Opening Session

The Opening Session will mark the official start of the 9th CityNet Congress. Featuring high-profile speakers from Kuala Lumpur, CityNet, and UN organizations, the Opening Session will kick off the Congress with welcoming and congratulatory remarks, and a keynote speech.

SDG Session

This session will focus on the contributions CityNet members have made to the SDGs. It will kick off with an introduction to the new SDG online courses that CityNet has been developing. Then, the 9th Congress Declaration, delivered by city mayors from diverse regions in the network, will follow. The declaration will renew CityNet's commitment to localize the SDGs in urban centers throughout the Asia Pacific region. Following that, the SDG Awards ceremony will recognize the best practices developed by CityNet members which have been featured on the Urban SDG Knowledge Platform. The Urban SDG Knowledge Platform was launched at the last Congress in Colombo in 2017 and since then, almost 400 case studies have been uploaded. At the ceremony, the General Assembly will vote to select the top 3 winners among 10 SDG Champion finalists.

Parallel Sessions

Under the theme of the Congress, City for All - Activating Access for Urban Growth, we invite our partner organizations to submit a proposal to organize your session that will benefit city leaders in the Asia Pacific region. The first session will be from 14:30 to 16:00, led by CityNet and partners, followed by a 30 minute break. After the break, another session, led by Kuala Lumpur, will take place from 16:30 to 17:30.

Session 1 will feature three sessions organized by CityNet partners: UN ESCAP, the World Bank, and the European Union. Session 2 will feature three sessions organized by Kuala Lumpur partners.

Seoul Night

Hosted by Seoul Metropolitan Government as a President City, the Seoul Night Dinner will be open to all of our Congress participants. The dress code will be smart casual.

9^th General Council

At the General Council, CityNet members will elect its new set of Executive Committee (ExCom) members, Cluster (co)leads, Secretary-General, Auditor, and Election Committee. The Secretariat will also develop the Medium Term Plan for 2023-2026 which will serve the purpose of reviewing past work and establishing a vision for the future. This will be the blueprint to identify members’ needs and interests and to formulate new programs and strategic directions. The MTP report will be circulated in August.

Cluster & National Chapter Meeting

Cluster and National Chapter meetings will be organized upon the request from the lead, co-lead of the Cluster and National Chapter hosts. Please contact our Senior Program Officer, Mr. Jaime Paulo Mora at programs2@citynet-ap.org for the Cluster Meetings. For the National Chapter meetings, please contact our Senior Program Officer, Ms. Danbee Lee at danbee@citynet-ap.org.

Farewell Dinner

Hosted by Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the Farewell Dinner will be open to all of our Congress participants. The dress code will be smart casual.

The 42^nd ExCom

The 42^nd Executive Committee Meeting will be the first legislative meeting of the office bearers that will be elected at the 9^th General Council. In this meeting, Executive Committee members will review the plans for the year 2023. The agenda papers will be circulated after the 41^st ExCom meeting to Executive Committee members only. At the later part of the meeting, the host of the 43^rd ExCom meeting will also be announced.

Presentation of Papers / City Talk

The host city, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, will prepare a set of fruitful discussions for our participants to learn about the cases and best practices of the sustainable urbanism. The details will be announced at a later time.

Technical Visit

The host city, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, will prepare a technical visit for our participants to see the beauty of Kuala Lumpur and witness the sustainable urban projects in Kuala Lumpur. Further details will be provided at a later time.