As part of the project "Municipal Sustainability Partnerships," based on a cooperation between the cities of Marcala in Honduras, Diriamba in Nicaragua, and Saarbrücken, the state capital will welcome a five-member delegation from the two Central American cities from Monday, June 27th to Friday, July 8th.
The goal of this year's exchange is to develop a joint action plan for the 2030 Agenda to implement sustainability goals. Through the project partnership between the cities, the three municipalities can support each other with know-how and share experiences and solutions. From Marcala, the first Fair Trade Town in Honduras, Mayor Juan Manuel Melgar, city council member Laura Vásquez, and coffee producer Elizabeth Pérez will be visiting. From Diriamba, the head of the planning office, Oscar Villegas, and the representative of the local eco-museum, Walter Guzman, will attend.
Mayor Uwe Conradt: "It is of great importance to find approaches for global goals and challenges at the municipal level. Together with the cities of our cooperative partnerships, we want to develop an action plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and continue our efforts to strengthen sustainability. With this, we aim to actively contribute in many different areas of our city to addressing long-term tasks, such as climate protection."
The implementation of the sustainability goals is a guiding theme in cities worldwide. A corresponding model resolution for the 2030 Agenda was already signed by the Saarbrücken city council in 2017.
Exchange program with events on various sustainability aspects
In cooperation with the Saarbrücken Diriamba Association - Fairtrade Initiative Saarland (FIS) e.V. and other Saarbrücken clubs, the state capital Saarbrücken organizes a program within the framework of the exchange that includes professional visits and events on topics such as sustainable tourism, waste management, gender, fair trade, and climate protection.
Planned is, among other things, an appointment on Wednesday, June 29, in the Franco-German Garden. Together with the representatives of the delegation, Mayor Barbara Meyer will plant a "Tree of Sustainability Partnerships" there. On Thursday, June 30, there will be a reception by the mayor in the town hall festival hall. Afterwards, the kickoff conference for the approved project of the state capital Saarbrücken to improve waste management in Marcala will take place there. The project is part of the program "Sustainable Municipal Development through Partnership Projects" (NAKOPA) by Engagement Global gGmbH. It supports the Saarbrücken project with a grant of approximately 50,000 euros.
Background
The project "Municipal Sustainability Partnerships" advises, supports, and finances exchanges of experience within an international and national network as well as on a bilateral level. The project is funded by Engagement Global gGmbH with its service office "Municipalities in One World" with financial support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
A key focus of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is to build sustainable global cooperation partnerships between municipalities. The head of the Latin America division at the Federal Ministry, Dr. Ute Heinbuch, visited the city of Marcala on Sunday, June 19. The purpose of the trip was to gather information about the projects funded by the Federal Ministry for organic coffee production and the establishment and development of the cooperation partnership between Marcala and Saarbrücken.
More information about the 2030 Agenda can be found at www.saarbruecken.de/nachhaltig.
