About the project
This project is directed to cities and territories that wish to actively contribute to goal SDG11 to be inclusive of sustainable families by being responsive to their needs. Their commitment will consist of signing the Chart that includes the Venice Declaration and presenting once a year a report about the results of their work on the contents of it.
Together with the Veneto Region in Italy (including Vicenza, Verona, Venezia, Padova, Treviso and Belluno), the following are founding members:
– Départment des Bouches-du-Rhône in France (including municipalities as Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Éguilles, La Ciotat, Marignane, Marseille, Martigues, Meyrargues, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Vauvenargues and Vitrolles).
– Region of Attica in Greece (including Acharnés, Agía Paraskeví, Ágios Dimítrios, Aigáleo, Alimos, Athens, Chalándri, Galátsi, Glyfáda, Ílion, Ilioúpoli, Kallithéa, Keratsíni, Kifissia, Korydallós, Maroúsi, Néa Ionía, Néa Smýrni, Níkaia, Palaió Fáliro, Peiraiás, Peristéri, Výronas and Zográfos).
Other territories that have already joined are:
– City of Sao Paulo, city of Mogi Das Cruzes and the State or Paraná in Brazil (including Curitiba, Londrina, Maringá, Foz do Iguaçu, Ponta Grossa, Cascave and São José dos Pinhais).
– State of Carinthia (including Klagenfurt and Villach).
– Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy (including Udine, Tavagnacco and Trieste).
– Region of Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Poland).
– the following Mexican municipalities: Cuauhtémoc (Ciudad de México), Huixquilucan (Estado de México), San Nicolás de los Garza (Nuevo León), Irapuato (Guanajuato), Guadalupe (Zacatecas), Iguala (Guerrero), San Mateo Atenco (Estado de México), Zapopan (Jalisco), Allende (Nuevo León), Valle de Santiago (Guanajuato), San Francisco del Rincon (Guanajuato), Chihuahua (Chihuahua), San Antonio la Isla (Estado de México), Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Chiapas), Hermosillo (Sonora), Los Reyes La Paz (Estado de México), Chapultepec (Estado de México), Durango (Durango), Veracruz (Veracruz), Tizayuca (Hidalgo), San Luis Potosí (San Luis Potosí) and Santiago de Querétaro (Querétaro).
Initial event at the UN Headquarters in New York (6 February 2017).
Project Concept
According to the World Bank, today’s urban population of about 3.5 billion people is projected to reach 5 billion by 2030, with two-thirds of the global population living in cities. City leaders must move quickly to plan for growth. The speed and scale of urbanization bring challenges for all family members such as children, parents, youth, persons with disabilities and older persons. The capacity to tackle challenges is essential to assure the safe growth of all family members that live in the city. Some suggested relevant areas for it should promote affordable housing; well-connected transport systems; meeting accelerated demand for infrastructure and built environment; ratio of the available land, urban development focused in nucleus family needs, urban growth designed for persons with disabilities, respect and social inclusion; access to community support and health services; communication and information; as well as civil participation; jobs and opportunities, particularly for the nearly 1 billion urban poor who live in informal settlements.
Initial event at the UN Headquarters in New York (6 February 2017).
At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015, more than 150 world leaders adopted the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations Development Programme will support governments around the world in tackling the new agenda and taking it forward over the next 15 years.
Sustainable Development Goals include a dedicated goal for urban development, SDG11, which calls to ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.’
Launching on the occasion of World Cities Day (31 October 2018).
A year later, at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III – member states signed the New Urban Agenda. This is an action-oriented document that sets global standards of achieving SDG11, rethinking the way we build, manage, and live in cities. It acknowledges that while most of the global population and capital goods are concentrated in cities, urban areas remain crucial to social development, economic prosperity and poverty eradication. They drive most of the economic growth and are a source of innovation, facing sanitation and security challenges while acting as cultural centers.
Event on the occasion of the World Cities Day, 31 October 2019.
Achievements in eradicating poverty among developing countries are partly recognized to the significant progress in economic growth performance in the past two decades as well as gains in education and health, and the provision of social protection.
The project was presented during an event organized at the UN Headquarters on 6 February 2017, with the participation of the Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development (UN DESA) and representatives of the Veneto Region, Malta and Malaysia.
Other meetings and presentations
The third technical meeting of the Venice Declaration Signatories project was held in hybrid mode on 30th, 31st March and 1st May 2022. During 3 days, representatives of signatories presented the best practices achieved during the past year, and a final set of conclusions and recommendations is set to be included in the annual monitoring report.
A Panel Discussion in Observance of the World Cities Day 2021 on ‘Inclusive Cities for All: Post-Covid Urban Arrangements’ was organized online with the participation of UN DESA Division for Inclusive Social Development and representatives of several signatories and new accessions to the Venice Declaration on 28th October 2021.
A Panel Discussion in Observance of the World Cities Day 2020 on ‘Inclusive Cities for All: Covid-19 Recovery’ was organized online with the participation of UN DESA Division for Inclusive Social Development, UN Habitat and representatives of several signatories.
The second annual meeting for the members of the project members was held online on 17th March, 2021.
The first annual meeting for the members of the project was held in Curitiba (Brazil) on November 2019. The meeting gathered experts of 15 cities in three continents, together with other 34 observers, to discuss the main indicators for each point of the Venice Declaration. The results and some general conclusions were presented during the last day, during a conference on ‘Family and Social Innovation’, to more than 400 local experts, policymakers and representatives of civil society organizations.
A Panel Discussion in Observance of the World Cities Day 2019 on ‘Inclusive Cities for All: Intergenerational Urban Arrangements’ was organized at the UN Headquarters in New York by IFFD with the UN DESA Division for Inclusive Social Development and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) on 31st October 2019.
On the occasion of World Cities Day (31st October 2018), the project and the Venice Declaration were launched with the signature of its founding members. The ceremony was held during the official celebration at the UN Headquarters in New York.
A presentation of the Project was held in Marseille on April 4th-5th 2018, organized by the Municipality of the City, in partnership with the European Local Inclusion and Social Action Network (ELISAN), the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, the Regional Council of the Veneto Region and the International Federation for Family Development (IFFD).
The first international meeting of the ‘Inclusive Cities for Sustainable Families’ project was celebrated in Venice on 8 January 2018, under the auspices of the President of the Consiglio Regionale del Veneto, Mr. Roberto Ciambetti, and it included the celebration of a focus group on indicators for the main topics related to cities inclusion and sustainability: housing, education, healthcare, safety, clean air, transportation, affordability and leisure.
The event was attended by Ms. Daniela Bas, Director of United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development; Ms. Sylvie Carrega, president of the European Local Inclusion and Social Action Network Elisan, vice president of UNCCAS and deputy mayor of Marseille; Ms. Manuela Lanzarin, Regional Minister of Social Affairs; Dott. Roberto Valente, Secretary of the Consiglio Regionale; Dr. Ignacio Socias, director of communication and international relations of the International Federation for Family Development; and a group of academic experts and practitioners, including prof. Antonio Legeren from the Universidade da Coruña, prof. Giancarlo Corò from Università Ca’ Foscari (Venice), prof. Bernhard Riederer from the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (Vienna), Dr. Pablo E. Branchi, Dott.ssa Antonella Lazzarini and Dott.ssa Maria Carla Midena.
The role of families in the Urban Agenda
UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all.
Presentation at the Meeting of the European Social Network in Valencia (6 June 2017).
In October 2016, at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III – member states signed the New Urban Agenda. This is an action-oriented document which sets global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking the way we build, manage, and live in cities. Through drawing together cooperation with committed partners, relevant stakeholders, and urban actors, including at all levels of government as well as the private sector, UN-Habitat is applying its technical expertise, normative work and capacity development to implement the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11.
Meeting to organize the launching of the project in Venice (21 November 2017).
To ensure that no one is left behind in the New Urban Agenda, strategies that have proven to be effective and measurable need to be taken. Modern cities need to be resilient and constantly diagnosed of their urban strength. Only a holistic approach of the numerous variables within the cities can manage to give a complete picture of the city’s vigor. A dialogue among stakeholders is equally important; any effort aimed at facilitating it among government, civil society, residents, and the private sector about risks and the performance of urban systems is a worthwhile cause. With an accurate diagnosis, priority actions and investments can be identified, as well as strengthening resilience for planned or aspirational projects.
