director Future-Proof Assets for the City of Amsterdam, host this weekly podcast and explore solutions to urban challenges.
A full year has passed during which we, together with researchers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, explored solutions to urban challenges. Solutions further down the road, and solutions that can be scaled-up tomorrow. And now, we are pleased to announce that the Mayor’s Manual – Book Edition is available for download (free) here >>
“Together with thinkers and doers, we explored what should be on the agenda of every mayor. With the podcast, we aim to inspire you and other thinkers and doers to accelerate global urban transitions.”
Sacha Stolp
Director of innovation
Why are cities ideally equipped to tackle sustainability challenges?
Nations across the world are increasingly recognizing the importance of quality of life in cities. The growing global population, ever-increasing future ambitions, and the rising urban challenges, are making the task of keeping our cities livable that much more complex. As a result, we are compelled to innovate, work more successfully together, and set out a new shared vision for the future.
Fortunately, cities are ideally equipped to rise to these challenges. Cities have always been a hub for knowledge spillover, innovation, and urban buzz thanks to the diversity of people and stakeholders and the perfect balance of space and political clout.
“We discussed major urban challenges and transitions such as: how do we move towards a circular city, what is the path to a safe digital city, which innovations already exist for our current mobility system and who will make our city climate-proof?”
Kenneth Heijns
Managing Director
5 'letters to the mayor' from the industry, government and science
Last year, the Mayor’s Manual Team garnered the recommendations that industry, government, and knowledge institution leaders shared with the Mayor's Manual podcast. These recommendations are rooted in strong regional triple helix interactions that play a pivotal role in delivering solutions for urban challenges and are addressed to the mayors of our time.
This Mayor’s Manual book offers recommendations – in the form of essays and quotes – from leaders representing the government, knowledge institutes, and the industry. The recommendations are addressed to current and future mayors, mayors as individuals and as representatives of their city and residents, mayors of cities in the Netherlands and beyond and, above all, mayors as guardians of cities that in the decades to come will be called home by two-thirds of the world’s population.
“We call on all mayors to use their powers and capacities to mobilize their cities and towns, public and private institutions, and SMEs, and to encourage their citizenry to join us in our mission to transition to a sustainable and inclusive future.”
The Mayor’s Manual book edition covers five domains that have been selected by the Dutch Enterprise Agency for the Smart City Mission to the Smart City World Expo Congress 2021. The domains represent the Dutch Smart City network and its innovation climate. Five guest writers were invited to reflect on these domains from their professional perspective in an essay addressed to the mayor, using quotes from the podcast series.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals adopted by the UN as a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The goals address the world’s most pressing global issues, such as climate change and inequality. By propagating the knowledge and expertise our guests brought to our kitchen table, we want to do our share in helping achieve the SDGs. Each letter therefore offers recommendations that contribute to achieving specific SDGs.
A message from the Mayor's Manual team
The Mayor's Manual team is extremely happy with the contributions made by all frontrunners – including you! We would like to thank you for the inspiring dialogues and your contributions in the form of forward thinking advice/quotes. As it turns out, we have the knowledge, capabilities, and resources to act. And with the right mindset, skills, and confidence, we have everything we need for a hopeful future.
Having said that, in this special book edition of the Mayor's Manual, we call on all mayors to use their powers and capacities to mobilize their cities and towns, public and private institutions, and SMEs, and to encourage their citizenry to join us in our mission to transition to a sustainable and inclusive future. The time is now!
To get a copy of the Mayor's Manual book edition or to listen to the Podcast, please visit www.mayorsmanual.org