A virtual event titled “Awareness Raising Session on Localisation, Mainstreaming and Integration of SDGs at Municipal Level” was co-organized by UN Turkey and Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA) on 13 September 2021. Salim Korkmaz, UCLG-MEWA General Coordinator, was a keynote speaker in the “Localizing the SDGs” session as a keynote speaker representing the UCLG-MEWA. After giving a brief introduction to UCLG-MEWA’s organizational structure, fields of activity, and current work, Korkmaz gave training to the participants on the localization of SDGs.
Remarking on topics such as localization, SDG mainstreaming and financing at the municipal level, alignment of SDGs with national priorities and strategies, and regional/global best practices, Korkmaz talked about the three-phase strategy on the adoption of the SDGs: focalizing, vocalizing, and localizing. In addition, the questions like “How were SDGs formed?”, “What should be understood from localization?”, and “Why do SDGs matter for local governments?” were answered during the training.
The publication titled “The Pilot Project on Mapping the SDGs in Turkey”, one of UCLG-MEWA’s projects, was shared with the participants, they were informed on how activities of the municipalities included in the project were aligned with SDGs. Lastly, Izmir’s VLR 2021 and Sultanbeyli 2030 Agenda, the first VLRs of Turkey, were also presented.