Chapter 2: Awareness raising, advocacy and dialogues for the localization of the SDGs
Chapter 2: Awareness raising, advocacy and dialogues for the localization of the SDGs
Introduction This Chapter will focus on the relationship between LRGs and the territorial stakeholders and citizenship as a whole. The aim is to make the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda known amongst them and foster their involvement in the definition, implementation, monitoring and evaluation at local, regional and national stage. Real experiences will prove that LRGs have the necessary potential to promote awareness-raising and education campaigns aiming to involve the citizenship and other stakeholders in this new Agenda. These campaigns will reinforce the universality of the Agenda, as well as the citizens' bond with and commitment to this set of Goals shared worldwide. In addition, they will bolster the local dimension of the Agenda insofar as an important part of the targets is in the hands of LRGs and will only be achieved if all territorial stakeholders get involved. This involvement should guarantee that their interests, aspirations and needs are included in the local strategies for the implementation of the SDGs. It is thus crucial to create platforms for citizen participation and coordination with the territorial stakeholders and to ensure that citizens, CSOs, universities and the private sector participate in the process of definition of the Agenda at local level as well as in its implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Likewise, LRGs and particularly their associations are encouraged to use the knowledge acquired about the needs and interests of the citizens and territorial stakeholders in their actions for advocating in the process of definition of national sustainable development strategies and their implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This Chapter will analyze different experiences developed in countries from all around the world that have established open platforms for the participation of the different levels of government and, in some occasions, of other stakeholders, with the aim to coordinate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at national level. 22
