On December 19th, 2024, the Governing Board of the Provincial Council of Barcelona (Diputació de Barcelona) approved the strategic orientations for international relations for the period 2024-2027.
They have been drafted in the light of the current international context of uncertainty, conflicts, and the return of geopolitics. They seek to provide the actions of the Barcelona Provincial Council with greater coherence and impact, considering the global agendas, and the European, Spanish and Catalan legislative frameworks. In addition, they consider that, from the local perspective, the classical and strict differentiation between international relations, European affairs and development cooperation is no longer the case.
These orientations set the framework for promoting and defining international relations from a fourfold perspective:
• Areas of work: towards the municipalities; and abroad.
• Areas of action: international relations and external projection; European integration and cohesion from municipalism perspective; and decentralised development cooperation.
• Geographical areas: Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; Mediterranean; and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Thematic areas: local governance (democracy, decentralization and local policies); peace and human rights; and climate, social and productive transition.
Finally, the orientations define twelve guiding principles that should define our work model, namely: alignment with global agendas; rights-based approach; territorial approach to local development; mainstreaming of the gender approach; international action based on feminist policies; contribution to global justice; commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; intersectional approach to international reality; policy coherence; alignment with ODA; subsidiarity and decentralization; and generation of spaces for relations with other administrations.
The orientations are available in English, Spanish and Catalan:
ES: https://www.diba.cat/documents/d/ri/relaciones-internacionales-2024-2027_web
EN: https://www.diba.cat/documents/d/ri/international-relations-2024-2027_web