WeGO discusses joint activities with sister organizations at year-end event
December 17, 2019
SEOUL – Heads and managers from WeGO and other city associations based in Seoul, CityNet and the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), co-organized a year-end networking dinner and showcase for partners and diplomatic missions today, to¬ explore avenues for strengthened cooperation in 2020.
Over 150 representatives from local embassies as well as corporations and institutions gathered for the “Diplomacy for Homo Sapiencities & Networking Dinner,” with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), and Seoul Urban Solutions Agency (SUSA). The event, also held around this time last year, served to celebrate the year’s accomplishments by WeGO and its sister organizations and identify possible areas for synergy in the year ahead.
In a set of three panel discussions, secretaries general, directors, and managers from WeGO, CityNet, and GSEF, along with ICLEI and SUSA, searched for areas of overlap in their organizations’ respective work plans for 2020. WeGO further took the opportunity to encourage the involvement of the diplomatic community in actively engaging their local governments and other stakeholders in the array of international activities to be carried out.
GSEF’s Secretary General Laurence Kwark expressed her hope to export solutions from WeGO’s feasibility study program to other interested cities in her organization’s network as well as to collaborate with SUSA in sharing the knowledge and experience of Seoul with its members. CityNet’s Director of Programs Youngmin Chang looked forward to working with WeGO on the Smart City Summit & Expo in Taipei in March 2020 and conveyed interest in joining forces with GSEF and SUSA to improve the content of her organization’s training programs. CityNet and ICLEI both made a commitment to contribute actively to WeGO’s 2020 General Assembly, given their close relationship with host city Makati.
In a show of support for WeGO and its cooperation with other Seoul-based international associations, the Director General for Urban Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport of the Republic of Korea and the Ambassador for International Relations at Seoul Metropolitan Government were also present to deliver special and congratulatory remarks.