Alliance of Civilizations 2nd Forum 27.04.2012

Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, 6-7 April 2009, Istanbul, Turkey

On 6-7 April 2009, over 1,000 participants – among them several Heads of Government, over 50 Ministers, as well as policy-makers, foundation, media and grassroots leaders from around the world – convened in the Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul Turkey, to forge new partnerships and generate ideas aimed at building trust and cooperation among diverse communities.

UCLG-MEWA, together with UCLG and associated local government representatives were present at the second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations to reassert the importance of the role of local governments in the establishment and maintenance of respectful coexistence between the different communities which make up cities. They reaffirmed the commitments made in the Declaration on City Diplomacy (The Hague Agenda), in The Hague, 13 June 2008, on the initiative of the UCLG Committee for City Diplomacy.

The representatives of local governments met, on 7 April 2009, to discuss ‘Cities at the heart of cultural diversity, how to encourage city diplomacy’. The representatives of local governments confirmed the convictions expressed and the commitments undertaken in The Hague Agenda of 13 June 2008.

The UCLG Presidency, in the person of Mr. Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul, and Mr. Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, representing local authorities in the High Level Ministerial Dialogue and during the Plenaries, presented The Hague Agenda and the working document of the Working Group on the local dimension of the Alliance of Civilizations as tools for the Alliance to obtain concrete results on the ground.

The Working Group proposed three concrete actions: the elaboration of a guide on the theme of “coexistence, identity and urban design”; a series of documentaries entitled “Cities 2030” (on the new urban spaces, times and rituals); and a visual competition “Long live cities” aimed young people in cities across the world.

Besides Mayor Topbas and Mayor Delanoe, the mayors and representatives of local governments assembled included Pedro Castro, Mayor of Getafe and President of the FEMP, Antonio Costa, Mayor of Lisbon, Jordi Hereu, Mayor of Barcelona, Mageed Abou Ramadan, Mayor of Gaza and President of the Association of Palestinian Local Auhtorities (APLA).