The Network of Sustainable Cities and Mayors' Offices for Democracy was consolidated in December 2020, with the support of the Regional Center for Green Growth and Climate Change, seeking to consolidate political and environmental dialogue among Latin American mayors' offices through spaces for the exchange of experiences, training and dissemination of actions within the framework of democratic values and green growth.

After the creation of the Network, several virtual exchanges were carried out with the active participation of different Latin American city mayors' offices, as well as courses to strengthen the management of the SDGs in their municipal agendas. This trajectory led the Network to have a first face-to-face meeting in March 2022 in Merida and later to hold the first face-to-face meeting for the second anniversary of the Sustainable Cities and Mayors' Network for Democracy.

The Anniversary Day was held on December 1 and 2 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This meeting was attended by mayors and technical teams from Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica and Argentina. 

In addition to commemorating the anniversary of the Network, this meeting aimed to promote the inclusion of the SDGs in municipal management, which is why application workshops were held to address the issue in a specialized manner, as well as to collaboratively consolidate the Action Plan for the year 2023 and welcome the new municipalities that will be part of the Network. Thus, the Network was strengthened as a key means to consolidate political and environmental dialogue among Latin American municipalities.

This meeting succeeded in integrating new mayors' offices into the Network and generated links between mayors of cities that share similar challenges despite being in different countries, thus strengthening a bond of trust, exchange and mutual learning. On this occasion, municipalities from Chile (Concepción, Coyhaique, Peñalolén, Renca and San Javier), Mexico (Mérida, Puebla, León, Kanasín and Ticul), Colombia (Támesis and Venecia), Costa Rica (Municipality of Belén), Peru (Municipality of Surquillo), and Argentina (Córdoba, Luján de Cuyo, Vicente López and Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) participated in person.

During the two-day meeting, conferences, workshops and tours of sustainability projects in Buenos Aires were held, where participants exchanged their experiences and knowledge for the consolidation of sustainable cities in their localities.

The first day of the day focused on developing the workshop on SDGs, which was facilitated by Paola Garcia, knowledge management consultant.  In this workshop, the participants developed a Municipal SDG roadmap with different actions, indicators and targets. At the end of the day, the new municipalities of the Network were welcomed: from Argentina (Córdoba, Luján de Cuyo, Vicente López and Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) and Colombia (Venecia (Antioquia)).
 

The second day of the day began with a panel where some of the municipalities presented how they have incorporated the SDGs into their management. The experience of Concepción (Chile), Mérida (Mexico) and Córdoba (Argentina) was presented. Afterwards, the CDP's sustainability reporting platform for cities was presented. Afterwards, an internal meeting was held to discuss the Network's 2023 Work Plan to close the morning. In the afternoon, there was a field trip to visit the City's Recycling Center, as well as the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve.

An important element of the meeting was the signing, by the new municipalities, of the Declaration of the Network of Sustainable Cities and Mayors' Offices for Democracy, where the mayors' offices reaffirmed that: "Democracy is a system of government that is based on democracy:
- Democracy is a system of government that allows progress towards sustainable development.
- Action for sustainability focuses on local work strengthened by participatory governance.
- The Network of Sustainable Cities and Mayors' Offices for Democracy places the human person at the center of environmental action.
- It is committed to sharing and developing experiences and initiatives that enhance sustainability and the fight against the climate crisis.

Participants agreed that dialogues and spaces like this are necessary to advance in the consolidation of sustainability in their municipalities and reinforce their commitment to green growth.

This is how this meeting generated and strengthened the links that we seek to promote since the conception of the Network in 2020. From the EKLA Regional Program we are convinced of the potential of the Sustainable Cities and Mayors for Democracy Network to lead the implementation of positive sustainability actions and contribute to our goal of promoting more decision-making processes on climate change and energy security.