Summary
The 2016 World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders began on Wednesday morning in Bogotá, Colombia, with an official opening ceremony featuring welcoming speeches from President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, Bogotá Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, President of United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) and Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey, Kadir Topbaş, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Joan Clos.
Following the ceremony, Summit attendees took part in parallel sessions, including: an urban journalism academy; workshops on public transport, drug policies, Seoul’s policies and best practices for inclusive and transparent city development, and operationalizing culture in sustainable cities; and a permanent working platform on co-creating the city.
In the afternoon, an opening plenary addressed the theme of ‘The Era of Strong Local Government: Recalling the Spirit of Habitat II.’ Following it, participants attended workshops on: migration and mobility; the role of local governments in effective national development; and local governments as decision makers in world affairs. Another session focused on the Lancet Series on urban design, transport and population health, and a policy dialogue convened around the topic of stronger, more accountable local and regional governments.
The World Summit is also providing forums for participants belonging to a single constituency or a decision making body to exchange views and advance their agendas. On Wednesday, presidents of local government associations met in a community forum, as did the intermediary cities constituency. In addition, the Board of the Global Fund for Cities Development (FMDV) convened in the morning and UCLG committees and section caucuses met throughout the day.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders - Local Voices for a Better World and the 5th UCLG World Congress. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has provided a summary report, which is available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page.
Opening Ceremony
Enrique Peñalosa, Mayor of Bogotá, welcomes participants to the World Summit
María Mercedes Ruiz, Journalist
Kadir Topbaş, President of UCLG and Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey
Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive Director, addresses attendees at the opening ceremony
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, addresses participants via a video message
Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia
Participants during President Juan Manuel Santos’s speech
The Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the end of the opening ceremony
Participants enjoyed performances of local musicians with the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra
Elevator Pitch - Inclusive and Transparent City Development: To Share Seoul’s Policies and Best Practices
L-R: Moderator Johannes Krassnitzer, UN Development Programme (UNDP); Blanca Cardona, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre and Seoul Metropolitan Infrastructure Headquarters; Joonho Ko, Seoul Institute; and Ji-Eun Kin (right), Seoul Metropolitan Government, address participants
Urban Journalism Academy
L-R: Neal Peirce, Citiscope; Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive Director; Josep Roig, UCLG Secretary-General; and Hélène Papper, UN Information Centre for Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela
L-R: Fernando Casado, Towards the Human City, Seres Urbanos, El País; Neal Peirce, Citiscope; Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick, Mayor of Tevrah-Zeina, Mauritania; Jeanneth Cervantes, Radialistas Community Radio, Ecuador; Moderator Hélène Papper, UN Information Centre for Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela; and Jennifer Lenhart, urban blogger with Guardian Cities
Neal Peirce, Citiscope
Jennifer Lenhart, urban blogger with Guardian Cities
Permanent Working Platform - Co-Creating the City: Right to the Sustainable City
This session highlighted examples of how civil society is co-creating the sustainable city
Workshop - The Contribution of Public Transport to the Competitiveness of Cities
L-R: Mircea Steriu, International Association of Public Transport (UITP); Peter Kurz, Mayor of Mannheim, Germany; David Lucas, Spanish Federation and Mayor of Móstoles, Spain
Community Forum - Local Government Associations
Panelists of the session
Workshop - Cities: The Future of Humane, Evidence-Based and Effective Drug Policies
L-R: Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen, Morocco; César Gaviria, Global Commission on Drug Policy and Former President of Colombia; Fabiana Goyeneche, City of Montevideo, Uruguay; Raymond Louie, Acting Mayor of Vancouver, Canada; Pavel Bém, Global Commission on Drug Policy and Former Mayor of Prague, Czech Republic; and Émile Nakombo, Mayor of Bangui, Central African Republic
Permanent Working Platform - Co-Creating the City: Right to the Living City
This session continued the work of the permanent working platform, including participants from afar through Google Hangouts
Elevator Pitch - Culture 21 Lab: Operationalizing Culture in Sustainable Cities
Patricia Pieragostini, Government of Santa Fe City, Argentina, addresses participants
Opening Plenary - The Era of Strong Local Government: Recalling the Spirit of Habitat II
The dais during the session
Enrique Peñalosa, Mayor of Bogotá
Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive Director
Kadir Topbaş, President of UCLG and Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey
Participants watched a video presented by Kadir Topbaş about the city of Istanbul
Policy Dialogue - Stronger, More Accountable Local and Regional Governments
Panel speakers for the session
Greg Munro, Commonwealth Local Government Forum
Dirk Schwenzfeier, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, and Maria Fare, UN SDG Action Campaign
Workshop - Migration and Mobility
Panelists of the session
Marcelo Pisani, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Dolors Sabater Puig, Mayor of Badalona, Spain
Elevator Pitch - The Lancet Series on Urban Design, Transport and Population Health
Mark Stevenson (left), University of Melbourne, addresses participants
Community Forum - Intermediary Cities
L-R: Brian Roberts, Director, Urban Frontiers; Vladimir Azevedo, Mayor of Divinópolis, Brazil; Marcelo Cabrera, Mayor of Cuenca, Ecuador; Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen, Morocco; Jantine Kriens, CEO, Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG); Ahmad Kamareddine, Mayor of Tripoli, Lebanon; Edgardo Pamintuan, Mayor of Angeles City, Philippines; and Nasséngba Touré Diané, Mayor of Odienné, Ivory Coast
Workshop - Shaping the National Development Agendas: The Role of Local Governments in Effective Development
L-R: Karina Cáceres, Alianza de las Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil para la Eficacia del Desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe; Boubacar Bah–Bill, Mayor Commune V, Bamako, Mali; Ton Rombouts, Mayor of Den Bosch, the Netherlands; Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Kitchener; and Ciro Pérez Silva, Mexican Embassy to Colombia
Workshop - A Seat at the Global Table: Local Governments as Decision Makers in World Affairs
A view of the workshop organized by Euro-Latin American Alliance for Cooperation between Cities (AL-LAs)
Around the Venue
Participants in between sessions
A participant promoting the use of bikes to green the world
Media at the 5th UCLG Congress
Participants register for the 5th UCLG Congress
The Colombian police at the venue
