“Governing with the citizen: transparent and accountable local governments in an increasingly urban world” 14th October 2016, 18.00 – 19.30h Corferias Convention Center Bogota (Colombia)
Background In many parts of the world, there is a deep and worrisome crisis of confidence in the role of the public sector to give response to the people’s needs. For most citizens, the municipality is the first (and often the only) gate of access to public administration and government. Additionally, local governments are often the only entities providing the direct link between national strategies and policies to citizens. Most of the public trust in government is produced (or lost) at the local level. Many local governments in the world are fighting the battle for transparency in providing services and desire increased participation of their citizens in public affairs. Creative efforts are being implemented across the world to bring openness to local public management and to rebuild the social contract between the people and the ones running public affairs. In the meantime, at global scale, local governments and their associations are committed to the implementation of the new global agenda 2030. Within the list of new sustainable development goals, two of them are considered particularly relevant for local governments: the SDG 11, which refers to sustainable cities, and the SDG 16 which calls for the creation of effective, accountable and inclusive institutions. Attaining SDG 16 requires local governments to be more effective and accountable to citizens, fighting corruption and increasing public access to local information. For decades, local governments have led efforts towards the adoption of new forms of