Hauptnavigation

SDG Partnership Conferences

Implementing the 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a global task, and one in which cities and municipalities worldwide have a vital role to play. Municipal partnerships provide an important network for sharing a wide range of lessons learned in localising the 2030 Agenda and for working together to achieve the SDGs.

Illustration: People set in a landscape with a lake and mountains, and holding cards with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2030 Agenda as a reference framework for municipal partnership work. Photo: Engagement Global

So, what could make more sense than enabling partner municipalities from around the globe to tackle SDG localisation jointly by bringing them together in a dedicated SDG Partnership Conference framework?

By providing financial and professional support, we empower German municipalities to become SDG Partnership Conference organisers. With their multi-day format, these conferences aim to foster partnership-based cooperation on the 2030 Agenda while helping existing partnerships to continue to grow and deepen. Innovative conference content enables participants to discuss different perspectives on the 2030 Agenda with partner municipalities from around the world. This format therefore provides a space not only for sharing experience, but also for nurturing ideas for future collaboration on the 2030 Agenda, including partnership-based activities to implement the SDGs.

SDG Partnership Conferences generally last one to three days and can be planned and proposed as in-person or hybrid events, or exclusively online. When hosted online only, conferences sometimes address specific items on the agenda over a period of several weeks.

Objectives

SDG Partnership Conferences link municipalities from the Global South with municipalities from the Global North, and enable those municipalities to network within and between the two. The aim is to establish dialogue in partnership and professional exchanges on the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. These events give all municipalities taking part an opportunity to share their experience with localising the 2030 Agenda, including the successes achieved along the way and the challenges faced with respect to the 17 SDGs.

Participating municipalities are actively involved in preparing and implementing the conference. Project ideas for localising the 2030 Agenda are co-created during the conference, and subsequently planned in detail and rolled out. Likewise, the municipalities taking part make arrangements concerning future exchanges and future cooperation on the 2030 Agenda. The 2030 Agenda thus serves the municipalities taking part in the SDG Partnership Conference as a frame of reference for their future partnership work.

Design Options

SDG Partnership Conferences can be designed in many different ways:

  • As a joint effort: SDG Partnership Conferences can be co-implemented by neighbouring German municipalities or urban districts.
    For example: The cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven issued joint invitations to an SDG Partnership Conference in 2016 and 2019 respectively. These conferences were each officially opened at the Town Hall in Bremen, while other parts of the agenda (e.g. a visit to a wind farm) were hosted in Bremerhaven. The SDG Partnership Conference in Bonn was attended by partner municipalities of the City of Bonn and by two partner municipalities of Bonn District.
  • On a regional basis: The conference can be held by several German municipalities from a (metropolitan) region, e.g. across federal states.
    For example: A virtual SDG Partnership Conference by the association of the Rhine-Neckar Region (“Verband Region Rhein-Neckar”) (2021) was attended by nine German municipalities from three German federal states (Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) along with one each of their partner municipalities from countries in the Global South.
  • Involving partner municipalities from the Global North: In addition to partner municipalities from the Global South, partner municipalities from the Global North can also be invited to a conference.
    For example: The SDG Partnership Conference in the German city of Freiburg in 2018 networked partner municipalities from countries in the Global South (Iran, Nicaragua and Ukraine) with countries from the Global North (Austria, UK, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea and USA).
  • Regional focus: The conference can specifically target partner municipalities from certain regions, countries or continents.
    For example: The SDG Partnership Conference of the City of Nuremberg (2019), which it co-hosted with Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Fürth and Schwabach, enabled exchanges with and between a total of six African partner municipalities from Togo, Tunisia, Senegal and South Africa. The SDG Partnership Conference organised by Karlsruhe Administrative District (2019) brought together representatives of Brusque, Guabiruba and Pomerode, which are all municipalities from the same region in Brazil.
  • Tying the conference in with other processes: SDG Partnership Conferences can be tied in with other processes involved in realising the 2030 Agenda, such as the production or revision of guiding principles or a sustainability strategy.
    For example: The 2018 SDG Partnership Conference organised by the City of Mannheim as part of the Service Agency-supported model development process – Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – enabled partner municipalities to participate in formulating the Mission Statement.
  • Digital format: SDG Partnership Conferences can be planned and held as in-person, hybrid or purely virtual events.
    For example: The COVID-19 pandemic forced the City of Oldenburg to switch its 2020 SDG Partnership Conference from the in-person format it had originally planned over to a virtual one. An intensive professional exchange took place on several days spread across a total of three weeks, enabling the inclusive participation and involvement of different actors.
Submission of Proposals

German municipal authorities are eligible to apply. Proposals cannot be submitted by municipalities or organisations outside of Germany. If you are interested in this format, please contact your German partner municipality.

Each year, partial funding and specialist support can be provided for up to three SDG Partnership Conferences held by one or several German municipalities in cooperation with the Service Agency.