Ahead of this week’s World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network annual conference in Kuopio, Finland, the City Leadership Initiative of University College London has published a discussion paper for the event, looking at the role of health in city diplomacy. In considering the improvement of leadership and participatory health governance by cities, the report argues that it is both possible and profitable for cities to become more engaged in international health diplomacy.
The report examines not only the role of Japan’s CLAIR in promoting city diplomacy on behalf of Japanese cities, but also the individual actions of cities such as Hiroshima and Yokohama in city networks such as Mayors for Peace and CITYNET. Japan’s cities are also active in networks such as the League of Historical Cities founded and led by Kyoto, the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities Network and, as the report acknowledges, the C40, ICLEI and UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
It considers the skill-sets and resources required for leveraging by cities wishing to actively pursue city diplomacy as a form of ‘recycled twinning’, as well as the actors involved at municipal level in what could complement national policy objectives on the global stage. The report can be read here (PDF).
