• In the framework of the cooperation actions of the 56 Mediterranean member cities, the conference has been a point of union to work on a common roadmap for the 3 next years.
• The mayor of Tunis, Ms. Souad Ben Abderrahim, received the delegation of MedCities and all the participants and opened the conference hoping for a close and long collaboration between the member cities of MedCities.
• The entrance of four new cities has been approved in the General Assembly: Valencia, Montpellier, Gaziantep and Mersin. With these, the network is already 61.

«To bring the municipalities of the Mediterranean closer to the citizens: decentralization and inter-municipal cooperation for the provision of services», this was the premise under which several representatives of city members discussed in three round tables.

The key issue of this edition has been the need for the decentralization of competencies to cover the needs of the citizens and the cities themselves. Participating cities have agreed that a good decentralization helps to be efficient and take advantage of synergies from other cities.

Likewise, the strategies followed by cities and their councils to coordinate efforts with other ones in the same metropolitan area has also been one of the main points in the debate. Mobility, waste management, energy efficiency or the water cycle are the most demanding topics in terms of cooperation between nearby municipalities. The MedCities members have thrown out a unanimous message: we all have to work for easier and more adaptable cities in order to accomplish the need of their inhabitants.

To close the annual conference, the cities highlighted some experiences of metropolitan governance, for instance, the example of the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona have been exposed as an example of how the Mediterranean arc cities are dealing with the challenges that they have for the next years.

The new Secretary General, Mr. Josep Canals Molina, underlined the importance of reinforcing the network with a fluid way of communication between the cities members: «We want to be a Mediterranean voice, which means to be a reference in the world as well as a useful voice for the member cities. We hope that more municipalities join us so we could be able to explain the world our Mediterranean way of doing and living the social and cultural wealth, in a transversal way. We have several challenges and threats in front of us, such as climate emergence and forced migration in our basin.»

This conference has been the prelude for the celebration of the General Assembly of the member cities.

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