Filipe Farhat
Moderator
Amid growing inequalities, social unrest, environmental challenges, hunger, malnutrition, and rising conflicts, it is clear that the world must change course to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Localization allows global goals and local needs and priorities to meet. It involves engaging local and regional governments, stakeholders, and communities to drive bottom-up innovative solutions that are multi-stakeholder and that have multiplier effects thus scaling up impact.
The Local2030 Coalition, the UN System-wide platform and network for supporting and accelerating the localization of the 2030 Agenda, creates an enabling environment for localization and demonstrates the UN’s collective offer on localized SDG action by providing support to local and regional governments and boosting local stakeholders’ capacities. The Local2030 Hubs, centers of excellence accelerating the localization of the SDGs, work to amplify the individual actions of local social actors, avoiding resource waste and overlapping efforts. Comprising a wide range of stakeholders tailored to local realities, the Hubs vary greatly in composition and action priorities. However, they share a common purpose: serving as a bridge between the United Nations and its member states and the people, engaging not only governments but all agents capable of contributing to local solutions.
The Local2030 Hubs each address diverse local priorities yet share insights on effective local actor coordination, multilevel challenges, and locally impactful models that can be replicated globally. This event will see the first gathering of multiple Hubs representing subnational levels across different continents to promote dialogue based on concrete cases of action and exchanges with similar multistakeholder platform driving impact at local level. It aims to contribute to reflecting on local partnership arrangements and their relationship with high-impact actions, while disseminating successful cases such as active civil society participation, private sector engagement, collaboration with academia, girls' participation in urban planning, and youth empowerment, among others.
Convening this partner-led event at the World Urban Forum, the Local2030 Hubs aim to amplify their impact, nurture collaboration, and accelerate progress towards local SDG achievement. The session will:
Showcase Innovative Approaches: Providing a platform for hubs to highlight groundbreaking methods and initiatives in SDG localization. It will spotlight successful projects, methodologies, and tools addressing sustainable development challenges.
Deepen Thematic Understanding: Delving into key themes vital for fostering innovation at the local level, including climate change adaptation, social equality, local economic development, gender equality, youth empowerment, and urban-rural linkages.
Present Diverse Localization Perspectives: Emphasizing efforts tailored to specific contexts and target groups, including the Global South, islands, Portuguese-speaking countries, addressing their distinct challenges and opportunities in SDG localization.
Promote Collaboration and Co-Creation: Acting as a nexus for collaboration, fostering partnerships among Local2030 Hubs and stakeholders engaged in SDG localization. It will connect local and subnational governments, NGOs, academia, international organizations, private sector partners, development experts, and local stakeholders.