The 2016 edition of the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders is not a regular Summit. For the first time in the history of the movement, the Summit will coincide with the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Urban Development: The Habitat III Conference that will be held just few days after our Summit, in Quito, Equator from 17 to 20 October.

1. What is the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders?

The World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders is the largest, most influential conference for local and regional leaders from across the world and global gathering of mayors, councillors, local governments, and our partners. The Summit is held every three years and the 2016 edition “Local Voices for a Better World” will be held, back-to-back with the Habitat III Conference.

2. What is the UCLG World Congress? 

The Summit will see the celebration of the 5th UCLG World Congress, which brings together members of UCLG to set the local and regional government agenda for the next three years and beyond.

3. What are the main aims of the Summit? 

The Summit is an opportunity for local leaders from across the globe to come together to discuss the issues and priorities that matter to them, as well as to define the recommendations of local and regional governments for the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III. The Summit seeks to reinvigorate the international municipal movement and strengthen the global network of local and regional leaders by allowing us to meet, share our experiences, and learn from one another.

4. When and where will the Summit take place?

The World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders will take place from 12 to 15 October in Bogotá, Colombia in Corferias Convention Centre, Cra. 37 24-67, Bogotá, Colombia www.corferias.com

5. Who is invited to attend? 

The event brings together over 3,000 locally elected leaders and professionals representing towns, cities, metropolises and regions, civil society, the business world and academia.

6. Why is the edition 2016 unique?

For the first time, the UCLG World Summit coincides with a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Urban Development: the Habitat III Conference to be held in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October 2016.

Also, the 2016 edition includes an Urban Journalist Academy, a pioneering and innovative UN-Habitat initiative co-organized with UCLG to further the knowledge and understanding of international and national journalists and media professionals of the social, economic and economic issues facing cities in the twenty-first century.

7. What issues will be discussed in the 2016 edition? 

The plenaries and policy dialogues at the Summit will be based on the cornerstones of the Global Agenda of Local and Regional Governments for the 21st Century.

• Stronger, more accountable local and regional governments
• The Right to the City at the heart of the New Urban Agenda
• Culture as a driver for urban transformation
• Territories for sustainable local economic and environmental policies
• Drive bottom-up national development
• Building the spirit of solidarity
• Financing the New Urban Agenda

8. What are the Permanent working platforms on co-creating the city?

The Summit will host two permanent working platforms of local officials, experts, academics, civil society representatives and partners to discuss some of today’s most pressing policy issues. The platforms will begin the work in the run-up to the Summit and continue during and after the event. Their work will feed into the Congress Policy Dialogues and Summit outcomes.

The working platforms:

The Future of Cities: This platform will aim to foresee the major changes that cities will face over the coming decades, as well as suggest how local governments will need to adapt to cope with them.
The Right to the City: Discussing the concrete implementation of the Right to the City in our communities will be instrumental to the social transformation of our cities and territories.

9. What is the Second World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments?

The Second World Assembly is an initiative of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF), facilitated by UCLG. It is the inheritor of the First World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities, which took place in Istanbul just before Habitat II in 1996.
The first session of the Second World Assembly was held in New York in May. The meeting saw the launch of the #Listen2Cities social media campaign calling on states to listen to the recommendations of local and regional governments in the definition of the New Urban Agenda

The United Nations General Assembly officially mentioned the Second World Assembly, recognizing the role that local authorities and communities play in sustainable urban development and the implementation of the New Agenda Urbana.

10. What will be the concrete outcomes of the Summit?

The Global Agenda of Local and Regional Governments for the 21st Century: This agenda will reflect the vision and legacy of local and regional authorities on the main challenges of the global development agendas (SDGs, Habitat III) and voice priorities that are not currently included in the global negotiations.
The 4th Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD IV): This report will provide analysis, examples of local government innovation, and case studies from across the world to support the recommendations of the Global Agenda.
The Bogota commitment: The Statements will reflect the major challenges that local and regional governments have identified over the course of the Summit, as well as its major outcomes.
The Key Recommendations of Local and Regional Governments to Habitat III: The Key Recommendations are the main proposals that our constituency will take from Bogotá to the Habitat III Conference in Quito.
All UCLG team is looking forward to welcoming you in Bogota!

This article is from UCLG website.