Ilsur Metshin

The year 2020 opens up new opportunities for a multilateral expansion of international contacts; within the framework of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship, from in the fall 2020, Kazan will for the first time become a venue of the BRICS Twin Cities and Municipalities Forum. Over 150 representatives of local authorities from the countries of the association will assemble there to discuss issues of attaining sustainable development goals, the key topic of the Forum this year.

We are deeply honored to be hosting an event at so high a level. The local self-government, which is the level of authority closest to the public, has a vast sphere of responsibility. The local bodies of power, regardless of the region or the country, share the same basic task, to make local self-government efficient, remove legal and financial contradictions, and provide equal opportunities and conditions for all inhabitants.

To study and replicate the best world practices of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals is getting more relevant each day. We are increasingly confronted with the need to devise mechanisms of effective planning and managing urban systems, of interaction between the central, regional and local levels of authority, provision of openness, security, endurance and environmental tolerance of cities and populated localities, and tools of protecting and preserving the cultural and natural heritage.

Furthering cooperation between twin cities and municipalities in the BRICS countries is paramount for strengthening interaction at the interregional level and exchanging the results of practical work to counter the challenges related to rapid urbanization.

One of the distinctive features of the Twin Cities Forum in 2020 will be further introduction of the BRICS Plus format involving participants from developing countries that are regional partners of the BRICS states. We are confident that this is an excellent chance of forming a stable circle of like-thinking people who share our vision of the importance of a multilateral, polycentric world system. This format will help us establish cooperation in matters of devising joint responses to topical international challenges related to the provision of sustainable development and long-term economic growth, and redressing of the current imbalances.

Kazan can make a perfect venue for the meeting of regional representatives at the international level. In 2019 I headed the UN Advisory Committee of Local Authorities, UNACLA. The Committee represents the interests of 323,000 municipalities, megalopolises and regions across the world. This is the most powerful and influential entity oriented toward municipal needs.

The principal objective of the Advisory Committee is to defend the interests of local authorities in the United Nations, promote the dialog between local bodies of power and national governments, and also exchange the best practices.

One of our chief tasks within this entity is to assist dialog between local and national governments, and regular exchange of opinion between the parties on issues related to a greater role of local authorities at the national and international level.

Kazan has had a positive experience of solving various problems that we are willing to share with our counterparts across the world. Over the last few years the city implemented a whole series of initiatives that helped achieve a positive social, economic and environmental effect, thus assisting the city’s sustainable development. A lot of the problems found solution in the projects Healthy Kazan, Green Record, Kind Kazan, Environmental Development, Inter-culture Mutual Understanding, and others. Kazan’s socio-economic development was also boosted by such major international events held in that city as the World Student Games of 2013, the World Aquatics Championship, the Calisthenics World Cup, the FIFA Confederations Cup, the World Football Championship, the World Skills Championship, and many others.

Strategic investments in sports, medicine, and public space improved the living standards in Kazan and were highly appreciated by the competition commission of the internationally renowned Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize; our city won a special prize, along with such cities as Tokyo, Hamburg and Surabaya.

We do not intend to stop at this. The city takes an active part in carrying out national projects in all the main areas of the economy and social life, getting ever more comfortable, accessible and safe. For instance, under the Program of Public Spaces the city has rebuilt and opened lots of parks and public gardens. One of the chief tasks at present is to saturate the park territories with events and a socio-cultural environment that would be in demand.

We seek cooperation with various organizations on the global level in order to borrow the positive experience of other cities. Thus, the capital of Tatarstan has been included in the UNESCO creative cities network in the Music section. It unites 246 cities whose development is based on such creative activity as music, applied, ornamental and folk arts, design, cinema, literature, media art, or gastronomy. I do not doubt that we will find positive practices for developing our creative collectives.

Acknowledging the role of culture in the new agenda marks an extremely important step toward a better future. Protection of culture and promotion of its development do not only constitute a task in its own right, but also are a way of attaining a whole series of goals in the area of sustainable development. Thus, culture is directly conducive to urban safety and stability, economic growth and adequate jobs for all people. It contributes to inequality reduction, protection of the environment, encouragement of gender equality, and construction of peaceable and open societies.

Culture and creative activity hold an important place in implementing each of the three aspects of sustainable development, namely, economic, social and environmental. In turn, work along each of these lines helps preserve cultural heritage and further creative potential.

Kazan is a megalopolis with a distinctive multi-cultural and poly-confessional makeup. Living in the city in the harmony of cultural, religious and linguistic diversity are some 1.2 million people of 115 ethnic groups. Kazan boasts a unique cultural code. On the city map there are over a thousand items that form the cultural diversity of the capital.

In conditions of the global world cities, wherever they may be located, are facing similar challenges. We hope that the BRICS Forum of Twin Cities and Municipalities in Kazan will become an effective ground for active discussions and devising new strategies of cooperation consolidation between municipalities, enhancing their role in solving global problems, and exchanging the best experience so as to make the life of our citizens more comfortable.

We are looking forward to welcoming all the Forum participants in our hospitable city!

Ilsur Metshin - Mayor of Kazan, Chairperson of the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA)

International Affairs