Learning Network for
Urban Managers
The Learning Network for Urban Managers is a peer-driven platform implemented by Artha Global with support from U-CAN, that enables municipal officials to learn directly from one another’s real-world experiences of city challenges. The initiative focused on continuous, meaningful peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and co-developing solutions rooted in practical municipal experience.
Learning Network for
Urban Managers
The Learning Network for Urban Managers is a peer-driven platform implemented by Artha Global with support from U-CAN, that enables municipal officials to learn directly from one another’s real-world experiences of city challenges. The initiative focused on continuous, meaningful peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and co-developing solutions rooted in practical municipal experience.
Indian cities are solving complex problems every day, often with limited resources, overlapping mandates, and little opportunity to learn from peers facing the same constraints. The Learning Network for Urban Managers was created to change that.
Anchored within the Urban Collective Action Network (U-CAN) and implemented by Artha Global, the Learning Network brings municipal officials together to share lived experience, exchange practical solutions, and learn directly from one another. Rather than focusing on one-off trainings or expert-led lectures, the Network is grounded in peer exchange and practice-based learning. Over an eight-month pilot phase in 2025, the Learning Network demonstrated that when given the right space and structure, city officials are eager to engage, reflect, and collaborate across state boundaries.
How the Learning Network took shape
The Learning Network was intentionally designed as a practice-oriented platform, not a conference saeries. Its objective was clear from the outset: create sustained opportunities for peer-to-peer learning that are grounded in real implementation challenges.
During the pilot phase, the Network:
- Established partnerships with state governments
- Engaged diverse municipal stakeholders
- Piloted thematic workshops that generated measurable impact, beginning with air quality and affordable housing
What made the Network effective was a champion-led approach – working with senior state officials who could convene the right city-level participants and create a sense of shared ownership. In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, support from the respective Directorates of Municipal Administration played a catalytic role, enabling strong participation from municipalities across both states.
The pilot workshops
Air quality management in Maharashtra
The first pilot workshop brought together over 35 municipal leaders from across Maharashtra. Instead of technical lectures, the emphasis was on city-led case sharing and dialogue.
Officials from Thane and Pimpri Chinchwad shared on-ground experiences; from networked air quality monitoring and mechanised road washing to EV adoption and enforcement challenges. Cross-state learning was introduced through presentations by officials from Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada on piloting Clean Air Zones.
What stood out was not just the diversity of interventions, but the quality of discussion. Participants engaged deeply on questions of implementation, sensor placement, compliance, community engagement, prompting a clear call for recurring forums and systematic documentation of best practices.
What the pilot phase revealed:
- Peer learning consistently emerged as the most valued element. City officials were more receptive to lessons grounded in lived experience than to external prescriptions.
- Action-oriented design of the sessions – structured dialogue, problem-solving exercises, and reflection – helped sustain engagement and generate practical takeaways.
- While air quality served as an effective entry point, cities repeatedly expressed interest in engaging on a much wider set of themes, including clean and liveable neighbourhoods, municipal finance, governance, and climate adaptation.
From pilot to platform:
Looking ahead, the Learning Network aims to:
- Expand participation across states
- Systematically document and share best practices
- Broaden its thematic focus beyond air quality
- Strengthen digital infrastructure for continuous engagement
- Support ‘champion cities’ to mentor and guide others
Why this matters:
The Learning Network demonstrates that collaboration, not just capacity building, is key to improving urban outcomes. With targeted investment and institutional support, the Network has the potential to evolve into a national mechanism for strengthening urban governance and delivering better outcomes for millions of citizens.