Raising awareness among the citizens of Manizales about the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their localisation through transformative actions

As part of the learning process “Strengthening Local SDG Implementation through Reporting and Monitoring” that Connective Cities initiated in 2021, three virtual exchanges took place virtually between September and November 2021 to support the city of Manizales in Colombia in bringing the SDGs closer to its citizens.

The idea to “develop a strategy to position the SDGs as aspirational goals for the citizens of Manizales to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda” resulted from one of the working groups during the international virtual dialogue event in April 2021. Participants exchanged experiences and jointly developed this idea with Manizales as part of the topic: quality citizen dialogue and stakeholder engagement.

Data-driven local SDG reporting can be used to improve communication with citizens and raise awareness of the SDGs among citizens, engage different urban actors, make the municipality’s progress in SDG implementation more visible, and spark interest in accelerating action towards sustainable development. E.g., by defining a common language or using SDG-data in participative and stakeholder engagement processes.