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Ukraine - 13.06.2022

The Slovakia-Ukraine Local Solidarity Forum: Together we are stronger!
On the 9th June, more than 100 participants took part in the first Local Solidarity Forum jointly organised by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), PLATFORMA, Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia and the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

Twinning and partnerships between Local and Regional Governments were at the centre of the discussions. Cooperation is the only way for the Ukrainian reconstruction.

Join un on 14 June, from 10:00 to 12:00 CEST, for the Poland-Ukraine Local Solidarity Forum!
Africities - 01.06.2022

CoM SSA advocates for the financing of waste projects of African local authorities at the Africities Summit 9
The Covenant of Mayors for Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) and its implementing partner Expertise France highlighted the cross-cutting issues of climate, energy and waste management in African cities during two technical sessions at the Africities Summit. For more information, visit the project's website here.
Cities Energy Savings Sprint - 20.05.2022
Join the new EU initiative to reduce our cities’ dependence on Russian energy
The Cities Energy Saving Sprint is a joint initiative of the European Commission, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe, and the European Committee of the Regions to encourage cities to take measures that will immediately reduce their energy consumption. The “Sprint” will last for 4 months.

It is crucial to increase energy savings now to prepare for next winter. Every kilowatt/hour saved now will allow us to refill the storage tanks and be better prepared for next winter. Every gram of greenhouse gas we don’t emit in the coming months will be an important step, not only for the climate, but also as an act of solidarity with Ukraine.

In parallel with all the measures for profound changes, reduction of consumption and energy transition, there is an urgent need to take emergency energy saving measures today and to plan for energy consumption reductions during the coming winter. Municipalities have a crucial role to play here.

How can my city take part in the Cities Energy Savings Sprint?
- Register here to join
- Checkout the Toolkit for ideas on emergency measures your city can take
- Use the Communication Kit to promote your local actions and be part of an EU-wide movement
- Share your experience with on social media with the hashtag #EUCitiesSaveEnergy or by sending the Covenant of Mayors an email
Twinning - 11.05.2022

Twinning has to be a part of Ukraine’s reconstruction
In a letter to the president of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, CEMR calls on the European institutions to set up an initiative to strengthen twinning for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The letter is signed by the Mayor of Kiev and President of the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC), Vitaliy Klitschko, its Executive Director, Oleksandr Slobozhan, but also by CEMR's President, Stefano Bonaccini, and its Secretary General, Fabrizio Rossi.

It stresses the willingness of local and regional governments across Europe to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukrainian municipalities and cities. It also invites the institutions to define, in collaboration with CEMR and its Ukrainian association, “strategic and operational aspects of a twinning initiative to launch and implement the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities and towns »

Letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
Letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Letter to the President of the European, Charles Michel.
Culture - 28.04.2022

Training capacity-building for European Capitals of Culture
On 12 & 13 May 2022, the final Academy Camp of the project "Capacity-building for European Capitals of Culture (ECoC)" will take place online, under the moderation of the the UCLG Committee on Culture. The project started in October 2019 with the aim at supporting capacity building and peer-learning activities for ECoC.
This final session of the project will provide the opportunity to review lessons learnt in the previous workshops as well as discussing additional topics and way forward.
The programme and registration link are available here.
RFSC - 19.04.2022

Event UNECE 7 april
At the occasion of the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and as part of the Forum of Mayors, an event on the SDG localisation process in cities was held on 7 April.

This event allowed speakers from different bodies and countries to talk about their experiences regarding the implementation of the SDGs, mainly Mrs Sidorova, working at the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava and Mr Dimitrov, representing the city of Veliki Preslav.

This exchange of good practices showed the usefulness of the Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities (RFSC) for different types of stakeholders, to help them implement the SDGs in their cities, where it might not always be popular.
Peer learning - 08.04.2022

Apply for the Covenant of Mayors peer learning programme: deadline extended to 15 April!
Cities and towns have until 15 April 2022 to apply for the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy's peer learning programme. The programme offers Covenant of Mayors signatories across Europe the opportunity to increase their capacity and knowledge on climate and energy challenges through peer discussions tailored to their needs.

In 2021, the Covenant Office supported 45 cities, 6 coordinators, and 4 energy agencies. This year, the Covenant of Mayors offers four programmes to respond to local needs: twinning, expert missions, peer review and technical assistance.

Find out more
Peer Learning Programme 2022/2023
Recording of the info session
Selection criteria
Report - 22.03.2022

Report : EU Dialogue, Local Solutions
Do you want to know more about the work of municipalities and local trade unions? Here is the final report of the EPSU-CEMR joint project “EU Dialogue, Local Solutions” that concluded with a final online event on 25 March. The project focused on the share of good practice examples among members regarding the implementation of three sets on EU guidelines agreed over the years by CEMR and EPSU: on gender equality, third-party violence and harassment, migration and anti-discrimination.
This project showed there exists a variety of initiatives implemented by local and national affiliates, and the joint action of local and regional governments together with trade unions is crucial to implement far-reaching actions on many different policy areas, while ensuring better working conditions for the LRGs workforce. Find the project's final report here.
Ukraine - 17.03.2022

Joint Call of European Mayors
On the initiative of the mayor of Gdansk, who is also CEMR's executive president, 100 mayors of European cities launch a joint call to European governments and the European Commission. They ask them to increase their efforts to end the war against Ukraine.
They call on the mayors of European cities to join their call by filling in this form.