I. Metshin: "We need to promote the entry of the world to the path of sustainable development"

(Kazan City KZN.RU, December 4). Solidarity, the system of exchange of practices and technologies, close cooperation with global organizations and openness to each other – these are the key points of interaction between the municipal authorities to confront the crisis confidently, as them Mayor Ilsur Metshin called today, speaking at the World Council of the organization "United Cities and Local Governments". The event takes place these days in Paris. The head of Tatarstan's capital is co-president of UCLG and the president of the Eurasian department of the organization.

According to the deputy head of the municipality of Kazan Eugenia Lodvigova, who is in Paris in the Kazan delegation, there have been several important initiatives during the meeting. "The World Council of the UCLG is held in intensive mode, it is attended by about 30 mayors. The forum is an important platform for the exchange of experiences, cooperation and joint decision-making. Thus, the mayors of Paris and Barcelona have offered to hold a separate meeting dedicated to the issue of youth involvement in terrorist activities. The mayor of Yakutsk, at our request, took the initiative to establish a joint award of UN-Habitat and UCLG, which would allow promoting the best city, selected on the basis of sustainable growth, "- said Eugenia Lodvigova.

One of the main topics of discussion of the participants of the World Council of UCLG a humanitarian crisis and the willingness of local and regional authorities to address global environmental and economic challenges, as well as problems related to wars, natural disasters, migration and terrorism, became. Ilsur Metshin noted that the form and nature of urban growth in the next few decades will largely determine the well-being or ill-being of billions of people worldwide. These factors will determine the sustainability of the world's ecosystems to climate change and increasing scarcity of natural resources.

According to the head of the capital of Tatarstan, the local government as no one else knows the main weak points in their cities. There is no buffer between the municipality and the population, allowing blunt the sharpness of problems. Cities must unite to jointly develop a set of measures that will solve pressing problems. Ilsur Metshin proposed to discuss this new agenda related to the objectives of sustainable urban development in detail in preparation for the Habitat III - UN conference on housing and sustainable urban development, which will be held in 2016 in Ecuador.

"Take, for example, the Eurasian section of UCLG. Continuing the ongoing exchange of best practices helps us to reduce the time and effort to define and implement solutions for similar problems. There is no hostess, who cooks everything equally delicious. The same there is no mayor, who manages all better than others. Therefore, there is always something to learn from each other, from the one who is in a certain direction more advanced. And what does it mean advanced? This means that in a certain area he  made his “bruises”, created a legal basis, gained the experience, he knows what to do in the event of a particular problem, whether the system of cleaning and recycling of waste, the development of social housing or combating the congestion. Therefore, the first priority in order to achieve the new goals of the United Nations is the building of a well-established mechanism of exchange of experience and advanced technology. Not so much meetings in a summit, but work at our place, involvement of experts of UCLG has powerful tools of interaction, "- said Ilsur Metshin.

According to the Mayor of Kazan, strengthening of support cities, faced with a large influx of displaced people, is also an important task. Therefore Ilsur Metshin proposed to establish an advisory committee on refugees within the Council of UCLG, which will accumulate and disseminate successful practices of cities.

Ilsur Metshin in his speech touched the topic of the terrorist threat in the world today. "I express my sympathy and support to representatives of those cities that have faced with the monstrous acts of violence. Our colleagues from Paris found the moral strength to overcome the horrors of the events of November and to hold climate summit of world leaders and this forum at a high level. Terrorism is a poison that has penetrated into our society and corrodes souls of the residents of our cities with fear, "- said the Mayor of Kazan.

Kazan Mayor also outlined the key points of interaction between the municipal authorities. "Solidarity, organized system of exchange of practices and technologies, close interaction with global organizations - these are the three pillars that will help us to survive in this crisis. For greater stability we need a fourth one - this is our openness to each other, seek of common achievement of goals "- Ilsur Metshin summed up.