The Municipal Spatial Planning Support Programme (MuSPP) contributed to the 25^th Session of the UN-Habitat Governing Council, held from 17 to 23 April 2015 in Kenya, with a side-event. The side- event was co-organised by the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi and UN-Habitat Kosovo in coordination with the Embassy of Sweden in Pristina.

The event took place on Wednesday 22^nd April 2015.  Titled 'A Decade of Making Better Cities Together: Kosovo experiences, lessons learned and tools for peer learning',  the event showcased the Swedish Development Cooperation (Sida) successful story of long-term partnership with UN-Habitat/ Kosovo in 'making better cities together' around key areas such as inclusive participatory spatial and environmental planning, capacity building, bridging institutional cooperation and implementing capital investment projects, and more particularly the associated Toolbox "My companion towards self-sufficiency".

The side-event was chaired and introduced by Dr Aisai Kirabo Kacyira, Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat. She began by acknowledging and commending Sida for the sustained ten years of supporting a successful approach with UN-Habitat Kosovo, in enabling state and institutional building in pursuing and achieving sustainable development and inclusive urban development, particularly in the backdrop of the post-2015 Agenda. She also went further to stress that very few donors provide long term financial support in a specific project.

As part of introducing the side-event, Mr. John Ndiritu, Senior Programme Manager, Urban Development at the Embassy of Sweden in Kenya welcomed the cooperation with UN-Habitat Kosovo as well as endorsed the sharing of Kosovo experience to other contexts, including at the Governing Council and beyond.

The event continued with three short presentations on the Kosovo experiences of making better cities together by MuSPP staff, but most importantly by Mr. Modest Gashi an Urban Planer from the Municipality of Peja, one of MuSPP's partner municipalities. Mr Gashi presented MuSPP achievements from the municipal planner perspective in terms of modern and inclusive planning for improving quality of life.

The side-event was well attended and attracted representatives from relevant UN-Habitat branches and offices worldwide, Sida representatives, local authorities, urban planners and a range of civil society groups and CBOs. The event concluded with an interactive discussion and a variety of questions were put forward as well as statement of interests in applying the spirit of this unique approach in addressing the challenges of sustainable and inclusive urban development in their respective context.