IMPRESSIONS OF THE ACT NOW MAYORS’ CONFERENCE 2023
100% of past participants recommend taking part in the conference.
Carla Nunes Semedo
Executive Councilor of Cascais, Portugal
“The ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference was a great opportunity to reflect on what we, as European cities, can do to ensure more efficient policies and take action on the war in Ukraine. We all shared a common commitment to strive for more equal, resilient, and democratic communities. We are the key to shaping our future.”
Mohamed Saadie
President of Union of Dannieh Municipalities, LEBANON
“The ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference offers a platform for us to share, listen to, and review local innovation so that creativity can flourish! It brings together partners, global institutions, and local actors to cooperate and inspire best practices and high-level exchanges. It opens dialogue between life at the local level and the global conversation that impacts citizens’ lives.”
Jinnih Beels
Vice Mayor of Education and Youth, Antwerp, Belgium
“The ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference 2022 was a wonderful experience, both for our participating youngsters and myself as Vice Mayor of Education and Youth in Antwerp. Sharing views and best practices from all over the world on how to actively include young people in policy making, provides valuable insights.”
Georg Willi
Mayor, Innsbruck, Austria
“For me, the ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference was like a breath of fresh air. Best practice examples for adapting to climate change and smart solutions for the problems of cities and municipalities were presented. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Dialogue and exchange of experiences are shortcuts to good solutions – for the benefit and wellbeing of our citizens!”
Katya Petrikevich
Co-founder, Participation Factory, Czech Republic
“It has been an inspiring and re-energising opportunity to meet all the change-makers, young and old, from Europe to MENA, working in city halls and studying at universities. The mix of contexts and experiences are a recipe for innovation fuelled by expert interventions, sharing of case studies, inquisitive questions from participants, and peer-to-peer exchange.”
Christoph Meineke
Former Mayor of Wennigsen, Germany
“This conference is a mind opening experience. It brings together mayors and actors from a variety of different disciplines. In this way, it offers great value for municipal managers, who get many impulses in a short time. It offers the opportunity to reflect on our own actions, pass on suggestions and network on an international level.”
Sara Maria Barbaglia
Youth Fellow, International Youth Think Tank, Italy
“Being 20 years old in 2022 is hard; problems keep piling up both at an international, national and local level. This conference gave me hope and energy to work on my future in synergy with local mayors and fellow young changemakers.”
Souad Ahmad
Researcher, Lebanon
“The ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference is one of the most innovative professional experiences I’ve had. By participating in the conference, I returned with lots of new ideas which shape our futures and built connections with people with different backgrounds.”
Miguel Silva
Sociologist, Portugal
“The participation in the conference for me was a unique experience; being together with young people from different backgrounds, exchanging experiences for solving local problems, as well as learning from others who live in another context to ours. I enjoyed being able to hear directly from European mayors, but even more so, being able to ask them for advice. It is experiences like these that make us grow intellectually and make us want to create change locally.”
Rron Rama
SIT, Kosovo
”The conference was an amazing experience, where we had the opportunity to exchange and discuss the challenges we face to make a difference in our country. Congratulations ACT NOW, we are proud to be a part of this astonishing network.”
David Menn
Programme Manager, Körber-Stiftung, Germany
“From students to mayors, I would recommend this conference to everyone working in their community. The result is a great mix of professional input, international best practice examples and networking with like-minded people.”
Şadiye Işısal
Home for Cooperation, Cyprus
“The ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference is a world-class event, elevated by fire-side chats and leadership training. As a Turkish-speaking Cypriot Changemaker, attending this conference was a ground-breaking, full-on experience. It is a unique event where local innovators and youth change-makers were involved in the conference setting from the core.”
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