Figure 2. Progress of SDG localization in China (2016).
Source: Yuning Gao, Tsinghua University (presented at the Workshop of the Asian Development Bank on Localizing Global Agenda, Manila, 27-29 September 2016)
In Europe, several Belgian municipalities – such as Bornem, Gent, Ternat, Heist-op-den-Berg – have already reviewed their multi-annual plans for consistency with the SDGs. The Flemish and Walloon regional governments have already updated their plans to align them with the SDGs. The Flemish association of municipalities, moreover, in collaboration with the regional administration, is supporting 20 municipalities for pilot tests on the integration of the SDGs into their local financial and strategic plans. In Germany, 11 Länder out of 16 have already developed their own regional strategies or are in the process of doing so.30 German cities are moving in the same direction: Bremen, Hannover and Ludwigsburg, for example, have initiated a process to localize the SDGs in their communities (see Box 4, with more examples from other European countries). In Sweden, the national association of municipalities submitted for consideration in the country’s VNR 40 examples to show to what extent local and regional governments had integrated the SDGs in their strategies, multiannual plans and daily initiatives in different areas (as well as in the activities of the public companies they owned) – in particular in the fields of health, education, accessibility, energy, social policies, and environmental protection (see Box 4).31
30 Some Länder have identified the SDGs as programmatic priorities (e.g., Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia); others have been working on new strategies to include the Goals (e.g., Berlin, Saarland); and others are integrating the Goals in their existing plans and programmes. 31 The report by SKL, the Swedish national association of municipalities, mentions the examples of Ale, Alingsås, Älvsbyn, Åtvidaberg, Botkyrka, Danderyd, Gislaved, Härryda, Hässleholm, Heby, Helsingborg, Huddinge, Karlskrona, Kungsbacka, Lerum, Ljungby, Luleå, Lund, Malmö, Nyköping, Nynäshamn, Örnsköldsvik, Östersund, Sävsjö, Sigtuna, Sollentuna, Sörmland, Stockholm, Strängnäs, Trollhättan, Trelleborg, Tyresö, Upplands Väsby Uppsala, Värnamo, and Växjö. The regions cited for their involvement are Gotland, Kalmar County, Örebro County, and Sörmland.
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