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Barcelona is a Mediterranean city, both open and cosmopolitan, with a clear international vocation that has found its expression, among many other ways, through the choice of the city as the seat of a wide range of international organisations, such as the Union for the Mediterranean, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Metropolis.
It is also our honour to hold and operate the General Secretariat of the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD), a responsibility that is framed within our firm commitment to work towards improving democratic quality and promoting new forms of open government for our citizens.
In this sense, our city is currently developing a citizen participation ecosystem, specifically expressed through the creation of the new regulations on citizen participation, the purpose of which are to expedite the intervention of citizens in the generation and implementation of public policies, as well as the development of digital infrastructures that serve as a complement to face-to-face channels of participation.
In view of the above, as both the Mayor of Barcelona and, this year, President of the IOPD, it gives me the greatest pleasure to invite all of the different local governments and organisations that form a part of the Observatory to take part in the 18th International Conference, which is to be held in our city on 25th, 26th and 27th November 2018.
If you want to read the whole letter, you will find it at this link.
Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona and Annual President of the IOPD