At the end of the II International Congress on Co-governance, the attendees wrote a Manifesto that summarizes what we want for our cities

In this context, some innovative concepts are emerging. One of them is the idea of co-governance, which today, based on numerous international researches, identifies an experience of participatory government (organized as a network), which aims at a high level of intersubjective and multi-sector collaboration in the construction of public policies.

As new organizational models spread, based on intense connections between people, organizations, and institutions, a “collaborative era” is emerging which, especially in urban governance, recognizes and connects all present protagonists in a network of political relationships in the public space: politicians and activists, employees, researchers, and students. In the academic context, this collaboration already involves a wide range of actors in everyday life that move towards active citizenship: members of popular movements or neighborhood communities, employees of companies and communication systems, cultural and training networks…

Considering the important and complex issues, such as health policies, access to work, the use of the territory and the development of the peripheries, the processes of social inclusion and integration, possible responses to the problem of inequality, the proper protection of environmental heritage, technology, and the digital revolution, the cooperation between cities – a reflection emerge. With which government instruments will we face these issues in our historic moment?

As for the way governance works, at least one conviction stands out: that the “best government” is no longer that of the “enlightened autocratic leader” who organizes power in a virtuous way, but the one that allows the city system to collectively devise a common social vision and then act in co-responsibility.