Municipalities push for regional cooperation by signing the SDG declaration

The province of Gelderland and the municipality of Winterswijk in the Netherlands organised a SDG Day on Friday 27 January, dedicated to interregional cooperation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During the event, Flemish, German and Dutch local and regional authorities and local government associations signed the SDG declaration, to underline their ongoing commitment and cooperation towards integral and inclusive sustainability.

The event also served as the official moment to declare the region of the present municipalities as ‘SDG region’; all municipalities are aligning their SDG efforts with each other’s activities and aligning them to a join “vision 2030”. The region seeks to develop cooperative development strategies, based on the SDGs, that go beyond municipal and regional borders.

On behalf of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and their Municipalities4GlobalGoals network, VNG International director Pieter Jeroense expressed his appreciation and support for the SDG day and the joint SDG activities and vision from the SDG Achterhoek region. After all, forging partnerships for the goals is a recurring theme for all 17 SDGs. The Municipalities4GlobalGoals network assists in this by supporting the cooperation between municipalities, developing tools and collecting best practices from municipalities implementing the Global Goals.