Operationalising the follow-up and review of the sustainable development goals at the local level : insights from European cities and their voluntary local review experience

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Ortiz-Moya, Fernando and Reggiani, Marco (2025) Operationalising the follow-up and review of the sustainable development goals at the local level : insights from European cities and their voluntary local review experience. Journal of Urban Ecology, 11 (1). juaf001. ISSN 2058-5543 (https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaf001)

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Abstract

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hinges on well-designed and implemented follow-up and review (FUR) processes. Cities lack official recognition in the FUR architecture of the 2030 Agenda. This is a notable shortcoming, as cities are responsible for implementing at least two-thirds of their targets. To engage with the 2030 Agenda, cities have initiated FUR exercises through Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) to establish benchmarks, report on their progress, and share best practices. This paper explores how cities are operationalising FUR through a thematic analysis of interviews with city officials of seven European cities that conducted two or more VLRs between 2019 and 2022. Our findings highlight three main ways in FUR processes through VLRs affect local sustainable policymaking: (i) by aligning global goals and targets with local monitoring and reporting; (ii) by integrating and timing evaluation with local action, thereby embedding the SDGs more deeply into municipal strategies; and (iii) by accelerating local action through innovative approaches (e.g. sustainability budgeting). We conclude that conducting FUR through VLRs positively contributes to SDGs implementation. However, to make this more likely to happen, FUR should be embedded in municipal processes and local FUR efforts should be better recognised in global sustainability agendas.

ORCID iDs

Ortiz-Moya, Fernando and Reggiani, Marco ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6158-2302;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)