Amid growing geopolitical tensions and an increasingly fragmented multilateral landscape, traditional cooperation frameworks led by states and international organizations are reaching their limits. Advancing global agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations requires more than purely top-down or bottom-up approaches. Meaningful progress depends on the active engagement and co-creation of local actors, including local governments, the private sector, and civil society.
For these actors to evolve from participants into genuine co-designers and implementers of global agendas, stronger institutional linkages are essential—mechanisms that connect international institutions with on-the-ground realities and translate global commitments into local action, and local experience back into global dialogue. This session will examine the role of training platforms, policy hubs, city networks, and other intermediary mechanisms that bridge global agendas and local implementation, and identify practical strategies and policy priorities to strengthen sustainable glocal cooperation.