By Daniel Hamilton, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Oakland, CA
In March 2026, the City of Oakland joined cities from around the world in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for the Kaohsiung Community of Practice convening. The gathering brought local governments together to share experiences and learn from one another as they advance climate action. The idea of “Flourishing Cities” shaped much of the discussion, asking cities to define what climate progress actually looks like for residents, not just what it achieves on paper.
Shared Challenges, Useful Exchange
Cities came in with different contexts but similar pressures. Demand is rising for clean energy, reliable transportation, stronger waste systems, and affordable ways to live well.
Those differences made the conversations more useful. Participants shared what is working, what is not, and how approaches can be adapted across contexts. The exchange stayed grounded in on-the-ground implementation.
Making Climate Work More Relatable
One idea that surfaced throughout the convening was the importance of communication. Many climate plans are technically strong but difficult to connect to everyday experience.
The Flourishing Cities approach shifts the focus to lived outcomes. What changes for residents? How do systems improve daily life? What can people expect to see, use, and feel?
Newcastle, Australia, offered a useful look at this approach through its climate planning work centered on community experience and quality of life. Seeing how Newcastle framed climate action in ways residents could more easily understand and connect with opened up new ideas for Oakland as the City looks ahead to future strategies.
Kaohsiung in Practice
Kaohsiung showed how cities can combine infrastructure, technology, and long-term planning to improve daily life while advancing climate goals. Site visits and discussions focused on work across transportation, housing, clean energy, and port operations, offering participants a closer look at how these systems connect in practice. Readers can explore more through Kaohsiung’s Smart City initiative.
The City is using data, camera systems, and emerging technologies to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, and better connect residents to transit options. Participants also explored the city’s growing investment in solar deployment and modernized port operations, demonstrating how climate action can be integrated into major economic and infrastructure systems.
Climate solutions require creative thinking and a willingness to learn from what other communities are already testing and refining. Seeing these efforts firsthand offered Oakland new ideas and tangible examples to build on as the City continues to shape future strategies and implementation efforts.
Bringing It Back to Oakland
For Oakland, the convening created space to step back and see how other communities are approaching many of the same challenges through different tools, partnerships, and community priorities. Seeing these efforts firsthand made the work feel more tangible, especially when climate action was connected to things residents experience every day, like transportation, housing, energy, and public space.
The convening gave Oakland new ideas and examples to help inform the City’s climate work going forward.