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“Today, people are increasingly connected with each other and eager to come together as a community to find solutions to improve their lives and protect the places they live in,” said Dr. Van Ngoc Thinh, WWF-Vietnam Country Director. “The We Love Cities campaign is about using an engaging social media platform to connect citizens with local leaders so that they can work together to build climate resilient cities.”

Cities are home to more than half of our planet’s population. That’s over 3.5 billion people who can tip the scales in favor of sustainability and critical climate action. Through innovation in energy systems, transport and infrastructure, cities can help power the global transition toward a climate-friendly future. The campaign invites their biggest stakeholders – people – to play a part in their efforts.

For the next eight weeks, people across the globe are invited to vote for their favorite cities, and to share what they love about them through photos and videos on Twitter and Instagram. Voters can also submit suggestions on additional actions they believe cities can take to make a mark on sustainability.

 We Love Cities is the social media component of Earth Hour City Challenge – a WWF’s initiative inspired by the global Earth Hour movement which aims to mobilize action and support from cities to create a sustainable future for all.  The 46 cities profiled by the campaign are selected from 126 cities in 20 countries such as Vietnam, Brazil, Canada, USA, China, France, Thailand, South Africa, etc…  that participated in WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge this year.

2016 marked Vietnam’s first presence to this international platform with Hue’s participation. In partnership with WWF-Vietnam, Hue city has undertaken some low carbon development actions within a green and sustainable economic strategy from 2012 till 2020. Specifically, the city plants more trees for the city; promotes green tourism with a focus on garden houses tours and renewable energy; improves waste management, uses non-baked building materials; and applies smart and highly efficient public lighting system.

“Hue has been selected to the We Love Cities campaign”, said Dong Si Toan, Head of Hue city Economic Department. “All of Hue residents including myself are so proud that our city is not only a world heritage but an active pioneer in environmentally friendly development. Your vote for Hue means you will join our lovely city in the way to a sustainable future”.

The digital voting lasts from 26 April to 19 June 2016 at the campaign’s official site www.welovecities.org. Languages of the participating nations are available including Vietnamese. The winner of the We Love Cities campaign, along with the national and global winners of the Earth Hour City Challenge will be announced on June 22, 2016.