In February, the Association of Polish Cities launched a new round of Local Development Forum seminars to help Polish cities and towns get ready for the World Urban Forum in Katowice.

The 11th World Urban Forum Session will be held in Katowice from 26 until the 30 June.

The World Urban Forum (WUF11 in 2022) is the premier global event with a focus on urban policy and sustainable urbanisation, introduced by UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme). For the first time in WUF history, the event will be organised in Central and Eastern Europe. The Association of Polish Cities intends to take advantage of that development to the purpose of popularising urban themes and a new National Urban Policy across Poland. “Changing Our Cities for a Better Future”, the lead theme chosen for the 2022 WUF edition, expresses a concept we all abide by. We all want our cities and towns to develop for a better future.

This is why the Association of Polish Cities is holding a new series of springtime seminars in the well-known Local Development Forum (LDF) formula, with a focus on preparing Polish cities and towns for attending the 11th edition of the World Urban Forum.

In view of the war in Ukraine and Polish cities’ commitment to aiding refugees, dates and places of some of the seminars preparing have been modified. Find the current schedule of WUF11 springtime preparation meetings below:

11 May, Gdynia – CITIES AND TOWNS OF TOMORROW – DIALOGUE AND JOINT GOVERNANCE IN TIMES OF MULTIPLE CHALLENGES

24 May, Zgierz – MUNICIPAL FUNDING AND ECONOMY

10 June, Dzierżoniów – GLOBAL GOALS FOR CITIES


In all likelihood, the URBAN RESOURCES-themed seminar, originally planned for 24 March and cancelled for force majeure reasons will be held in Wałbrzych on 9 June.

The round of WUF11 preparation Local Development Forum seminars has been designed to provide representatives of cities and towns with knowledge regarding fundamental issues associated with this year’s focal World Urban Forum themes, including fair cities, green urban future, developing urban resilience, urban planning and governance, and the future of urban economy and finance.

“We intend to further explore all these themes with you in the course of LDF seminars we consider a substantive and technical preparation for WUF11. These meetings will allow us to identify and discuss essential matters which might be presented by representatives of Polish municipalities, and pinpoint individuals who can be coached and potentially notified by the Association as attendants of assorted themed events at the World Urban Forum proper in June this year,” reads the invitation sent out to cities and towns by Executive Director of the Office of the Association of Polish Cities Andrzej Porawski.

Notably, the Association of Polish Cities succeeded in securing a World Urban Forum Accompanying Event status for the LDF seminar series.

It is noteworthy that the series of seminars is delivered as part of the “Local Development” Programme implemented by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy within the framework of the 3rd edition of Norway and European Economic Area Grants. The Local Development Forum is an open platform introduced by the Association of Polish Cities for purposes of debates with contributions from local governments, the central government and experts, combined with an integrated activity package designed to promote attitudes and tools supporting sustainable and endogenic local development.