A major global event that brought the world to Edmonton from June 14-18 to discuss environmental sustainability ended on Thursday.
The ICLEI World Congress connects mayors, local government officials and staff, representatives from international agencies, national governments, donors and other partners every three years to discuss environmental sustainability.
“People have said they have been to a hundred different congresses and this was the best,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel Thursday at city hall.
“It was very well attended and some great things came out about city sustainability, how we need to be more compact, how we need to look at more biodiversity and how we need to be a much more efficient (and) effective city.”
Founded in 1990 with more than 200 local governments from 43 countries, ICLEI develops and runs a broad range of campaigns and programs that address local sustainable issues from across the globe.
Mayor Mandel said the last few days have been very “interesting and fun” after networking with leaders from all over the world.
This was the first time the event was hosted in Canada, said Mayor Mandel, pointing out that Edmonton was chosen for its historical strength on environmental sustainability.
“I think it’s a real show of how Edmonton is respected around the world for their environmental prowesses.”
