The UCLG Congress and World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders took place in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, from 10 to 14 October 2022. During this week around 6,000 people from some 576 cities and 145 countries participated in the statutory sessions, plenary sessions and all the thematic sessions of the congress.

Within the framework of the Congress, the World Council adopted a Pact for the Future of Humanity with three pillars: people, planet, government. As part of this pact, the Lampedusa Charter for Dignified Migration and Asylum was adopted. 

Another highlight of the event was the launch of the GOLD VI Report "Pathways to Urban and Territorial Equality", including a chapter on democratization to which IOPD has contributed.

Finally, the new UCLG rotating Presidency was elected, composed of: 

- Carolina Cosse, Mayor of Montevideo.

- U?ur Ibrahim Altay, Mayor of Konya

- Jan Van Zanen, Mayor of The Hague

- Lee Jang-Woo, Mayor of Daejeon

The IOPD facilitated three sessions during the Congress.

• A session on the UCLG awards in which the objectives, dynamics and results of the IOPD Culture, Guangzhou Urban Innovation, Peace and Citizen Participation Awards were presented. The speakers were Nicholas You from the City of Guangzhou, Daan Stelder from VNG International, Sarah Vieux from the Committee on Culture and Emmanuel Carroz deputy mayor of Grenoble in behalf IOPD. Adrià Duarte, IOPD coordinator, moderated the session.

• The future of Local Democracy: innovations in participatory democracy. This thematic session made it possible to share analyses and experiences from different cities on the challenges and opportunities for democratic renewal from local governments. The speakers were: José Manuel Ribeiro, Mayor of Valongo; Mounir Elloumi, Mayor of Sfax; Shams Asadi, Commissioner for Human Rights and Head of the Human Rights Office of the City of Vienna; Eduardo Tadeu, Executive Director of the Brazilian Association of Municipalities (ABM); Minna Karhunen, Director General of the Association of Local and Regional Authorities of Finland; Céline Papin, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux and vice-president of Bordeaux Métropole; Sofia Arce, Director of International Relations Cuenca and Emmanuel Carroz, Deputy Mayor of Grenoble. 

Presentation of José Manuel Ribeiro, mayor of Valongo

Presentation of Céline Papin, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux and vice-president of Bordeaux Métropole

Presentation of Emmanuel Carroz, Deputy Mayor of Grenoble

Presentation of Minna Karhunen, CEO of the Association of Local and Regional Authorities of Finland

Presentation of Sofia Arce, Director of International Relations, municipality of Cuenca

• Announcement of the finalists of the 16th IOPD Award. The Mayor of Valongo José Manuel Ribeiro and the Vice-Mayor of Grenoble Emmanuel Carroz were in charge of announcing the names of the 14 finalists of the IOPD Best Practice in Citizen Participation Distinction 2022. More information

Find out more information about the UCLG Congress in the Municipal Times