The Center for Strategic International Studies Medellín Global held this Tuesday (February 23rd) the panel “City Diplomacy: a new diplomacy?", which discussed how paradiplomacy has been gaining strength and impacting territories. 

“"With globalization, international relations are not only restricted to national governments, but also to subnational governments and cities," said Sergio Escobar, executive director of Medellín Global.”Cities are key players in decisions that impact many people.”

Rodrigo Perpétuo, executive secretary of ICLEI South America, was one of the guests for the debate, along with Nicolás Mancini, executive director of... Paradiplomacy.org, and Ignacio Araya, representative of City Diplomacy.

“A city cannot be smart if it is not global. The international action of local governments drives their shift from regional leader to becoming a world reference,” points out Mancini. He cites ICLEI as an international reference regarding the network of cities in favor of sustainable development. “These networks are great opportunities for cities to begin an international relationship.”

According to Perpétuo, in the last decade local sustainable development agendas have gained significant space in global discussions, as the phenomenon of urbanization in South America already affects 851,300 of the continent's population. "It is necessary to value local power so that climate agendas can be implemented in the territories, since it is the local authority that regulates land use."“

City Diplomacy is a platform that analyzes the international reach of cities, especially those located in China. "Chinese provinces are so large that they can be seen as a single country," says Araya. According to him, China is interested in deepening subnational relations at a bilateral level and uses the example of the China-CELAC Forum as an initiative that encourages cooperation between Latin American and Chinese local governments.

“"These cooperation agreements have great potential to stimulate the use of sustainable technology in cities, as well as to share best practices and experiences, seeking opportunities to improve urban and territorial management," he concludes.