First meeting of Territories of co-responsibility

Mulhouse, 25 September 2009

Address at the closing session by Gaye Doganoglu, Chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are now at the end of a long day of very interesting and fruitful exchanges. I am sure that we will return to our towns, cities and regions with new ideas and perspectives, opened up thanks to the practical and pilot experiences we have discussed today. We hope now to be able to transform this into political and methodological references on a larger scale.

The City of Mulhouse has been a pioneer in this process of developing a territory of co responsibility and I would like to thank the Mayor and his colleagues, the administration and all stakeholders in this project for having offered us such an interesting insight into their experience.

The Congress believes that the exchange of know-how between municipalities and regions is always valuable and productive. We recommend building on the achievements of the various initiatives that are part of this approach. From our side, we will ensure the results of this 1st meeting of the Territories of co-responsibility are disseminated at European level and that the acquis from the experiences and pilot actions are promoted in order that other cities and regions engage in this process of co responsibility.

We have heard many thoughts about changing our patterns, about our values, about the process of revitalisation of the democracy.

According to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the participation of citizens in the management of public affairs is not only considered a right but, above all, a key contribution to the health of local democracy.

The European Urban Charter also provides a good framework for reflection.  The initiatives we have discussed today do indeed offer concrete answers to some of the principles developed in the Charter. However, when we think about sustainable development, the preservation of resources or territorial identity, the territory of co-responsibility’s approach to these issues still has to make progress. I would like to see more projects on urban ecology, on biodiversity, on sustainable mobility, or on energy saving, about a better link between social cohesion and sustainable development.

To conclude, ladies and gentlemen,

Without taking up too much of your time, I can outline briefly a few ideas which are important in the search for new forms of democracy and for a sustainable, cohesive and inclusive society:

- constructing well-being indicators together with the inhabitants of our towns and cities and other stakeholders is to me the basis of a citizen-oriented approach. We all know that such a bottom-up approach does not come naturally to us but I believe that the challenges we are facing give us no choice but to act this way;

- Furthermore, when elaborating indicators, it is essential to measure not only the objective elements of well-being, but also our citizens’ subjective feelings, be they negative or positive.  This is the key for a better knowledge of our territory; 

- Keeping well-being in mind when analysing public policy, public activities or even private ones, will help us to avoid falling into the trap of sectorial and problem-oriented action and lead us to develop cross-cutting approaches which I believe will lead to more sustainability;

Ladies and gentlemen

This has been a most productive and informative meeting and I would like to thank again the City of Mulhouse, its partners and the Directorate General of Social Cohesion of the Council of Europe who have lent their support to these exchanges on well-being and shared responsibilities.

The territories of Co-responsibility provide us with the possibility of linking together citizenship, sustainability, solidarity and understanding.  They are a significant contribution to the development of new ways of local governance in Europe and I reiterate the Congress’ full support to this approach and to a network which will link all these initiatives.

I wish you every success in the pursuit of this venture at home.