What Happened in February’s Cities CoP Plenary Meeting

In February, participating cities of the IURC – LAC programme gathered for the second Plenary Meeting. This session highlighted how the programme is now moving beyond exchanging ideas and is increasingly focusing on concrete implementation and measurable results.

Here are the five main takeaways:

1. Cities start advancing cooperation through structured missions

The upcoming Advanced Cooperation Missions (ACMs) are taking shape, and they will now serve as the operational backbone of this phase of the programme. These five-day missions will combine technical deep dives, institutional dialogue and study visits to ensure that peer learning is translated into concrete, locally anchored outcomes aligned with each city’s priorities.

2. Cities working on night-time economies are going global

Cities working on night-time economy shared their progress on reactivating urban areas after dark through strengthened governance capacities, improved stakeholder mapping practices and the identification of replicable management models. The group also positioned itself within the emerging global conversation on nighttime economies and the “Global Cities After Dark” movement.

3. Co-designing public spaces to bring inclusion to the centre

Those cities participating on the CoP about public spaces are working on strengthening public spaces in peripheral areas surrounding historical centres. The way forward is focusing on piloting actions in each city to transfer and replicate models which include involving residents in co-designing and maintaining public spaces.

4. Data, mobility and housing drive systemic change

Work on smart city platforms, mobility and affordable housing is addressing systemic challenges and going beyond policy dialogue by reinforcing evidence-based decision-making capacities, and exploring blended funding mechanisms to scale up impacts.

5. Clime adaptation becomes more inclusive

Cities collaborating on transdisciplinary urban climate adaptation are working towards developing participatory tools and integrating gender perspectives to reinforce climate resilience through inclusive governance approaches.

Cities will now continue to work on the preparation and submission of the Urban Cooperation Action Plans (UCAPs), which will be decisive in consolidating this shift from exchange to structured action and translating cooperation into long-term local strategies.

Cover image by Julia Koblitz on Unsplash