October 27, 2022
Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) launched its Local 2030 Agenda during its 2022 Local Urban Forum on September 9th, showing its engagement towards the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs.
The City of Vitoria-Gasteiz located in Spain’s Basque Country developed its Local 2030 Agenda to establish guidelines for the future transformations of the city to be aligned to the SDGs, respecting the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
The United Nations 2030 Agenda has established 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by the end of the decade. Vitoria Gasteiz 2030 is the local declination of the UN 2030 Agenda. This strategy was adopted by the Municipal Council of the city on September 9th 2022 after a participative elaboration process.
This Local 2030 Agenda aims to strengthen the city engagement in implementing the New Urban Agenda, adopted by UN-Habitat in 2016 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by UN member states in 2015, initiating a decade of action to improve quality of life for all.
In May 2022, the city started collecting data via a survey to know more about the way the inhabitants see the city and what they would like it to be in the coming years. The municipality organized several participative sessions to reflect on the diagnostic and to work on the city’s priorities and action plan.
These sessions included meetings with the citizens, focus groups with key informants and intergenerational sessions. Prior to these meetings, the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz launched a sensibilization campaign to increase the citizens’ knowledge on the SDGs.
Since 1993, the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz has engaged in a journey to become net zero carbon by 2030. The city’s green commitment is demonstrated by the Green Belt project to (re)-create ecological and recreational corridors around the city. To achieve its goal to become net zero, the city strongly associates its citizens to the actions led through public consultations and the creation of a Municipal Center of Environmental Studies.
These actions were recognized by the European Commission’s European Green Capital Award in 2010. This award rewards cities for their high environmental standards and for working closely with all stakeholders. In addition, the UN Global Forum on Human Settlements awarded Vitoria-Gasteiz with the Global Green City Award in 2019.
Vitoria-Gasteiz Local 2030 Agenda: https://www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/docs/wb021/contenidosEstaticos/adjuntos/es/60/97/96097.pdf