Aarhus, June, 2017 – 12 Mayors representing Business Region Aarhus in Denmark have joined the Global Parliament of Mayors. The signing ceremony took place at the People’s Political Festival (Folkemoedet); an annual political event which runs over four days in June. This year, the festival gathered around 100,000 people, individuals as well as interest groups, interested in discussing democracy across political parties and opinions.
“Cities and networks of cities in business regions are close to citizens, executives, and institutions which makes it easier for them to keep sight of the whole; for instance when we create new, sustainable solutions to climate challenges. A business region can make decisions and execute them,” says Claus Wistoft, Chairman of Business Region Aarhus and Mayor of Syddjurs Municipality.
After the signing ceremony, all mayors in Denmark were invited to join an idea sharing competition. The city or municipality who could present the largest number of great ideas that they had implemented or copied from other cities within themes such as “water and roads” and “body and climate” won a prize.
Business Region Aarhus is the largest growth area outside the capital area and counts approximately 1 million citizens.