ICLEI World Congress 2024 Overview
Join us in São Paulo
The ICLEI World Congress 2024, hosted by the City of São Paulo, Brazil, is a pivotal gathering focused on advancing sustainable urban development and equitable adaptation to local and regional challenges. Running from 18 – 21 June, this year’s Congress is a journey of reflection and forward-looking vision, emphasizing the critical challenges and opportunities facing cities, towns, and regions due to rising global risks and changes.
We invite local and regional government representatives, urban practitioners, researchers and stakeholders to join us to exchange with and inspire one another on the best practices in sustainable urban development, brought to life by the City of São Paulo as our 2024 host.
What to expect in São Paulo
Central themes in 2024 include leveraging ICLEI’s strategic pathways for sustainability, understanding the unique role of regions like the Amazonia in global biodiversity and sustainability, and exploring the impact of climate and sustainability at all levels of government. Through these thematic lenses, the ICLEI World Congress 2024 aims to inspire, equip, and mobilize local and regional governments towards a sustainable and resilient future.
Through high-level plenaries led by international luminaries, site visits to special destinations throughout São Paulo, deep dive interactive sessions, memorable networking opportunities, and an expert-led Research & Innovation Symposium, the ICLEI World Congress 2024 is an action-oriented event that will ensure a space for local and regional government representatives to experience the power of reconnecting on sustainability goals.
Thanks to the generosity of the City of São Paulo, attendance at the ICLEI World Congress 2024 is free of charge. Spaces are limited and advance registration is mandatory.
ICLEI World Congress 2024 Theme: Equity and Resilience
The most pressing topics related to sustainable local development to enable a systemic transformation across all levels will be presented through the lens of building community resilience in equitable ways. The Malmö Commitment, launched at The Malmö Summit the ICLEI World Congress 2021-2022, puts equity at the center of sustainable development.
This emphasis on people and community is carried over into the program for 2024.
We want to expand who is in the room
As instability threatens the globe, we need to prepare our communities to adapt and respond to current and future challenges. Local and regional governments need to prioritize inclusive approaches to policy making and implementation, actively engaging and collaborating with underrepresented segments of the community. This means a transition for the role of local and regional governments from service providers to community enablers. The ICLEI World Congress 2024 will feature the stories of communities that are doing precisely that.
Our goal is to showcase approaches that ICLEI Members can use to equitably and sustainably adapt, anticipate and respond to present and future challenges. In particular, approaches that bring new voices to the table, including youth, vulnerable groups, incubators, start-ups, and community-based groups.
Learn how ICLEI Members are taking a whole-of-community, inclusive approach to sustainability
A just and equitable transition is a requirement of achieving sustainable development. Through deep-dive sessions and site visits in São Paulo, we’ll explore how to engage community stakeholders in innovative, constructive, and empowering ways. Specifically, to develop a better understanding of how stakeholder engagement processes can be made more inclusive, sustained, and can be mutually beneficial to stakeholders and decision-makers.