ICLEI is pleased to announce the addition of four new cities to its network! València (Spain), Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) (Turkey), Bitola (Republic of Northern Macedonia) and Eilat (Israel) are warmly welcomed into our sustainable development community.
València (Spain)
València, the country’s third most populous city, is located on the banks of the Turia River. Its economy is dominated by its port, construction, and tourism, where the city was awarded the Green Capital Award 2024 for its work in the field of sustainable tourism, climate neutrality, as well as fair and inclusive green transition.
"València is a city that has been committed for years to the climate change fight and the energy transition towards a fairer, more social, efficient and renewable model. Proof of this is that València has been chosen to be one of the 100 climate-neutral European cities by 2030 and European Green Capital by 2024. We are glad to join the ICLEI network to work together with our European partners in implementing our Green Deal for climate neutrality,” contributes Joan Ribó, Mayor of València.
València has already taken part in several initiatives including Missions València 2030 and Estrategia Urbana València 2030 and recognises that cities are key leaders in the urgent fight against climate change. Becoming a part of this network will help enable an agile exchange of initiatives, lessons learnt, and experiences between cities and València is looking forward to working with ICLEI to help facilitate these exchanges.
Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) (Turkey)
Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) is the first and the largest regional Local Government Association in Turkey with more than 190 members from the Marmara Region which is the centre of scientific, cultural and high-value-added activities as well as of commerce, finance and industry, whose centre is located in Istanbul. The Marmara Region inhabits around 25 million residents, making up one third of the population of Turkey. At the centre of the region is the Sea of Marmara, which is an inland sea connecting Turkey’s Asian and European parts.
The MMU is looking forward to working with ICLEI to connect with other local governments and institutions with the hope that this will facilitate further cooperation as well as share their best practices with cities in the ICLEI network.
Bitola (Republic of Northern Macedonia)
Located in southwestern part of Northern Macedonia, Bitola serves as the important industrial, commercial, educational, and cultural centre for the region. The city is looking forward to advancing sustainability measures in the fields of urban mobility, circular economy, and energy efficiency. The city is looking forward to increasing its capacity building and knowledge in these fields and as well as becoming a leader in the region for a fair and just transition.
Eilat (Israel)
Eilat is Israel’s southernmost city, located near the Red Sea and Jordan and is characterised by an arid climate with low humidity. To prepare for an increasingly warmer climate, where summer temperatures can rise to over 40 degrees Celsius, Eilat is creating a Climate Action Plan (CAP), which will also help the city as it faces other extreme events such as flooding, which are currently damaging the city’s infrastructure and the Red Sea ecosystem.
Eilat is looking forward to working with ICLEI to help identify collaborative opportunities with like minded sustainable cities and for its support as it develops its CAP to include best practices for climate adaptation and mitigation measures, examples for meaningful public engagement and exposure to innovative solutions.
Click here to learn more about València (Spain), Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) (Turkey), Bitola (Republic of Northern Macedonia) and Eilat (Israel).
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