Udalsarea 2030, the Basque Network of Sustainable Municipalities, has been selected as a partner for the European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns 'Aalborg 2024'. This initiative is organised by ICLEI, a global network of local and regional governments committed to sustainable development. The conference will take place in Aalborg, Denmark, from October 1st to 3rd.

The conference will be attended by municipal representatives and a broad panel of experts committed to contributing to the sustainable transformation of cities and regions. This year's edition coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Aalborg Charter (1994) and the 20th anniversary of the Aalborg Commitments (2004). To mark the occasion and respond to the ongoing climate emergency, the organisation is assembling a high-level panel of presentations and case studies.

Local implementation of the European Green Pact is crucial for its success. Local and regional governments have a better understanding of the challenges, needs and context at hand and are, therefore, better positioned to find solutions that fit their needs. In recent years, governance tools such as local green agreements and climate city contracts have been developed to help local and regional governments bring stakeholders together and mainstream their ambitions.

‘Aalborg 2024’ will explore local experiences implemented with these tools and the support needed from EU decision-makers following the European elections on 9 June.

The conference organisers understand that solutions and actions are needed at the local, state, and international levels to address the interconnected crises of climate, biodiversity, resources, and social inequality. Responses to these challenges must reflect local action and translate into ambitious local policies and programmes. Local leaders must ensure that communities support these bold visions. Combining bold environmental action with social cohesion is a prerequisite for sustainable transformation. The local level has the greatest democratic potential, as it involves people directly in decision-making and allows them to experience the impacts of policy decisions first-hand.

The European Green Pact has established crucial groundwork for a climate-neutral continent and must continue to do so after the European elections in 2024. The conference aims to ensure that all the good work undertaken through the European Green Pact is carried forward into the next European legislature and that its legislative package is implemented at all levels of government.

Participation of Udalsarea 2030 in Previous Editions

Udalsarea 2030 has participated in the various editions of the European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns as part of the Basque Country delegation. In 2004, it signed up to the Aalborg Commitments and undertook to promote them among the network's member municipalities. This adherence to the 10 Aalborg Commitments has made it possible to define and align local sustainability challenges at the European level.

Since 2007, Udalsarea 2030 has been evaluating the contributions of Basque municipalities to the Aalborg Commitments through an annual assessment of their actions.

Every year, the organisation evaluates and monitors the implementation of sustainability actions and their contribution to the 10 Aalborg Commitments. This analysis considers the municipality's perspective and the impact on all Udalsarea 2030 members. This highly valuable information was collected in the Basque Local Sustainability Observatory, providing direct insight into the progress of local action plans in relation to the aforementioned commitments.

In 2016, the Basque Country hosted the 8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns, furthering the goals of the Aalborg Charter (1994) and the Aalborg Commitments (2004). The Basque Declaration was signed in Bilbao to inspire cities and towns to develop and implement transformative actions that generate productive, sustainable, and resilient environments. To this end, the Basque Declaration set out 15 ways to move towards an inclusive and liveable Europe, grouped into three main blocks: socio-cultural, socio-economic, and technological transformation.

The text suggests stimulating local value chains by using innovative methods to transition to a circular economy. It emphasises the importance of employing smart technologies, integrating public procurement as a powerful tool, and using open-data standards, among other issues.