From the 19th to 21st of April, the World Forum on Urban Violence and Education for Coexistence and Peace held in Madrid was held in Madrid. Mayors for Peace was among the networks that were supporting the event. More than 3,500 people from 70 different countries took part in this global meeting where local leaders, international organizations and networks, the academic world, NGOs and civil society could reflect their considerations in a joint process of debate in order to foster more peaceful urban environments through common solutions.
The City of Granollers, Spain, a Vice President and Lead City of Mayors for Peace, was among the members of the organizing committee and involved in the Forum from the planning stage. Mayor Josep Mayoral i Antigas of Granollers spoke in the plenary meeting ‘Peaceful coexistence’. Mayor Mayoral highlighted the rights of the city, continuous dialogue with citizens, work in a network and education for peace as key factors to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
“Solidarity among cities, an open-minded vision, and work in a network are indispensable elements for moving forward to ensure a peaceful world. That’s why it makes sense we are here today sharing our thoughts.” Mayor Mayoral said during his speech.“As cities we have learnt that we are agents of peace. Using our ability to converse we can build new scenarios where global problems could have real and peaceful solutions.” added Mayoral. “For that reason, we should search for new perspectives, grounded in the rights of cities, putting citizens at the heart of policies. Cities built collectively, to be inclusive, with no one left behind”.
Mayor Mayoral also emphasized the need to construct local governments committed to their surrounding areas, cities ruled by dialogue and in tune with their citizens. “Education is the cornerstone to achieve these aims, because education changes people and makes society freer and more responsible. We need educated cities to change the world.” concluded Mayoral.
Mayor Philippe Rio of Grigny, France, also attended the forum from the Mayors for Peace network. He took part as a speaker in the round table for youth violence and bullying, explaining how to wrestle with these problems through education and inclusion programmes.
The Forum ended with an agreement about expectations and how to to disseminate, involve and incorporate more local governments and their national, regional and international associations – as well as civil society organizations – in the implementation of these commitments and to spread this message to governments, to the media, to economic players, to the legal, academic and education worlds, and to international bodies (Madrid´s commitment to peaceful cities ).
＜Spanish Mayors for Peace Meeting＞
In the framework of the Forum, the Spanish Mayors for Peace meeting titled “Cities making peace, cities combine efforts” was organized with local leaders, organizations and NGOs where they had the opportunity to discuss, reflect on and share experiences about how to include peace issues into local agendas and city action plans. Due to the exponential growth in the country, the meeting also served to establish a clear set of work objectives for the following years.
▼Final Declaration of the First World Forum on Urban Violence and Education for Coexistence and Peace:
Spanish
Portuguese
English
French
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| Courtesy of City of Granllers | Courtesy of Forum organization |
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| Courtesy of City of Granollers | |