Brussels Urban Summit was organized on June 12-15, 2023, in cooperation with the Brussels Capital Region, Eurocities, Metropolis, and the OECD Coalition of Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth. The Brussels Urban Summit included the UCLG Executive Bureau, the 14th Metropolis World Congress, the Eurocities Annual Conference, and the 6th OECD Summit of Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth.
The event served as a platform for more than 300 cities and 1000 politicians, experts, and civil society representatives worldwide to collaborate, exchange ideas and set priorities to create sustainable, affordable, and livable cities for the future.
UCLG Executive Bureau
UCLG Financial Management Committee met at CEMR Central Headquarters. Afterward, the UCLG Statutory Committee Meeting was held in Brussels. Uğur İbrahim Altay, Mayor of Konya, and Dr. Mehmet Duman, Secretary General of UCLG-MEWA, represented the MEWA Region at the Meeting.
The thought-provoking benefit of the meetings has been to ensure that UCLG is further strengthened through its membership network with the Pact for the Future of Humanity.
“After the Earthquake: A Conversation with Mayors”
Mayors from Türkiye participated in the “After the Earthquake: A Conversation with Mayors” session organized by UCLG-MEWA in cooperation with Metropolis and Eurocities. Yücel Yılmaz, Mayor of Balıkesir, President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, UCLG Pact for Future of Government Ambassador; Uğur İbrahim Altay, Mayor of Konya, UCLG 2023-2024 Term President, Tunç Soyer, Mayor of İzmir, Şeyma Döğücü, Mayor of Sancaktepe and Cansel Tuncer, Secretary General of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality were among the participants.
“From the beginning, we have encouraged our global municipal movement to take action”
Dr. Mehmet Duman expressed his gratitude to the global solidarity network that rushed to help in the aftermath of the earthquake: “We, UCLG-MEWA, have been encouraging our global municipal movement to take action from the beginning. We thank the entire city network for their solidarity.”
Afterward, Uğur İbrahim Altay said, “We have learned many lessons from this devastating earthquake, and now Konya is more resilient against natural disasters. We must work with all municipalities worldwide to make our cities more resilient.”
UCLG-MEWA International Relations, Coordinator Osman Çorumlu, Senior Research Officer Reem Abusamra, and Hejer Akgün from the Communications department also participated in the Summit.