From the 26th to the 28th of November, representatives of the OECD and the secretary-general of the province of Córdoba (Argentina) visited Flanders for a so-called ‘fact-finding mission’. The purpose of this visit was to collect information on how Flanders and its stakeholders implement the Agenda 2030 on sustainable development and how Flanders involves its stakeholders in its policy making. At the same time both regions could learn from eachother and go into conversation as peers.
This mission is a part of the OECD programme on a territorial approach to the SDGs - a role for cities and regions to leave no one behind (July 2018-February 2020). Since 65% of the SDG targets can’t be reached without action by regional and local governments, their role can’t be underestimated. Flanders has teamed up with Flanders’ Association of Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) in this project.
On Monday, the VVSG introduced how the city of Ghent and a few municipalities have started implementing the SDGs. On Tuesday, Flanders’ policy was presented and its stakeholders were invited to present their actions. On Wednesday, the delegation took part in the G-STIC conference on technology and innovation and met with the cabinet of the minister-president of Flanders and the secretary-general of the department of Foreign Affairs of Flanders.
Besides Flanders and Córdoba (Argentina), also Kitakyushu (Japan), South-Denmark and Bonn (Germany) take part in this programme as pilots.
More info:
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
