CIC at 30: Local Governance for Global Impact

7:00–9:00 p.m. | NYU Wagner 105 E 17th St, New York

As the NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC) celebrates its 30th anniversary, we reflect on three decades of work at NYU Arts & Science and mark an exciting new chapter as CIC joins the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Building on this legacy, this high-level event will focus on advancing more effective, inclusive, and accountable international cooperation in a rapidly changing world. A particular challenge is ensuring that negotiated global agreements are prioritized and translated into on-the-ground action that supports development and improves people’s lives.

Strategically scheduled during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly High-Level Week, the event will contribute to ongoing global discussions on how governments, institutions, and civil society can better respond to interconnected challenges, from inequality and violence to climate change, technological disruption, and declining trust in public institutions, by strengthening cooperation across all levels through whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches.

Under the theme “Local Governance for Global Impact,” the discussion will examine a critical dimension of effective multilateral action: the connection between global commitments and local implementation. While international agreements establish shared objectives, their success depends on strategic local policy choices, effective implementation, and the mobilization of resources across the public and private sectors. At a time when public resources and development assistance alone cannot meet the financing needs of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), cities and local governments have an important role to play in working with civil society and the private sector to mobilize investment and translate global commitments into tangible actions and outcomes for people and communities.

This conversation seeks to reflect CIC’s distinctive contribution over the past three decades, connecting global policy debates with practical approaches to governance, peace, justice, and inclusion. Through its work with both local and national governments, international organizations, and multi-stakeholder partnerships, CIC has consistently focused on how institutions can better deliver for the people they serve. At a moment when the international community is seeking new approaches to restore trust and address complex global challenges, CIC’s anniversary provides a timely opportunity to bring together leaders from the international, national, and local levels to explore how governance can work more effectively across all levels.

The evening will feature addresses by compelling, high-level speakers, as well as opportunities for participants to exchange ideas informally. Opening remarks from senior NYU leadership, followed by reflections from prominent global figures on the future of international cooperation and a high-level conversation with mayors and local leaders from around the world. Bringing together policymakers, diplomats, UN and international organization officials, city leaders, academics, and civil society representatives, the event will highlight how multilateralism, as well as country and local policy, can become more responsive, inclusive, and grounded in the needs and experiences of the communities that development actors seek to serve.

A reception will follow the discussion.