In an era of unprecedented economic, environmental and geopolitical changes, local and regional leaders are uniquely placed to turn these changes into opportunities to improve the well-being of all citizens, strengthen resilience and boost competitiveness. As OECD Ministers responsible for regional, urban, and rural policies gather in Warsaw, Poland (19-20 May 2025), we mayors, local and regional leaders, stakeholders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including those gathered at the first ever OECD Urban Days (Paris, 14-17 April 2025) and supporting local and regional development, unite in this Call to Action to unleash the full potential of our communities, cities and regions.
We call on national governments to work together with local and regional governments to develop bold, place-based policies that:
- Are tailored to the diverse needs and priorities of large, intermediary and small cities, as well as peri-urban, rural and remote communities.
- Tackle inequalities within and across cities and regions, which can be self-perpetuating and undermine not only long-term productivity, but also sustainability, well-being and resilience.
- Promote access to adequate, affordable, climate-resilient and sustainable housing for all.
- Ensure inclusive access to high-quality services, including education, healthcare, drinking water, sanitation, and transport as key levers for equity in all places.
- Strengthen resilience and competitiveness by leveraging the full potential of SMEs and entrepreneurs, in a wide range of industries and local economic sectors.
- Equip workers with the necessary skills to thrive in an evolving workplace and ensure that these are aligned with the needs of local businesses.
- Leverage climate mitigation to harness the potential of the green, circular, and energy transition, including decarbonizing buildings and transport, and boost responsible consumption and production while addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.
- Foster climate adaptation, including to manage the diverse risks of floods, droughts and water pollution, and protect aquatic environments and coastal cities and regions from sea level rises.
- Protect biodiversity and natural resources, while enhancing climate resilience, recognizing the essential role of local stewardship and community-based practices.
- Strengthen local food systems and promote sustainable agricultural practices including through urban-rural partnerships.
- Ensure that all places can benefit from the digital transition by addressing digital divides across places and population groups.
- Support regions to prepare for, adapt to, and benefit from changing demography, through multisectoral strategies that strengthen intergenerational solidarity and the silver economy.
- Support research on the role of local and regional governments in advancing competitiveness and sustainability goals through territorial approaches.
- Strengthen local and regional resilience and capacity to adapt to a shifting geopolitical landscape.
We also call on national and subnational governments to support the implementation of place-based policies by:
- Aligning local, regional and national strategies, priorities and policy interventions through effective multi-level and multistakeholder governance.
- Building trust by involving communities, local businesses and population groups such as women, Indigenous Peoples, migrants and youth in developments that will affect them to strengthen the social contract.
- Ensuring proper consultation of local and regional governments and stakeholder engagement in the design, implementation and monitoring stages of policymaking, and representation in related fora.
- Supporting local and regional governments, and stakeholders to access, mobilise and manage funding and financing for transformative local projects fostering resilience, including through:
- Strengthening fiscal decentralization and own source revenue mobilisation for greater local fiscal resilience, ownership and responsibility in decision-making.
- Catalyzing innovative and scalable finance, including from the private sector, and promoting green, participatory and inclusive budgeting for greater local impact.
- Strengthening the financial management capacity of local and regional governments.
- Investing in capacity and training at all levels, including local officials and stakeholders, to develop, finance, implement and evaluate place-based policies, and embrace digital tools for better policy and service delivery.
- Reducing administrative burdens to support locally developed strategies and action plans.
- Encouraging decentralized development co-operation, partnerships, and peer-to-peer learning between cities and regions to scale up best practices and innovative solutions.
We call on the OECD to support these efforts by:
- Continuing to provide cutting-edge and granular data and evidence-based analysis and guidance and accessible user-friendly tools to inform and improve place-based policies.
- Developing timely new insights into emerging challenges and opportunities, the potential of disadvantaged areas and the relationship between policies that seek to strengthen economic, environmental and social resilience.
- Strengthening multi-stakeholder platforms to share knowledge and perspectives between and among national governments, cities and regions, including by convening the OECD Days of Regions and Cities on a regular basis.
- Continuing to work with institutional partners in developing the data, tools and platforms required to strengthen regional development policy.
We are meeting at a defining moment to shape better policies for local and regional resilience. Working together, we must seize the opportunity to usher in a new era of place-based action that localizes global agendas, including the SDGs, advances national priorities, and builds more competitive, resilient, inclusive and sustainable cities and regions.
This blog post reproduces the full text of the 2025 OECD Champion Mayors Call to Action for Inclusive Growth, originally published by the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative. The document outlines the shared priorities and commitments of mayors worldwide in addressing inequality, promoting inclusive growth, and responding to the climate crisis through local leadership.
Reference: OECD (2025). 2025 Champion Mayors Call to Action for Inclusive Growth. OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative.
