Throughout the German G7 Presidency (2022), city leaders from across G7 nations – supported by networks like ICLEI – have been engaged in the ‘G7 Urban7 process’ (U7), participating in and advocating for continuous dialogue between G7 nations and their municipal actors.

On 14 December, the U7 group gathered for a final meeting of political representatives to look back at the successes of 2022 and plan for the year ahead under the Japanese presidency.

Representatives of all U7 city networks and the 2022 G7 Urban7 Group Alliance joined the online meeting to celebrate the many achievements of 2022. These achievements include the U7 Mayors Summit in May, and the corresponding Mayors Declaration, as well as September’s groundbreaking G7 Ministers Meeting on Urban Development that the U7 was invited to by German minister Klara Geywitz.

Participants also took the opportunity to look to the future and consider how to continue on the road the U7 group has paved so far. The G7 Presidency of Japan in 2023 and Italy in 2024 will present further opportunities to strengthen engagement of the U7 in the G7 process, and to highlight the important role that urban development and cities play in the world.

The meeting was hosted by the U7 Secretariat made up of ICLEI, the Global Parliament of Mayors, and Deutscher Städtetag (as Germany was the G7 president in 2022). Representatives from UCLG and the OECD also joined the call, which convened U7 city networks: the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; France Urbaine; Deutscher Städtetag; Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani; Japan Designated City Mayors' Association; Eurocities; Core Cities UK; and the United States Conference of Mayors.

A short summary of the U7 year can be found here.