On Tuesday, 8 April, Lord Mayor Sven Schulze will take part in the Eurocities European Conference of Mayors, which is being held this year at the Kongresshalle Leipzig. Under the motto "Upgrading Local Democracy!", more than 50 mayors from all over Europe will come together to discuss how to strengthen local democracy in plenary debates, discussions and workshops.
A highlight of the conference will be the ceremonial signing of the "Declaration on Local Democracy", which will also be signed by Lord Mayor Sven Schulze. In it, the mayors of the member cities pledge to strengthen European democracy in cooperation with national governments and the European institutions through participation and involvement and to take a firm stand against forces that harm it. At the same time, they emphasise that European democracy begins at the local level and call on the EU institutions to strengthen the role of cities by involving them in political processes.
In addition to the Mayor of Leipzig and Eurocities President Burkhard Jung and Eurocities Secretary General André Sobczak, Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Łódź, and Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki, will also be present.
Eurocities is a network of major European cities. It was founded in 1986 and brings together the local governments of more than 200 major cities in 38 European countries. The City of Chemnitz has been actively involved in Eurocities since 2002.