­­Connective Cities invites representatives of national and international Local Government Associations (LGAs) as well as urban practitioners from cities in Germany and in the Global South to take part in the Dialogue Event on “Sustainability Reporting and Voluntary Local Reviews”.

The event will be hosted by the Association of German Cities in Berlin from 2 to 4 December 2024 and is mainly geared towards representatives of cities and local government associations from around the world with a strong interest in sustainability reporting and VLRs. The Dialogue Event will be concluded with the 10 years anniversary celebration of Connective Cities.

Background

In the rapidly urbanizing world, with about 56 % of the world population living in cities and urban areas, local and regional governments as well as local and regional government associations are on the forefront of tackling the global social and environmental challenges on the ground. Their commitments towards the 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are highlighted through their increasing engagement in the Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), which is a mechanism to foster SDG localization and contribute towards the promotion of the multilevel governance as well as informed decision-making against the background of the continuously changing contexts.

Thematic Focus

Halfway through to the 2030 deadline, this event will offer an opportunity to continue and expand the discussion and to stocktake and exchange on the good practices around VLRs, while addressing the following guiding questions:

1. What are your best practices and lessons learnt to fulfill VLR objectives?
2. How can LGAs and local governments efficiently work together towards promoting sustainability reporting and anchoring VLRs in national reporting?
3. How can cities and LGAs improve communication of VLRs in order to enable their citizens to make use of sustainability reporting in their elective decision-making?
4. What are our visions for the 2030-Agenda and beyond?
    

If you are interested in participating, please contact us as soon as possible and no later than 30 September 2024, indicating the following information:

• your organization and your function within it;
• a short description of your sustainability reporting or VLR process you would like to present to the other participants.

Important Note: Travel and accommodation costs will be covered by Connective Cities, but please note that participation spaces are limited. The working language of the event is English. For further information, please refer to our call for participants. Should you be interested or have any queries about the event, please contact:

Sibylle Loyeau
sibylle.loyeau(at)engagement-global.de
+49 (0)228-20717 - 2587