Clurb

Vision & Mission

Our vision: “A world where every city and community, no matter their resources, have access to adequate tools to resolve the most critical issues.”

Our mission: “To empower cities and communities globally, in particular the least-resourced ones, to improve the life of their residents and achieve SDG 11* and beyond.”

*SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Challenges

Cities and communities all around the world are faced with a multitude of challenges – from flooding to inadequate housing.

Whilst very few of them have access to rather expensive and sophisticated tools currently available (e.g., ArcGIS, AutoCAD, customized communication systems), most rely on not fit-for-purpose tools e.g., MS Office, paper-based mapping, social media) to act against these issues.

As a result, despite the great deal of effort,their actions result in a lower impact than they could actually achieve if they had adequate tools at hand.

How Do We Solve It?

We develop and implement software solutions that, on one side, simplify the complex tools currently available, and on the other, build upon the flexibility and simplicity of well-established tools such as social media, MS Office, Google Maps and others.

With that, we allow a much larger number of cities to act against their most pressing issues in a rapid, collaborative and technically-sound manner, with limited need for external support. By doing so, we provide an alternative to reach the scale and urgency that action against global issues such as climate change require.

Own product

ACCTION - Disaster Risk Management Made Simple

The number and impact of disasters increase every year. From natural events such floods and earthquakes, to man-made ones as fires and pollution, it’s not a matter of if, but of when the next one will happen.

Nevertheless, currently only as few as 4% of cities have a disaster warning system

*previously called H.A.R.D.

What Does ACCTION Do?

ACCTION is a web- and mobile-based tool that allows cities and citizens to work together in preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters and crises. Actions can be developed and implemented in a matter of weeks, with little need for external assistance.

ACCTION provides a simple and structured way for people to use their own knowledge through a step-by-step process in order to:

Understand the risk their cities face

Define concrete measures to act against disaster and crises

Implement these actions immediately

Disseminate crucial information to citizens

Watch ACCTION’s presentation video

*previously called H.A.R.D.

Commissioned products

E-Strategic Financing Framework (E-SFF)

The E-SFF is a platform for governments to work along stakeholders to structure the institutional and financial delivery of slum improvement projects. The project was commissioned by UN-Habitat’s Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP).

The E-SFF consolidates and streamlines a series of frameworks, presentations, text files and worksheets. As a result, it will allow PSUP to reach out to a much larger number of partners, guiding them on mobilizing resources for city- and nation-wide slum upgrading and prevention initiatives.

Resilience component of the City WORKS tool

The tool supports cities to include resilience aspects in their development and put into practice the objectives of the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. Applied in Rwanda and Bangladesh within the context of GIZ’s CityWORKS toolkit on localizing global agendas.

Online Knowledge Library Services for Cities Alliance’s Global Programme on Informality

Relaunching of Cities Alliance’s Knowledge Library, including the restructuring of its taxonomy based on data mining exercises, revision of internal data flows, and user-centric improvements in user experience and interface.

Awards and Programs

Fondo Semilla (2018) seed funds for social innovation start-ups

Startup Chile (2019) one-year accelerator programme and grant (Generation 21)

GründungsBONUS (2021)
funds from the Berlin Investment Bank’s funding programme for social innovation start-ups with technology elements

Innovate2030 (2022) awarded 1st place in the urban resilience competition and 3rd place overall (among more than 230 startups)

Ideagov (2022) acceleration programme on Smart Cities and Impact of the open innovation hub of the São Paulo State Government in Brazil (3rd edition)

Mentions

Informando el informal (Informing the informal) (Interamerican Development Bank, 2021):

ACCTION (H.A.R.D.) mentioned within the compendium of tools within this manual that provides policy makers with alternatives of different methodologies for collecting information in informal areas.

Compendium of people-centered practices (UN-Habitat, 2022):

ACCTION mentioned in this collection of innovative solutions (tools, mobile applications, digital platforms, reports, trainings, guidelines, etc.) that contribute to improving quality of life in cities and regions.