Sevilla 2007: Fifth European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns for a sustainable Europe
24 March 2007, Sevilla, Spain. Over 1500 delegates from European local governments came to Sevilla to participate at the Fifth European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns, taking place from March 21 – 24, 2007. The conference marks the most relevant European platform for local and regional government leaders, their officers and experts to reflect, debate and generate new ideas and interests that serve to make our cities better places to live in.
Sevilla 2007 aimed to inspire local governments by providing examples of successful implementation of the Aalborg Commitments. The Aalborg Commitments are a set of policy commitments which were created as an action tool to reinforce and re-energise the Local Agenda 21 processes and adopted in 2004 in Aalborg. They have been recognised by the European Council in the new European Sustainable Development Strategy as the focus of local sustainability. Almost 500 local governments all over Europe have already joined the movement by signing the commitments.
Among the large choice of topics of conference presentations and discussion fora a very well attended session on “Education and awareness raising for urban biodiversity” took place to raise awareness of biodiversity being one of the key aspects of sustainable cities. Countdown 2010 was presented by its head, Sebastian Winkler. Paul Scherrenberg from the City of Tilburg, The Netherlands, described how the Countdown 2010 initiative has successfully been implemented and spread within the region of Brabant. Representatives from other regions showed impressively how they are implementing nature conservation.
The conference was co-organised by the City of Sevilla and ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) on behalf of the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. The European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign supports local governments in their work for local sustainability. Keynote speakers included Cristina Narbona Ruíz, the Spanish Minister of the Environment; Mayor of Sevilla, Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín; and Dennis Meadows, Honorary Member of the Club of Rome.
The conference has culminated in “The Spirit of Sevilla” which calls for local governments to sign up to the Aalborg Commitments and join this common process of making Europe more sustainable. More information can be found at:
