Getting ready for the Porto Alegre Executive Bureau

From 10 to 12 June 2015, the city of Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), will host the first meeting of the UCLG Executive Bureau for 2015, an important event for the organisation that aims to strengthen the cohesion of its global network. The Executive Bureau is responsible for initiating proposals and carrying out the decisions of the organisation’s World Council

 

The New Urban Agenda: priorities, cooperation and learning, strategic alliances 

The Executive Bureau sessions will open with two policy debates on the work of local and regional authorities towards Habitat III. The purpose of one of these debates, which will have a Latin American focus, is to discuss the Latin American regional vision and strengthen links between UCLG and its members in the region. It will reinforce Latin America’s presence in the organisation’s decision-making processes looking towards the 5th UCLG Congress, which will be held in Bogotá in October 2016.

The second debate will take place on 11 June and will adopt a more global approach, addressing the topic of: The New Urban Agenda: Priorities, cooperation and learning, strategic alliances, with a view to developing greater partnerships with stakeholders that play a prominent role in the global agenda, such as civil society and the private sector.

A busy work programme aimed at enhancing the cohesion of the network

The activities carried out by members and the work of the UCLG Committees and Working Groups constitute a significant contribution to the added value of the network. With this in mind, the following Committees and Working Groups will come together at the Executive Bureau: Taskforce on Local Government Disaster Response, Committee on Development Cooperation and City Diplomacy,

Committee on Peripheral Cities, Committee on Digital and Knowledge-Based Cities, Committee on Social Inclusion, Participative Democracy and Human Rights and Committee on Urban Strategic Planning.

The statutory session of the Executive Bureau will be held on Thursday 11 June in the afternoon. The work programme will mainly address the position and participation of local governments in the upcoming important events on the international agenda: the International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) in Addis Ababa (13‑16 July); the Summit on the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda in New York in September; and COP 21 in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015, in the framework of which the next UCLG World Council will be held.

During the session, the results of PrepCom 2 will be analysed, with a view to preparing for the Second World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments towards Habitat III and the next UCLG Congress, which will be held on the occasion of the Third World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders, just before the Habitat III Conference scheduled to take place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October.

Porto Alegre, a pioneering city and a leader in participatory budgeting

The city of Porto Alegre has organised visits prior to the Executive Bureau meetings, on 9 and 10 June, made up of a programme of technical visits specifically designed to share the city’s experiences with UCLG’s members and partners. Participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, which is emblematic due to its democratic potential in local communities, paved the way for unprecedented social and political experiences at global level. Attendees will also be able to obtain a general overview of the integrated socio‑environmental programme that the city has implemented.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact the World Secretariat.

Check out the programme.

#UCLGmeets