The FIIAPP participates in the 1st Urban Forum of Spain

The 1st Urban Forum of Spain was organised by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, in collaboration with UN-Habitat and coincided with the announcement by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, of the first state law on housing in Spain. 

Within the framework of this space dedicated to the global urban agenda, held in Seville, the director of the FIIAPP’s Public Administration and Social Affairs (APAS) area, Peggy Martinello, participated in the round table “National Urban Policies: Implementing sustainable urban development”. Discussed in the latter were national urban experiences of the European Union and Latin America. The APAS area director was joined on the panel by the Secretary General for the Urban Agenda and Housing of Spain, David Lucas; the Minister for Housing, City and Territory of Colombia, Jonathan Malagón; the Vice Minister of Urban Development and Housing of Ecuador, María Gabriela Aguilera; and the head of the UN-Habitat Knowledge and Innovation department, Eduardo Moreno. 

Peggy Martinello presented experiences from the EUROsociAL+ and Euroclima+ programmes funded by the European Union, and which promote sustainable urban development in Latin America incorporating social cohesion, equal opportunities, equity and just transition in territorial and sustainable urban models; models which also contribute to post-pandemic recovery. 

As practical examples, EUROsociAL+, led by the FIIAPP, contributed to the development of the human settlements and sustainable urban development axis of the Recovery Plan for Central America and the Dominican Republic, which will mark the region’s social reconstruction agenda over the coming years. In addition, the FIIAPP representative highlighted the high-level ministerial dialogue supported by EUROsociAL+ in the framework of the Forum of Ministers and Highest Authorities in Housing and Urban Development of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI), where the recovery from the socio-economic crisis was addressed from urban and territorial development, and which also enjoyed the participation of EUROCLIMA+ and UN-Habitat. 

The 1st Urban Forum of Spain was held together with the 3rd Global Forum of Local Governments and already constituted a significant multilevel participatory platform for relevant actors and agents in urban development of Spain, Europe and other continents, to share, propose and exchange ideas and good practices on sustainable urbanisation.