On the First Global Parliament of Mayors

With regret we inform you that the evening is cancelled. The dates of the GPM in The Hague were changed at the last moment: the foreign guests were unable to stay for an extra day, to join the evening in Brussels. We will try to organize an alternative evening on the GPM, later on in the season.

Who takes concrete steps to create a new society? Under the title RE:MAKE, a series of lectures and debates will take place throughout the 2016-2017 season. They will treat both concrete practices and new ideas. Urban guru Benjamin Barber will launch the series.

The American political scientist presented his book If Mayors Ruled the World at the Kaaitheater in 2014. The global success of this book resulted in a concrete initiative: The Global Parliament of Mayors. The first meeting of this new democratic platform will take place in The Hague from 9 until 11 September 2016. The mayors of 125 cities – large and small, developed and developing – will debate the global challenges of our times. On 13 September, Barber will be coming to Brussels to announce the results.

Will be present:

• mayor Jozias van Aartsen (The Hague), chairman of the GPM
• mayor Daniël Termont (Ghent)
• mayor Yvan Mayeur (Brussels)
• Benjamin Barber

Separately, cities are as powerless as nation states, but when they cooperate they are big enough to govern powerfully on a world scale. – Benjamin Barber