BARCARENA

The city of Barcarena has accumulated over 10 years of experience in institutionalizing the Global Agendas into its planning, management and budgetary instruments, to the point where the city has become a reference for a successful example of localization. Since 2013, Global Agendas have been incorporated into various policies and aspects of city governance, ranging from school curriculums to  knowledge management actions to train and engage public servants and local actors. More recently, the resilience-building component has been reinforced and the Sendai Framework, New Urban Agenda and Paris Agreement are considered alongside the SDGs for improving local practices and government. 

With regards to adopting, appropriating and translating the global development agendas at the local government level, Barcarena has demonstrated its expertise by mobilising and working on budgets, conducting situational diagnoses, reviewing planning instruments, and implementing daily management practices. These efforts have been consistently reflected in the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments report to the HLPF since 2017, under the title “Towards the localization of the SDGs”. Since June 2023, Barcarena has also become the first MCR2030/UNDRR HUB in the Amazon Region, reflecting a strong suit with regards to fostering resilience in the local government administration.

The Local4Action HUB Barcarena aims to strengthen the institutional capacities of cities, especially small and medium-sized ones in Portuguese-speaking countries, to localize Global Agendas and build resilience through multilevel collaboration and network articulation of different segments of society. This is based on the demonstration that the alignment of policies in intermediate and secondary cities with these agendas will optimize human and financial resources, promote integration between government agencies and facilitate the engagement of other stakeholders.

To achieve these objectives, the Local4Action HUB will design, develop and offer in various collective working groups material and learning tools or spaces such as workshops, training, peer learnings, communication strategies and knowledge management actions. All components and activities of the Local4Action HUB are designed to promote and provide learning modalities regarding sustainable, inclusive and resilient public policies, enabling local governments to effectively localize the Global Agendas. This process will combine and articulate the Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience strategy being developed through the MCR2030 HUB together with the Local4Action HUB to multiply its potential and enhance results. 

Expected Outcomes 

• Fostering ownership, enhancing understanding and implementation of the Global Agendas among Portuguese-speaking cities, through knowledge sharing, development of materials and training opportunities, considering the SDGs as a pathway towards resilience-building.
• Disseminating knowledge, best practices and lessons from the experience on Making Barcarena a Resilient City to foster inclusive and resilient cities through a training package on Resilience and with special attention to the importance of local governments addressing adaptation and mitigation to climate change.
• Contribute to strengthening multilateralism through the engagement of local governments in the global discussion on resilience building for a more effective implementation of development agendas.

Barcarena already has a longtime experience in institutionalizing  the Global Agendas and also counts with a strong multi-stakeholder and multi-level network at various levels (local, national, regional, global), which facilitates the exchange of experiences from local to global and vice versa. The training package will strengthen cities’ capacities contributing to an increase in the number of cities adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans for inclusion, adaptation and mitigation to climate change and resilience. This will also extend to the establishment of effective institutions, thereby increasing the coherence of policies for sustainable development. Engaging multiple actors results in responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels in addition to encouraging and promoting effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, based on the experience of resource mobilization strategies within these collaborations.

Link to Agenda 2030

• SDG 11 – Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (Target 11.b)
• SDG 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (Target 16.6 and 16.7)
• SDG 17 – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development (Target 17.14 and 17.17)

Link to the UCLG Pact for the Future of Humanity 

• Commitments for People
  • C2 – Foster universal and equitable access to public services, including housing, health, education and participation in cultural and political life.
  • C3 – Promote informed and sustained citizen’s participation in public life and decision-making promoting freedom of speech and conscience and artistic expression.
• Commitments for Planet
  • C1 – Re-engineer urban planning to support more sustainable and just practices for all citizens. 
  • C7 – Ensure that women and girls are fully empowered to achieve their full potential as citizens and foster a feminist way of going about politics
  • C8 – Contribute to citizens’ living in safe, peaceful and violence-free environments, including in domestic settings. 
  • C10 – Respect for planetary health and the well-being of future generations.
• Commitments for Government
  • C4 – Strengthen public institutions to enhance the protection of our global commons and provision of public goods. 
  • C5 – Involve the scientific-community, civil society and local communities in the process of policy and decision making. 
  • C9 – Contribute to the strengthening of multilateralism through a meaningful engagement in global agendas and representation in decision-making bodies.

Link to other Global Agendas

• New Urban Agenda
• Paris Agreement
• Sendai Framework
• 2021 UCLG Intermediary Cities Forum’s key takeaways

• Making available and accessible to a Portuguese-speaking public and local government administrations the UCLG Localizing the SDGs Modules including on Decentralized Cooperation
  • Module 1: Introduction to Localizing the SDGs
  • Module 2: Territorial Planning & the SDGs
  • Module 3: Monitoring & Reporting
  • Module 4: Decentralized Cooperation
• Providing targeted training on Localizing the SDGs to ensure ownership, understanding, appropriation of the SDG localization objectives and mechanisms by the Portuguese-speaking public and local government administrations.
• Creating spaces and opportunities of experience-sharing for integration and appropriation of the modules by local governments, discussing the role of SDGs for resilience in cities, in relation to the national strategy for Localization of the 2030 Agenda with a focus on sustainable and resilient urban development.
• Making available and accessible to a Portuguese-speaking public and local government administrations the Resilience training and provide targeted training sessions to strengthen cities’ capacities in relation to inclusion and resilience
• Create spaces and opportunities for exchange within a community of Portuguese-speaking cities to share experiences on their appropriation and integration of the Global Agendas as building blocks for resilience.

Coming soon

For further information please contact:

• Barcarena International Relations Department – agenda2030@barcarena.pa.gov.br
• Local4Action HUBs Program – local4actionhubs@uclg.org