Hauptnavigation

Current News

2022

The UK flag in front of the Thames with bridge and with Big Ben in the background.

'Urban Diplomacy Exchange' website launch

Bonn, 24 November 2022. Our website of the 'Urban Diplomacy Exchange' project is now live. It raises awareness of the importance of urban diplomacy and provides relevant contributions and background information related to urban diplomacy issues and the 2030 Agenda. You will also find the registration for the virtual partnership conference Germany-UK on 7 and 8 December 2022 there.

Group picture with three women and five men.

Urban Diplomacy Exchange: Politics in tune with cities

Bonn/ Washington, 25 October 2022. The first Urban Diplomacy Exchange partnership conference brought together around 60 representatives from German and US cities in Washington, DC. The conference laid the foundations for future-oriented, transatlantic cooperation and common ground for the role of cities in the context of urban diplomacy. The presence of nine (lord) mayors from German and US cities underlined the importance of municipal external relations and constructive professional cooperation for a just world.

Portrait of Klara Danilovic, Head Of Department for spatial planning and housing at Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia (SCTM).

When we are designing in smaller scales, then it`s easier to communicate with people

Bonn, 17 October 2022. While there are lot of differences between the municipalities world-wide, they share common challenges: they aim to create inclusive, resilient, and just communities with equal chances for all. Klara Danilovic talks about the Serbian point of view and about relevant experiences for German cities. She is Head Of Department for spatial planning and housing at Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia (SCTM).

The United Kingdom flag in front of a Thames bridge with Big Ben in the background.

Urban Diplomacy Exchange for German and UK municipalities

Bonn, 11 October 2022. Our project "Urban Diplomacy Exchange" promotes an international exchange at the local level on topics related to the 2030 Agenda. We are currently looking for German-British municipal partnerships interested in deepening their relations, establishing an expert exchange and advocating for municipal interests at the national and international level. The project will be kicked-off on 7 and 8 December 2022 with a municipal partnership conference.

Aerial view of the city of Mannheim

Online-Event: Cooperative Climate Action – Municipal Policies from G7 to COP27

Bonn, 27 September 2022. The Urban7 Cities Alliance has set itself the goal of strengthening the role of cities in the G7 process. With success: Urban7 and its concerns are explicitly mentioned in the communiqué of the G7 meeting for sustainable urban development in Potsdam. The online event on 5 October 2022 - to which we would like to cordially invite you - follows on from this and focuses on the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Logo of the 11th World Urban Forum from 26 to 30 June 2022 in Katowice, Poland.

11th World Urban Forum - Be there on site or virtually

Bonn, 27 June 2022. From 26 to 30 June 2022, the World Urban Forum will take place in Katowice, Poland, under the motto 'Transforming our Cities for a Better Urban Future'. Organised and conducted by UN-Habitat in cooperation with the respective host country, the World Urban Forum (WUF) is the world's most important conference on urbanisation and sustainable urban development. The German Pavilion offers a series of interesting events that can also be followed via livestream.

A bridge with a German and a U.S. flag hoisted in the foreground.

Urban Diplomacy Exchange: Climate protection at the top of the agenda

Bonn, 7 June 2022. More than fifty German and U.S. municipal representatives met in mid-May 2022 for the first virtual partnership conference in the "Urban Diplomacy Exchange" project. They identified many joint topics for their future exchange of expertise. Accordingly, climate protection and climate change adaptation, but also the topic of social cohesion are at the top of the agenda.

Aerial view of the city of Mannheim

U7 Mayors Summit: Cities as drivers of change

Bonn, 26 April 2022. In the context of the German G7 Presidency, the Urban7 Cities Alliance, involving the German Association of Cities, ICLEI and the Global Parliament of Mayors and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and our Service Agency, is hosting a virtual cities summit on 3 May 2022. The theme of the event is: Embracing the Urban World: Cities as Drivers of Change for Peace, Democracy and Sustainability.

Kristin Michalek-Götz and interpreter Olga Galema smile at the camera

'We want to be back in dialogue now!'

Bonn/Dresden, 21 April 2022. The Russian war of aggression is unleashing new forces for civil society engagement – both in Ukraine and among German partners. Stadtentwässerung Dresden maintains a utility partnership with the Lvivvodokanal water company in Lviv, Ukraine. In her interview, Ms Kristin Michalek-Götz, Head of International Projects at Stadtentwässerung Dresden, describes the joint work and how the war has strengthened it.

View of the New York skyline with the UN building from a boat.

Urban Diplomacy Exchange – partnership conference between Germany and the U.S.

Bonn, 20 April 2022. The virtual partnership conference including a Mayors Roundtable is a professional exchange between cities in Germany and the United States of America. Under the motto "City Diplomacy for Sustainability", administrative staff from municipal departments will have the opportunity to exchange their expertise and views on various topics of the 2030 Agenda on Monday, May 16, and Thursday, May 19, 2022, and establish linkages to the international agenda.

Wide angle aerial view of the city of Mannheim.

Strong alliance of cities aims to strengthen the role of municipalities internationally

Bonn, 28 February 2022. The Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development support the Urban7 alliance of cities. During Germany's G7 presidency, the U7 group is advocating for the interests and voice of municipalities at the international level. From a municipal perspective, important directions for addressing global challenges need to be set in 2022.