During the visit of Cities and Regions from around the world to Seoul for the ICLEI 2015 World Congress, network members in Latin America and the Caribbean led discussions to build ICLEI's strategic agenda for the region towards a sustainable urban future. The Regional Executive Committee Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean (RexCom LAC) and the Latin America and Caribbean Members Meeting called for greater integration of the region's city bloc in permanent forums for exchanging ideas on urban sustainability policies.

At the first in-person meeting of the new Regional Executive Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean 2015-2018 (RexCom LAC), Elected at the end of 2014, the representatives of the Mayors of Quito, Ecuador, Verónica Arias; of Itu, Brazil, Patrícia Otero; of Puebla, Mexico, José Luis Romero Morales; and the Mayor of San Rafael de Heredia, Costa Rica, Jorge Isaac Herrera Paniagua, chose four priority themes for promoting sustainability among the cities of the region throughout the current term:

• Sustainable Cities Portfolio (connected to the definition of the Sustainable Development Goals and the new urban agenda through Habitat III): to be represented by Mayor Mauricio Rodas Espinel, Quito, Ecuador

• Solid Waste Management Portfolio: to be represented by Mayor Antônio Luiz Carvalho Gomes, Itu, Brazil

• Smart Cities Portfolio (focusing on Energy Efficiency and Urban Mobility): to be represented by Mayor Jose Gali Fayad, Puebla, Mexico

• Adaptation and Resilience Portfolio: to be represented by Mayor Jorge Herrera, San Rafael Heredia, Costa Rica

The Committee also adopted the Internal Regulations that will govern its operation, providing for annual in-person meetings and virtual meetings every three months. Representatives will now have to detail proposals for promoting their portfolios in a work agenda to be followed, which should also include guidelines for the actions of the Regional Secretariats. The Committee's next in-person meeting will be hosted by the City of Quito, Ecuador.

Also during the Congress, an open session was held for ICLEI Members in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the presence of representatives from cities such as Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Itu (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay), Puebla (Mexico), San Rafael de Heredia (Costa Rica), Sorocaba (Brazil), and Temixco (Mexico).

During the session, the Vice Mayor of Belo Horizonte presented the booklet produced on 'International Action for a Sustainable City' as a result of... AL-LAs Project, which served as input for the discussions. The decisions of RexCom were then shared with the participating cities and followed by an open debate about the network's performance in the region and the experiences of the participating cities.

The Cities welcomed the decisions of the Regional Executive Committee (RexCom) on the topics to be prioritized and shared numerous sustainability experiences in initiatives such as public-private partnerships for the construction of BRTs within the scope of mobility strategies; renaturalization and depollution of rivers as green, natural infrastructure in cities and their use as a basis for territorial planning and urban resilience; sustainable buildings and strategies to address climate change.

The meeting culminated in the identification of a collective desire for greater integration of the Latin American regional bloc of cities and subnational governments. While acknowledging the importance of congresses and events for interaction among representatives, the meeting highlighted the need for permanent and interactive platforms, fueled by the network's own cities sharing their experiences within ICLEI.