1.2 The international laboratory Venice City Solutions 2030 Only after having built up the different levels of national dialogue with stakeholders, in 2018, an international exchange platform involving local governments on Agenda 2030 and decentralized cooperation was created: Venice City Solutions 2030. The first edition was launched in Venice and has become an annual event, which brings together as co-organizers UNDP, UN-Habitat and UCLG, through Platforma, and is addressed to governments and local authorities around the world with the invitation to develop strategies to achieve the objectives of Agenda 2030 and to develop decentralized cooperation projects.12
“65% of the Development Goals of Agenda 2030 can only be achieved with the involvement of all stakeholders in society” - Stefano Marta, Coordinator Territorial Approach SDGs, OECD
Venice City Solutions represents - within the panorama of the SDG’s discussion at local level a place dedicated not only to the exchange of the best international experiences, but also a place where cities and regions of the world can make recommendations to United Nations Agencies and national governments, so that the common effort to implement SDGs leads to the expected results. Through this event, AICCRE is committed even more vigorously to pursue the objectives of Agenda 2030, implementing the local strategic planning of the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with the national strategy, and continuing to train public administration and citizenship officials to ensure its success. This experience has served above all to bridge the large gap in the discussions between local authorities and central government, which up until then was unresolved due to the lack of interaction between the central level and the local level, often considered more representative of civil society, given its proximity
The relationship between local authorities and the implementation of Agenda 2030 is of great interest to the OECD. The two key elements guiding this reflection are, on the one hand, the role played by regions and cities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and, on the other hand, the capacity of SDGs to influence and guide local planning. A direct involvement by local authorities is essential to achieve the ambitious objectives of Agenda 2030. It is suffice to say that, as pointed out by OECD, through the development of an indicator to measure the progress made by regions and cities in adopting the Agenda, 169 targets and 65% of the objectives could not be achieved without the contribution of local authorities and other stakeholders in society. Additionally, observing the state of implementation of the Agenda at local level makes it possible to identify territorial disparities, often hidden by national data. The Sustainable Development Objectives, in turn, provide a global reference framework for the planning of local development interventions and the identification of priorities to be addressed, which take into account economic, environmental and social aspects, and create a common language of reference
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Platforma, How local & regional government associations bring the SDGs to live the SDGs, 1 September 2019, p. 25
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to communities. The Agenda recognizes the ability of every player to contribute to the success of the strategy, also because the lack of involvement of cities, especially in a country like Italy where there are many municipalities, would risk impeding the achievement of the national strategy objectives.13
Platforma, SDGs: How Europe’s towns and regions are taking the lead, 15 June 2018.
