To continue building strong, supportive relationships with its members, the ICLEI South America It recently opened its first national coordination office in Colombia. The office is headquartered in Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Area (AMVA).

The director of the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area, Eugenio Prieto Soto, welcomed ICLEI South America during the launch ceremony, which brought together several mayors and political representatives from the cities of the Aburrá Valley metropolitan region on February 27.

The metropolitan area encompasses 10 municipalities and has over 4.5 million inhabitants. The largest and most central city, Medellín, has undergone a profound urban and social transformation, from a place deeply affected by violence and drugs to a center of social, cultural, and technological innovation. The city is known for its steep hills and colorful graffiti, as well as its Metrocable system and public bike-sharing systems, which won the ICLEI Ecomobility Award for innovation in public transportation in 2016. Currently, the region is developing integrated urban plans and policies to address air pollution. This issue has become a major environmental and public health problem due to the increasing number of vehicles in the city combined with the city's geographical location, which hinders the dispersion of pollution.

“It’s a great time to establish this office in Colombia. There are good public and innovative experiences here, and therefore we will also learn from our arrival in the country. The opening of the office here is very symbolic, because this was one of the regions that suffered the most from the terrible effects of drug trafficking, but they managed to overcome it through social cohesion and public policies,“ stated the executive secretary of ICLEI South America, Rodrigo Perpétuo.

The partnership between ICLEI and the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area began during the Habitat III Conference in 2016, when the Metropolitan Area became a member of ICLEI. This strong partnership was consolidated during COP23, when the opening of the coordination office was confirmed.

The new office will allow ICLEI to support Colombian municipalities in achieving their own sustainability goals. This will focus on at least three areas: climate change, low-emission load, and strengthening nature in cities.

During the official opening of the office, Rodrigo Perpétuo and Eugenio Prieto, along with representatives from UN-Habitat and the European Union, officially launched the international Urban LEDs project in Colombia and invited cities to participate. The new office will also work with Colombian cities on two projects funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) – Ecologistics, focusing on low-emission urban logistics, and Local Protected Areas, which aims to improve the recognition of local governments within the legal frameworks of protected areas.