2019 edition of UCLG Annual Retreat took place on 11-15 February 2019, in Barcelona, Spain. The annual meeting gathered the UCLG Presidency, Secretariats of Sections and Committees, as well as the representatives of the Policy Councils and key partners around thematic workshops and policy discussions.
The first part of the event, Monday to Wednesday, was dedicated to the work of the different parts of the network, including specific workshops. UCLG Annual Retreat started with an all-UCLG internal conversation leading up to the 2019 World Congress and Global Summit in eThekwini-Durban. Participants discussed the key pillars of the 2019 UCLG Strategy and Work Plan emphasizing the need to pay special attention to partnerships with civil society, strengthening democracy, the implementation of the Right to the City and the need to build a true youth plan around the organization’s peace agenda.
UCLG Retreat served as starting point for discussions as preparation for the 4th Learning Forum that will take place in the framework of the UCLG Congress. Through a collaborative exercise, the Retreat helped find new synergies and collaborations and shed light into the needs and expectations of the learning agenda and the forum.
The last day of the Retreat saw the meeting of the UBUNTU advisory board with the UCLG Presidency. Members of the Presidency and UBUNTU advisors had a fruitful political debate on the future of the World Organization and on the role that the UCLG World Congress need to play as consolidator of the municipal movement and to strengthen the voice of local and regional governments in the international agendas.