Liveable Cities Challenge Philippines congratulates the City of Manila and Butuan City for making it to the top 50 cities that will advance to the Championship phase of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ 2021 Mayors Challenge.  Manila and Butuan were among the eight cities in Asia-Pacific which made it to the global 50 and the only two cities in Southeast Asia.

Other Asia-Pacific cities in the top 50 included Auckland (New Zealand), Daegu (South Korea), Pune (India), Rourkela (India), Taipei (Taiwan), and Wellington (New Zealand).

Out of 631 applications received by Bloomberg Philanthropies worldwide, a total of 52 Philipppine cities and municipalities submitted their entries last March to the competition. With the competition entering its second phase, Manila and Butuan will be granted the opportunity to enhance their proposals to compete for the final round of 15 winners. The top 15 will be granted awards of US$1 million each plus free consultancy services to implement their projects and make them a reality.

Ever since the competition launched, Liveable Cities Challenge Philippines, in partnership with the League of Cities of the Philippines, promoted the 2021 Mayors Challenge to Philippine cities nationwide through a series of virtual workshops. In partnership with Globe, we organized a virtual briefing with Bloomberg experts, Michael Odermatt and Eamon Nolan, and a Mentors’ Workshop with local multidisciplinary experts. Aside from the coaches that Bloomberg has provided, we were able to assemble our own pool of mentors who volunteered to guide and help cities develop the best possible applications for submission to the competition.

For its part, Globe has provided its own group of mentors to guide the LGUs in crafting their proposals. The company also supported LCC’s programs by hosting the local launch and other mentorship activities.

This year, Bloomberg Philanthropies challenged city leaders from all over the world to pitch their boldest and most transformative ideas developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cities with more than 100,000 residents were encouraged to submit their applications based on four (4) challenge themes: Health and Wellbeing, Climate and Environment, Economic recovery and Inclusive Growth, and Good governance and equality. The top 50 finalists of the competition will be coached by global experts and will be provided dedicated funding to test and refine their proposals from June - October 2021. After the Championship phase, 15 grand prize winners of the Mayors Challenge will be awarded $1 million each with additional technical support to implement and spread their breakthrough ideas.      

We would like to acknowledge the efforts of all 52 Philippine LGUs that submitted their entries for the Mayors Challenge. Indeed, this initiative has inspired and pushed leaders to develop more innovative and creative solutions to address their city’s most pressing challenges.

Read: https://bloombergcities.jhu.edu/news/2021-mayors-challenge-announcing-50...