Newsletter – n°27 – October 2014
In other news
The month of October, for a sustainable and inclusive urban-developmentPLATFORMA, our partners and local and regional representatives from around the world took part in a vast campaign, spearheaded by UCLG, for the inclusion of a stand-alone urban sustainable development goal (SDG).
As the international community defines the priorities of the global development agenda, cities, regions and local governments are becoming involved to ensure that policy-makers are aware of the truly transformative potential of urbanisation.
For this purpose, UCLG launched a campaign in support of the urban cause, based on the diffusion of selfies and messages of support throughout social media, mainly Twitter, and which looked to promote sustainable Goal 11 – currently in the provisional list of sustainable development goals.
The Urban SDG, promoted by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments for Post-2015 Agenda towards Habitat III, aims to educate on the challenges and opportunities of urbanisation, to empower local actors so that they are able to provide solutions to said challenges, promote urban planning, ensure resilience to climate change, promote an inclusive and participative governance etc.
Local and regional governments (LRGs) have a decisive role in the management of urbanisation, considered one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. By incorporating a stand-alone goal on sustainable cities, LRGs could truly become a driving force for urban sustainable development.
The Urban October
The UCLG campaign was carried out during the Urban October, a UN Habitat campaign which grouped together the World Habitat Day (October 6) and the first-ever World Cities Day (October 31). The UN Habitat initiative sought to mobilize citizens, together with the international community towards a “New Urban Agenda” and the Habitat III Conference due to take place in 2016.
