PLATFORMA55

Training capacity-building for European Capitals of Culture

On 12 & 13 May 2022, the final Academy Camp of the project “Capacity-building for European Capitals of Culture (ECoC)” will take place online, under the moderation of the the UCLG Committee on Culture. The project started in October 2019 with the aim at supporting capacity building and peer-learning activities for ECoC.
This final session of the project will provide the opportunity to review lessons learnt in the previous workshops as well as discussing additional topics and way forward.

The programme and registration link are available here.

TONHAUSER Boris

Director – PLATFORMA

Don’t miss the 3rd edition of the EU-Eastern Partnership Local Leaders’ Forum

The 2021 EU-EaP Local Leaders Forum will focus on the Local Public Administration and Decentralisation Reform as a booster for sustainable and inclusive development.

Decentralisation reforms in Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) have increased the role of local governments in key strategic sectors and while significant progress has been made, major challenges remain in terms of political commitment and advancing the fiscal dimension of trends.

Against this backdrop, the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS), in cooperation with the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LALRG), the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania (ALAL), CEMR and PLATFORMA, organises this 3rd Forum online on 7 December 2021, from 10:00 to 14:00 (CET).

Local leaders from the Eastern Partnership and the European Union countries will hear about the future post 2020 Eastern Partnership priorities and the EU support: how to build a cooperation framework on local level which would promote effective governance and institutional reforms in EaP countries such as public administration and decentralisation processes in order to reinforce local democracy.

Register for the event before 1 December 2021. The working languages are English, Ukrainian, Georgian and Romanian (with simultaneous interpretation).

Follow the conversation on Twitter with #EaPLocal.

TONHAUSER Boris

Director – PLATFORMA

Mayors of Europe and beyond, take part in the Mayors’ Action Platform

Publish your own success stories, read case studies by other municipalities and get directly in touch with other city representatives via the integrated chat of the online Mayors’ Action Platform (MAP).

The Geneva Cities Hub has set up the MAP, under the auspices of UNECE and UN-Habitat, in order to share cities’ innovative practices and track progress on the implementation of the Declaration of Mayors, adopted last year at the first-ever Forum of Mayors.

The objectives of this platform are twofold:

1. showcase concrete actions and solutions devised by cities to address the issues covered by the Declaration of Mayors
2. create a safe space for Mayors and their administration to exchange among peers

Mayors can also let the Geneva Cities Hub know about the success stories in their city by answering this survey.

BIZARRO Pedro

Project Lead – Climate, Energy & Urban Development

Local governments are taking part at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille

The IUCN World Conservation Congress which will be held in Marseille from 3 to 11 September will be a highlight of the expression and commitment of local authorities in favour of biodiversity, in a context marked by the pandemic and its consequences.

This is a key step for nature conservation and the development of a new global framework for biodiversity at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15).

On this occasion, it is indeed a question of defining a new global framework for biodiversity after 2020 (following the plan defined at the Nagoya Conference (Japan – 2010), including for the action of local and regional authorities It is a question of ensuring strong recognition of the role of local authorities and of renewing decision X / 22 adopted in Nagoya which defined a specific action plan for sub-national governments, cities and local authorities.

At the initiative of AFCCRE and its spokesperson for climate, environment, sustainable development, Ronan DANTEC, Senator, city councilor of Nantes, and in conjunction with representatives of the IUCN, the French government, together with national and European organisations and global networks of local governments, several sequences devoted to local authorities are scheduled:

• Friday 3 September (12.00-16.00): The IUCN Local Action Summit is organised by and for the members of IUCN. Those interested can consult: iucnlasummit.org.
• Tuesday 7 September (8.30-18.00): thematic session led by the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis and France Urbaine which will bring together French urban areas wishing to both affirm their commitment to biodiversity and share their initiatives in this area.
• Wednesday 8 September (10.00-13.00): the networks summit “Local and Regional authorities and their networks on the way to the COP 15” organised by AFCCRE will focus on the contribution of local and regional authorities and their networks to European and international negotiations.
• Wednesday 8 September (15.00-17.30): session devoted to decentralised cooperation, organised by PLATFORMA, AFCCRE, DAECT, the French Committee of IUCN.

Participation is free on Wednesday 8 September but registration mandatory via this form.

Check the detailed program of these different sequences with local and regional governments.

Follow the conversation on Twitter with #IUCNCongress.

TONHAUSER Boris

Director – PLATFORMA

Local and regional governments pave the way for the implementation of Global Goals

“Local and regional governments in Spain and across Europe are paving the way to the active implementation of the global goals”, writes Carlos Martínez Mínguez Mayor of Soria (Spain), CEMR Vice-President & Spokesperson on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He signed the foreword of PLATFORMA and CEMR’s joint study “European Territories Localise the SDGs: Continuity and Change in Times of COVID-19“. This opinion piece was originally published in EURACTIV.

Sustainable development is increasingly being linked with a new trending concept: sustainable recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic which hit Europe so hard, and continues to affect us, still requires local and regional governments to be at the forefront of crisis management and recovery planning, touching not only upon health issues but also social, environmental and economic priorities for citizens and local governments.

For us to build back better together towards a stronger and more resilient Europe, we need to fully harness and foster the power of the 2030 Agenda and all the values it showcases: inclusiveness and diversity; fostering new multi-sectoral and multi-level partnerships; policy coherence; gender equality; and territorial cohesion, with a particular focus on depopulated Europe. For effective localisation to take place, it is imperative to address all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a whole, as an indivisible set of objectives that need to be achieved from the bottom-up.

New localisation strategies need to be addressed to promote synergies between the 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda, as this political commitment will lay down the foundations for the holistic urban and rural design of Europe 2030: i.e. territories for better lives.

This year, Spain is presenting a Voluntary National Review at the United Nations High Level Political Forum that includes the recently approved Sustainable Development Strategy 2030, recognising and promoting the essential role of Spanish local governments to make the Sustainable Development Goals possible in the decade of action that lies ahead.

At the local level, periodical reports have been published (such as the Voluntary Local Review by Valencia, Barcelona, Diputación de Córdoba and Málaga, among others). Progress has been made in the definition of indicators, both with the Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda of the Spanish Government and with a national think tank (Red Española para el Desarrollo Sostenible). All this with the strong support our national association, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).

Local and regional governments in Spain and across Europe are paving the way to the active implementation of the global goals, but we need to have a dedicated space in these national and international reports and decision-making processes to showcase the realities of our territories: our differences, our challenges and most of all our strengths.

TONHAUSER Boris

Director – PLATFORMA

Hot off the press: “European Territories Localise the SDGs”

From global to local: CEMR and PLATFORMA are proud to present the 2021 edition of our regular series of publications on how municipalities, regions and their associations are making the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality on the ground.

Entitled European Territories Localise the SDGs: Continuity and Change in Times of COVID-19, this 46-page report is jam-packed with data, infographics, charts and best practices on how local and regional governments are working on the SDGs in Europe and beyond.

Based on data from 39 local and regional government associations in 29 countries, the study provides a succinct overview of the often-diverse situation across the European continent.

Local governments: key to monitoring and cooperation on the SDGs

The report’s findings are clear: an increasing number of local and regional governments and their associations in Europe are taking the lead in implementing what is still seen by many others as ‘just’ a global agenda. Those on the forefront however know how the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs can transform their daily work, policies and public services with inclusive approaches.

Indeed, 15.4% of associations are now more involved in the SDGs than in 2019. Today, over 3/4 associations have sound knowledge of the SDGs and 1/3 use them as a guiding reference.

The SDGs offer a shared vocabulary and goals, enabling local governments to interconnect with other governments and players, ultimately forming links between citizens and the world. Local governments and their associations have a particularly crucial role in promoting cooperation on and monitoring of progress on the SDGs.

84% of associations are involved in some way in national SDG coordination mechanisms. What’s more, around 4/5 associations have taking action on the SDGs’ international dimension and consider that the SDG framework helps development of partnerships with peers, namely for decentralised cooperation activities centered around the 2030 Agenda.

The report also highlights the essential role of local government associations have played during the COVID crisis. This has included sharing information with municipalities and regions, capacity-building, advocating for financial support and participating in national consultations.

Recommendations to realise the 2030 Agenda from the bottom-up

We have long known that the ambitious goals of the 2030 Agenda need to be implemented from the bottom-up. The local level is ideal for experimentation, innovation and acceleration of work on the SDGs. However, the right conditions need to be in place to realise this potential.

The report formulates 5 key recommendations:

1. Increase EU and national funding for SDG localisation
2. Promote mutli-level governance, multi-stakeholder partnerships and policy coherence
3. Local and regional governments and their associations should continue peer learning within and outside Europe
4. National governments should increase recognition and support for SDG localisation (notably to monitor progress)
5. Strengthen human resources and capacities on SDG localisation

The report and its key findings will be presented on 29 June at the 12th Annual Meeting of Cités Unies Frances (CUF), on 8 July during a PLATFORMA-CEMR dedicated webinar taking place during the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF, registration form) and at other local government events.

TONHAUSER Boris

Director – PLATFORMA