Daring Cities Cornerstones

Reflect – Exchange – Advocate

Daring Cities aims to accelerate responses to the climate emergency by building on the momentum and experiences gained over the past year. The forum is conceived as a platform to inform local, subnational, and national efforts, as well as global processes by strengthening partnerships, building capacity, and enhancing knowledge exchange. The outcomes of these exchanges are disseminated to further crucial gatherings and events throughout Urban October, before feeding into advocacy efforts at UNFCCC COP.

The framework of Daring Cities is anchored in three pivotal cornerstones: Reflect, Exchange and Advocate

Cornerstone I: Reflect

This cornerstone serves as the foundation for a period of introspection and assessment, ensuring a seamless transition from the previous Daring Cities edition to the upcoming one. It brings together local leaders and climate representatives to reflect on past climate actions and outcomes—particularly those stemming from last year’s UNFCCC COP—  to help guide the climate agenda forward, aligning it with the new edition of Daring Cities and preparing its community for upcoming events.

Cornerstone II: Exchange

This cornerstone fosters dialogue and knowledge-sharing among local, regional, and national governments, high-level participants, technical experts, policymakers, business leaders, academia, and other key stakeholders. It emphasizes the importance of multilevel collaboration and the dissemination of innovative knowledge and effective climate action practices.

Cornerstone II – Exchange is built upon two key events:

  • Daring Cities Bonn Dialogues: Held every June alongside the UNFCCC SB sessions, this in-person event offers high-level dialogues and roundtables, allowing participants to revitalize partnerships and explore effective multilevel climate action collaboration.
  • Daring Cities Virtual Forum: These online sessions offer a globally accessible program on solution-oriented discussions, workshops, and technical training, from sharing best practices to deep diving into regional and sectoral insights to tackle the climate emergency.

Cornerstone III: Advocate

Throughout Urban October and other key advocacy moments taking place in the lead-up to UNFCCC COP, this cornerstone brings the Daring Cities’ key findings from Cornerstone II “Exchange” to the global stage, advocating for multilevel, inclusive climate action to respond to the climate emergency.

Since the first UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) in 1995, ICLEI has served as the focal point for the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency. This has given more prominence to the voice of cities, towns and regions at the UNFCCC process, coordinating inputs to negotiations, mobilizing delegations, and bridging dialogue between the UNFCCC Secretariat and subnational governments. In this role, we bring our key findings to the global climate negotiation processes, ensuring that the pivotal role of local and regional governments in tackling the climate emergency is recognized worldwide.