2nd International Mayors Summit on Living Together - Düsseldorf

September 5, 2019

From 30 August to 1 September 2019, mayors from all over the world gathered in Düsseldorf for the 2nd International Mayors Summit on Living Together.

(Photo credit: (c) Landeshaupstadt Düsseldorf/David Young/Marc-André Hergenröder)

Delegates from more than 35 cities - including around twenty mayors - from 28 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America participated to the 2nd International Mayors Summit on Living Together in order to exchange experiences and best practices on social cohesiveness, inclusion and urban safety (see context).

Vue d'ensemble

This 2nd Summit was organized by the City of Düsseldorf, in cooperation with the Observatory. This event was also supported by a series of partners, including: Eurocities, Mayors for Peace, the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth, Strong Cities Network, the UNESCO's international coalition of inclusive and sustainable cities (ICCAR), as well as the Federal Foreign Office (Germany).

Mayor Geisel

Livable Cities Lab

The Summit was officially opened by Mr. Thomas Geisel, Mayor of Düsseldorf and host of the event, Mr. Niels Annen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, as well as Mr. Raymond Chrétien, President of the Observatory. The Livable Cities Lab, which took place along 31 August, included a series of workshops on the following topics: communicative cties, healthy cities, resilient cities, connective cities and inclusive cities (see article).

The Summit concluded by an official ceremony where mayors adopted the "Düsseldorf Declaration" in order to reaffirm their engagement to embrace diversity and inclusion (see press release).

Maires

Festival de la démocratie

In a symbolic way, the Summit finished just before the opening of the Festival for Peace, Freedom and Democracy, a civil event that commemorated the 80th anniversary of the start of the 2nd World War. The delegates - including the Vice-Mayor of Warsaw - joined the Mayor of Düsseldorf on stage.

In the margin of the Summit, two new cities officially became member of the Observatory: Sceaux and Glasgow.