Why my 2022 goal is supporting cities to push urban sustainable development

This post is written by Meritxell Díaz, Media & Outreach Coordinator, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

• The problem: We are facing a climate crisis and the planet is threatened by an overuse of natural resources.
• Why it matters: Because it has an impact on the well-being of our current and future citizens.
• The solution: Encourage peer exchange, partnerships, capacity building and political commitment amongst local governments so that knowledge and actions to respect planetary resource boundaries can be shared and transferred.

For 2022, I have set two key work-related goals:

First, together with my colleagues involved in the ICLEI Europe Circular Economy team, we want to reach the magic number of 100 signatories for the European Circular Cities Declaration, a commitment document from cities and regions to use the levers at their disposal coherently across the organisation to transition from a linear to a circular economy.

As we believe this is an essential (by the way, with no cost) initiative to underline the role of local and regional governments play in making this transition happen:

• We are spreading the word about the benefits of being part of the group of signatories – from peer-learning to benchmarking
• We are publishing stories about all these front-runner cities in our communication channels (website, social media, newsletter…), as well as pitching these stories to the media
• We are identifying and giving a platform to cities that are already doing a great job in the circular economy field
• We are being active at events and conferences to network with civil servants interested in strengthening the commitment of their city to the circular economy principles
• We are informing cities involved in the wide variety of projects ICLEI is running so that they get to know about this Declaration
• We are setting up one-to-one meetings with cities that have expressed their interest in becoming a signatory, and we are asking support partners to contribute to the goal

Second, I want to make the sixth edition of the Transformative Action (TA) Award again a success! It is given to cities, regions or civil society organisations catalysing a socio-cultural, socio-economic or technological transformation in their communities to further implement the European Green Deal at a local level, and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. We know how important it is for local and regional authorities and civil society organisations to be credited and to inspire others. So, this award is their chance to get some recognition and be a source of inspiration. To that end, the TA Award 2022 team is trying to ensure a good number of applications comes this year by:

• Reaching out to cities and civil society organisations
• Sending timely press releases to media outlets
• Contacting multipliers to amplify the message
• Asking past winners to become ambassadors of the award and encourage others to go for it

As one year goes by quickly, it is good to do monthly checks to evaluate the progress toward these two goals. In case it’s needed, action can be taken: for instance, intensifying or speeding up certain activities, getting support from more colleagues based on capacity, or reframing the goals.

When there is a will, there is a way - especially when your objectives have to do with pushing urban sustainable development. So, let’s achieve them!

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(Image Credit: Unsplash)