M4EG Urban Forum: Future-Fit Cities kicks off in October

Next week, Mayors for Economic Growth, a joint UNDP and EU initiative, will host the Urban Forum: Future-Fit Cities, a gathering of over 300 representatives from local governments, the European Union, UNDP, and stakeholders from the civil society and the private sectors. This two-day conference will take place in Batumi, Georgia on October 4-5, 2023. 

The Urban Forum: Future-Fit Cities aims to address the current global situation and chart a path forward for building resilience and promoting sustainable growth in the face of crises. This includes addressing challenges related to leadership, finance, and pursuing a just, green transition. It is dedicated to fostering knowledge exchange on urban transformation and strengthening connections among the M4EG networks of municipalities and stakeholders across the Eastern Partnership, European Union, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions. 

The event features a diverse range of panels, including discussions on cultural drivers for urban rejuvenation, collaborative and decentralized decision-making, blended financial opportunities for cities, local-level innovation ecosystems, greener urban development models, and much more. Participants will engage in in-depth discussions on tackling environmental challenges, securing resources, investing in leadership, and leveraging a combination of soft and hard investments to drive progress. 

To ensure accessibility for a diverse audience, workshops and panels will offer simultaneous translation in English, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian, Romanian, and Ukrainian.

Check out the full conference schedule and learn more about this year’s featured speakers: www.eum4egfutureforward2023.com

The Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG), launched by the European Union (EU) in 2017 and implemented by UNDP since 2021, supports Mayors and municipalities of the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine)  in becoming active facilitators for sustainable economic growth and to cultivate a vibrant community (“urban makeover”) to further attract talent, partnerships, funding and finance. The network has more than 400 members in the five countries.