REVAULT Martin

Call for the 8th UCLG World Congress in 2025

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The triennial UCLG World Congress is a critical moment for the international movement of local and regional governments, gathering local elected representatives and their partners at an event so powerful it demands the spotlight on the global stage. What once began as a meeting point, the Congress has evolved into a complete experience that now encompasses various themes, and formats and encapsulates the diversity of our century-old movement. This Congress should count on more innovation, interaction, inclusion and input than ever before, culminating not only in our renewed vision, but also in policy documents to guide a unified and collaborative approach to implementing local solutions.

The 2025 Congress should remain a place for mayors, councillors and presidents of regional authorities and their associations to come together, while providing space for the full constituency, and an increasing number of partners, such as the Global Taskforce and other stakeholders.

The new reality has inevitably generated new technological needs. In this sense, the 2025 Congress will need to include a strong hybrid component to allow both in-person and online participation, which will make the Congress more accessible for all of our constituency.

The UCLG Presidency and members of the UCLG World Council are looking for innovative proposals that will be able to accommodate the ideas stated above and host this world‑class event.

Please find here the call for candidatures for the 8^th UCLG World Congress with the requirements for presenting a candidature.

If you think your city or local government association can meet this exciting challenge, our World Secretariat very much looks forward to receiving your proposal.

Candidatures should include the following items in one of the three working languages of UCLG (English, French or Spanish): 

• A letter of motivation explaining why the local/regional authority would like to host the event;
• An expression of agreement with the Terms of Reference for the 8^th UCLG Congress in 2025;
• Explicit acceptance of the minimum financial and administrative conditions, which will be further defined in cooperation with the Financial Management Committee;
• A draft budget that will provide an idea of the dimension of the envisaged event;
• A logistical dossier with information about the venues and facilities;
• A brief concept note with ideas about possible themes.

For further information or to present a candidature, please write to the attention of the UCLG Secretary General at UCLGExBu@uclg.org before 5 September 2022.  

Apply to become the host city of the UCLG 2023 Culture Summit!

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The Culture Summit has become a major event for UCLG. After the success of the Summits previously held (Bilbao in 2015, Jeju in 2017, Buenos Aires in 2019 and Izmir in 2021), and considering the growing importance of culture in the framework of sustainable cities, UCLG has decided to convene a 5th UCLG Culture Summit in 2023. 

The UCLG Culture Summit is a unique global event. It responds to the growing importance of culture in local development, a fact that has been evidenced in all continents at least since the beginning of the 21st century, and more than ever since the recent global crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

We invite you to check the Terms of Reference of the 5th UCLG Culture Summit. Direct or indirect members of UCLG can apply to be the host city by 2 September 2022 in writing to the UCLG World Secretariat: UCLGExBu@uclg.org, putting in copy: culture@uclg.org.

Elected representatives receive training on climate adaptation and mitigation

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CEMR, PLATFORMA together with United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), and the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative, organised two training sessions for politicians dedicated to climate adaptation and mitigation.

The aim of the training academy was to inspire politicians to develop their strategies, plans and actions through the discussion about climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience in the global and Europe and Central Asia-specific context.  We counted over 120 participants worldwide.

Just out: UCLG’s new study on the impact of COVID-19 on cities’ Smart resilience

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Discover “Smart Cities Study 2021“, a new study published by our world organisation, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), shedding light on the impact of COVID-19 on cities’ Smart resilience. 

This new study provides an overview of the pre-pandemic situation of 35 cities in 20 countries from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. It identifies their level of digitisation and the “Smart” resources and tools they had. Participating cities in Europe include Brno, Ostend, Utrecht, Santander, Barcelona, Villanueva de la Serena, Gavà, Bilbao, Lappeenranta, Alba Lulia and Lasi.

It also analyses what impact the pandemic had on the different areas of local governance and what new “Smart” measures or tools were used to combat the negative consequences that were generated.
Finally, the study determines to what extent these types of actions have served to increase the resilience of cities, and to assess the usefulness of the new measures and tools for combating future crises. It also seeks to promote the exchange of knowledge including best practices developed by the cities.

The study is available in English and Spanish.