Tallinn Sustainability Governance Peer Learning Hub
Welcome to Tallinn’s international sustainability governance peer learning hub!
Here we bring together experts and practitioners to exchange knowledge on how to improve sustainable urban development outcomes by rethinking how cities are governed and led.
Launched during Tallinn’s European Green Capital year 2023, the peer learning hub has hosted numerous international events and online webinars and engage in various collaborations and projects. Read more in the News section.
To join future activities, sign up for the Hub Newsletter here
Our goals
When talking about the future of cities, there is one thing that is agreed upon by most – to achieve the transformation of our cities, we also need transformative governance. Rethinking governance is not something one city can do alone; it needs a process of co-creation and peer learning. There is a growing demand among local government sustainability leaders for specialised training and professional development opportunities in order to lead transformative work and organizational change. With the peer learning hub, we aim to contribute with learning opportunities in this field.
Our Hub has four main objectives:
- Provide a space for city practitioners, experts and organisations working on sustainability governance to exchange knowledge and best practices.
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Organise peer learning exchanges, events and capacity building activities and joint projects.
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Capitalise and share knowledge exchanged and co-created during hub activities.
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Feed into policy dialogue on the role of cities in sustainable development in the EU and beyond.
How we work
The activities of the Hub are closely linked with the work on Tallinn’s own sustainability governance model, focussed on improving governance under three main pillars:
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Strategic planning: Setting goals to be achieved through the sustainability governance model
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Multi-level governance: Cooperation and co-creation with partners, stakeholders and citizens.
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Organizational Development: Developing culture, mindset and skills for sustainability
Localisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides the basis of Tallinn’s model, giving the direction for sustainable development and the starting point of implementing the model.
In the Hub, we organise events around themes relevant to advance SDG achievement and close the ‘action gap’ between now and 2030. We partner with leading institutions and frontrunner cities and use existing forums to feed into policy dialogue.
Highlights
- Launch of the Peer Learning Hub at Urban Future 2023
On 22 June 2023, we officially launched Tallinn’s peer learning hub during the Urban Future conference in Stuttgart, Germany, together with representatives from Demos Helsinki, ICLEI, OECD and the cities of Mannheim, Stuttgart and Espoo. - Mayors’ panel discussion in Tallinn during the Open Government Partnership summit
On 5 September 2023, we organized a panel discussion and mayors’ reception as a pre-event to the global Open Government Partnership Summit held in Tallinn 7-9 September. The goal was to gather local leaders to discuss the importance of local action to “turbocharge” the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). - Interreg Policy Learning Platform event in Tallinn
On 27-28 September 2023, we welcomed the Policy Learning Platform for an onsite peer review, gathering advice from a group of experts and peers on our Sustainability Governance work. Alongside Thematic Experts from the Interreg Policy Learning Platform, we were joined by experts from academia and the cities of Malmö and Madrid. - Side event to the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Regional Forum
On 14 March 2024, Tallinn Sustainability Governance Hub organised an online side event to the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) yearly Regional Forum. The session featured the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Cities Division and representatives from the Tallinn and Tbilisi city administrations. We discussed how stakeholders at all levels can work together to close the SDG action gap, from now until 2030. - Input to EU SDGs dialogue with regions and cities financing SDGs
On Tuesday 4 June 2024, the Committee of Regions (CoR) organised a 2024 EU SDGs dialogue with regions and cities: Financing SDGs territorialisation in Brussels, offering a structured dialogue between the Committee of Regions, European Commission and EU local and regional authorities on SDGs financing. This brought an excellent occasion to brief the European Commission on challenges to localise SDGs ahead of the nomination of its new leaders. Krista Kampus, our head of EU and International Relations and Vice Chair of Eurocities’ SDG taskforce, was invited to contribute to the session. - Upcoming – meet us at the 12th World Urban Forum in Cairo!
On 4-8 November 2024 (exact date of the session to be announced), Tallinn’s peer learning hub is going to host an event under the City Voices track of the 12th World Urban Fourm in Cairo. The session will illustrate how cities can draw insights from peer-learning initiatives and international work on achieving the SDGs, such as the collaborative work undertaken in the Eurocities’ SDGs Taskforce, and the research and technical support provided to cities by organisations like the JRC, OECD and the UN Environment Programme.
How to join the Hub?
The easiest way to stay up to date and get invited to our Hub activities is to sign up for our quarterly Newsletter.
Sign up for the Hub Newsletter
We also welcome ideas for collaborations in different forms, including events, projects, trainings, online webinars, etc.
Feel free to reach out to our team.
We are happy to organise a meeting to discuss potential collaboration!
Triin Sakermaa
Sustainability Governance Advisor, framework and partnerships
[email protected]
Stina Heikkilä
Sustainability Governance Advisor, network and peer learning
stina.heikkilä@tallinnlv.ee