INTERNATIONAL
CALENDAR
       

Metropolitan Governance

UN-Habitat Expert Group Meeting on Governance

UN-Habitat is organizing an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) with diverse participants to discuss and re-align its work on governance as well as identify niche and innovative areas of work on governance that UN-Habitat could fulfil in three sub-areas:

  1. Local governance
  2. Multi-level governance
  3. Multistakeholder partnerships

This will include identifying potential areas of collaboration with partners and stakeholders and discussing the elements of governance that should be strengthened to support the Flagship Programmes and the domains of change of the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan 2020-2023, and can act as a catalyst for a better quality of life for all in an urbanizing world. 

Octavi de la Varga, Metropolis Secretary General, was invited to provide inputs to the meeting's dialogue on multi-level governance, which is taking place on April 27 at 16:00 (EAT), along with Regions4 (the platform for states, regions and provinces before UN negotiations, European Union initiatives and global discussions in the fields of climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The guiding questions of this dialogue are:

  1. How have sub-national governments addressed global crises and which is their role to promote territorial sustainable development?
  2. What are the essential issues that need coordination for sustainable urban development, including inter-governmental and sectoral integration? 
  3. Metropolitan Authorities can have different natures (some are elected, some are administrative constructions), but globally they are becoming key players in governance systems. Which is their role in the urban future and how could they support effective multilevel governance?
  4. There is a common acceptance in governments that better vertical and horizontal coordination would lead to improved development results. Why is this not common and how to boost this process? 
  5. How to guarantee participative and balanced decision-making in multi-level governance arrangements?
  6. What other means exist, beyond the traditional institutional measures, to achieve collective action and coordinated and integrated results?

For futher information about this EGM, please visit UN-Habitat's Policy, Legislation & Governance website.