Riyadh Hosts Inaugural Arab European Cities Dialogue Forum
Under the theme 'Bridging Cities, Building Futures,' the first edition of the forum brings together representatives of more than 120 Arab and European cities and municipalities, as well as over 50 international organizations and development funds, to strengthen cooperation and enhance communications to advance urban communities and boost economic and cultural exchange. Arab European Cities Dialogue Forum
The Arab European Cities Dialogue Forum is organized by the Riyadh Municipality, in collaboration with the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), the platform of the Association of European Municipalities and Regions (PLATFORMA), and the International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities.
In Riyadh, City Partnerships for a Better Future
Hosted by @Amanatalriyadh and supported by @Arab_Urban, Riyadh proudly welcomes the Arab-European Cities Dialogue Forum .
Date: May 11–13, 2025🗓️ pic.twitter.com/jmzijXTJjB
— Arab European Cities Dialogue Riyadh 2025 (@Arabecd) April 16, 2025
The AECD 2025 is a regional and global platform that aims to bolster cooperation, foster connections, and build relations among the representatives of Arab and European cities and municipalities, including mayors, presidents, secretaries, and governors. The forum also brings together key stakeholders in international development, such as international urban organizations, municipal unions, and donor institutions.
Spanning over a period of 10 years, the AECD will alternate between Arab and European cities each two years to strengthen ties, encourage city diplomacy, and promote more sustainable and inclusive urban development. AECD 2025 Objectives
The Arab European Cities Dialogue Forum centers around four key objectives. These include enhancing communication through discussions that highlight good practices and common challenges; and building partnerships through meetings that enable cities to network and explore avenues for future cooperation.
It also focuses on enhancing financing opportunities by discussing the governance of the AECD; and framework formulation by gathering cities and funding agencies to gain expert insights on project proposals. KAFD Metro Station
Furthermore, the AECD 2025 aims to drive measurable impact on the local and global scales by balancing ambitious global vision with practical regional implementation. To this end, it focuses on four key areas: cities cooperation; livable cities and climate change; technology and digital transformation; and municipal financial sustainability. Strengthening City Bonds
On the occasion of hosting the AECD 2025, the Mayor of Riyadh Region, President of the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf, highlighted the deep-rooted relations between Arab and European cities, which shaped their civilizations, economies, and urban landscapes.
'The Arab European Cities Dialogue (AECD 2025) was conceived to strengthen the bonds between city leaders, communities, and institutions through constructive dialogue – a dialogue that embraces diverse values and cultures while facilitating the exchange of insights on pressing urban, economic, social, and environmental challenges,' Prince Faisal bin Ayyaf said. Riyadh
The Mayor of Riyadh pointed to the significance of the AECD 2025. 'This event provides a premier platform for fostering and sustaining city partnerships, aligning with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which prioritizes meaningful cooperation at national, regional, and global levels while promoting the exchange of best practices in local urban development,' he said. Riyadh: A City in Transformation
The selection of Riyadh as a host city for the inaugural edition of the AECD 2025 underscores its elevated status in the regional and international landscape, as well as its vital role as a dynamic hub for dialogue and collaboration. Sports Boulevard
Riyadh has established its position as a hub for major urban, cultural and entertainment projects which aim to enhance the quality of life of its residents. These include more than 20 large scale projects, such as King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport, Sports Boulevard, Green Riyadh Project, and King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD). The capital city of Saudi Arabia has also emerged as a host for key global events, such as Riyadh Expo 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034.
This adds to Riyadh's weight as a key hub for fostering dialogue and collaboration to address pressing urban challenges. The remarkable transformation journey of Riyadh cements its pivotal role in providing opportunities and tackling challenges on the regional and global stages.
Short link :
Post Views: 15
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
2 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Young Ukrainians get their way as Zelensky overturns law to defuse crisis
KYIV — As Ukraine's MPs gathered at parliament in Kyiv on Thursday, some held cardboard signs that read, "We are with our people." It was a message to thousands of young protesters who had taken part in the biggest anti-government demonstrations since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. They were out in force again on Thursday. The MPs then entered parliament, the Rada, and took part in a vote that overwhelmingly overturned a law introduced by President Volodymyr Zelensky last week that curtailed the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies known as Nabu and Sap - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. The signs carried by the MPs outside the Rada were a nod to the placards carried by thousands of young people who had taken to the streets in towns and cities across Ukraine for almost a week. The protesters had demanded that Zelensky and his government "take their hands off" the two anti-corruption bodies, and they threatened to continue carry on until the government made a U-turn. Within days, it did. Zelensky's original bill had stripped the two bodies of their independent authority to decide who to prosecute in high-level corruption cases, giving that prerogative to the general prosecutor - a presidential appointee. For the placard-waving protesters, safeguarding the independence of Nabu and Sap was as crucial to their European future as the war against Russia was a matter of life and death for their country. In 2022, Kyiv was granted the coveted status of EU candidate country – but on condition it mounted a credible fight against corruption. For Ukraine's Western partners, donors and investors who pour money into the country through international assistance and funding programmes, the existence and independence of the two anti-corruption bodies are non-negotiable. And for Ukraine and its war-shattered economy – that external financial help is critical. It was only 10 days earlier that MPs had backed Zelensky's controversial law, and yet they voted on Thursday by 331 to 0 to overturn it. On both occasions they appeared to be following Zelensky's direction. "Ukraine is a democracy - there are definitely no doubts," he said on social media. Many Ukrainians see the hand of Zelensky's right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, behind the president's recent choices. Yermak's position as head of the presidential office is not regulated by the constitution nor limited by any checks or balances. And questions are being asked about such a role in Ukraine's democracy. Safeguarding that democracy and Ukraine's course towards European integration were the key drivers for the young protesters, while their parents and friends were defending their country on the front lines. MPs did their best to show the problem was now solved, but this crisis has left behind an unpleasant aftertaste. It has brought into question Zelensky's dedication to the anti-corruption reforms. That he seemed ready to compromise on these reforms may have seriously dented the trust the EU put in him. — BBC
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Arab News
Sectarianism is in the eye of the beholder
I know it is never easy, but if we are about to have a reset then we should do the same with our perceptions of the region. Analysis of the Middle East has been dominated by two widely held beliefs: one is that conflicts are our fault because we are sectarian, and the other is that our problems are the West's fault because we have been divided into artificial states by colonialism. Both these myths belong to an era dominated by secular nationalist ideas that academia largely favored. For positive change to happen, we have to believe in ourselves and remind ourselves that, in our region, it is coexistence between sects that has been the norm and sectarian conflict the exception. We must also note that the Arab state system has been rather stable, especially if compared to that of Europe. Let me explain. First of all, sectarianism is often in the eye of the beholder. Some see it everywhere because they believe it is there. They look for it in situations that we consider mostly as normal politics. Of course, there are politicians who use sectarian speech and sometimes it works in their favor: they create the problems that they then offer to resolve. Some academics even study 'de-sectarianization' (my spellcheck insists that the word does not exist). It is as if there is a disease called sectarianism that can be treated by de-sectarianization. This blurred vision happens to people who expect complete homogeneity and do not understand coexistence. The Arab proverb that says 'me and my brother against my cousin and me and my cousin against the stranger' may be a source of confusion. This is often used to explain family and tribal solidarity, but in reality it is prescriptive rather than descriptive: it means you should stand by your brother against your cousin and stand by your cousin against a stranger, because it is often not the case. We all know that the most intense conflicts, since Cain and Abel, are between brothers. Family feuds or internal fights are driven by what Freud described as the narcissism of small differences. You do not really have to stand by your kin — in fact, this is how alliances and coalitions can develop across religious, tribal or ethnic boundaries. The debate over that proverb is also that, morally, you should stand by what is right, even if it is against your own kin. Moral sentiments, or what is culturally acceptable as a norm, are the product of numerous interactions between people. A feel for what is considered right in a society develops over time and through millions of daily exchanges. That is why societies differ — what is considered normal in one is an anomaly in the other. There are also traditional ways of resolving conflicts; sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. In a society where they do work, you will find a diverse population living together despite their sectarian, ethnic or tribal differences. They also share norms developed through long-term coexistence. In Europe, after centuries of conflict, it was resolved that people should adopt the religion of their prince, resulting in largely homogeneous divisions. In former Ottoman lands, it is diversity rather than homogeneity that is the norm — we are children of an empire that ruled over many nations. Someone coming from a society where homogeneity is the norm will find diversity abnormal and confusing; for them, everything becomes sectarian. We have to believe that diverse populations can coexist in states that cooperate, while respecting each other's sovereignty. Another misconception about the region is that the state system is artificial and therefore not viable — that we are not real nation states. This is based on the absurd notion that real states do exist and that there is a natural nation state. The whole idea of nationalism is in fact barely 150 years old and has been the cause of conflicts, rather than their solution. It is true that our borders were artificially drawn, mainly by Europeans, in the aftermath of the First World War. This was a messy affair and they did a bad job following a disastrous war and the collapse of three empires: Ottoman, Russian and Austro-Hungarian. The idea that the European state system is stable is even more of a myth than the one we are questioning about the Middle East. Nadim Shehadi The idea that three politicians, David Lloyd George of Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson of the US, could get it right was absurd to start with. But they did a worse job in Europe and the result was another devastating war where the boundaries of Europe were again redrawn. They came to their senses after that and worked on creating what later became the EU, which now has 27 members. The idea that the European state system is a stable one is even more of a myth than the one we are questioning about the states of the Middle East being unstable. Since the rise of nation states in the 1870s, Europe has destroyed itself twice, while borders kept changing well into the end of the 20th century. By contrast, the borders of the Arab states have been far more stable. The League of Arab States was also created post-Second World War and it has now expanded to 22 members from the original seven signatories. The Alexandria Protocol of 1944 promised cooperation in economic and cultural matters, as well as respect for each other's sovereignty. The fall of the Assad regime promises that we can go back to that. A new beginning is possible thanks to the end of an era where Arab nationalist parties sought to suppress local identities, exploit tensions between them and claim an agenda of regional domination, while deriving legitimacy from their claim of leading the Arabs in the conflict with Israel.
Leaders
14 hours ago
- Leaders
Portugal Weighs Recognizing Palestinian State in September: PM
Portugal is considering the formal recognition of Palestinian Statehood this September, joining a growing list of nations that plan to make the move. On Thursday, the office of Portugal's Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, said that the government will hold consultations with the president and parliament to decide on the question of recognizing the State of Palestine at the UN in September, reported AFP. In a statement, the Prime Minister's office said: 'Portugal is considering recognition of the Palestinian state, as part of a procedure that could be concluded during the high-level week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, to be held in New York in September.' Currently, 147 out of the 193 UN member states recognize the State of Palestine, which holds observer status at the UN. With this move, Portugal joins France, the UK, Canada and Malta, all of which announced they would formally recognize Palestine this September. France was the first major Western power to announce the recognition plan. Few days later, the UK, Canada and Malta made their announcements at the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France in New York. Britain's move is conditional on a ceasefire in Gaza by September, while Canada's decision hinges on political changes by the Palestinian Authority. Other European countries, such as Spain, Norway, Ireland, Slovenia, Armenia, recognized the Palestinian State in 2024. These recent announcements are driven by Saudi Arabia's intensive diplomatic efforts and a growing frustration with Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, which has killed over 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and caused one of the world's most catastrophic humanitarian crises. Short link : Post Views: 22
