Summary

Development of the Urban Agenda 2030 Action Plan and alignment with the SDG objectives in the actions and policies of the Onda City Council. Including the following phases:

1. Context Analysis: Preparation of a diagnosis of the current situation of our municipality and the elements that promote or hinder its development.

2. Identification of existing measures, plans, programs, and policies aligned with the SDGs.

3. Development of a participatory process to involve citizens in the decision-making of action projects for the design and development of the city.

4. Onda 2030 Agenda Implementation and Monitoring Plan: Design and implementation of the Agenda’s implementation and monitoring plan, including indicators to measure the achievement of objectives.

Project Classification

Conducting a situation analysis and a plan for the localization and implementation of the 2030 Agenda SDGs.

SDG 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

SDG 2. Zero Hunger.

SDG 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

SDG 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

SDG 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

SDG 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

SDG 7. Affordable and Clean Energy.

SDG 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

SDG 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

SDG 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.

SDG 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

SDG 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

SDG 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

SDG 15. Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

SDG 16. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

SDG 17. Partnerships for the Goals.

Timing

2030

Self-assessment block

PLANNING What were the objectives set in the project?

The main objective has been the alignment of our policies, plans, programs, and actions with the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda and most of its SDGs. For this purpose, the plan establishes a temporal planning, indicating which of the proposed actions were already being carried out in 2020, which will be initiated in the 2021-2023 period, and which in the 2024-2027 period.

IMPACT What are the positive impacts of the project?

The main positive impact could be that the City Council will have a long-term strategic plan, regardless of any political changes that may occur. Greater knowledge of the actions already being carried out by the different departments of the City Council, and greater coordination among technical staff and politicians. Greater involvement of citizens, associations, business representatives, etc., in the development of municipal plans.

INNOVATION What are the most novel aspects? What challenge/problem is addressed?

The most notable novelty in the development of this Plan has been that citizen participation was carried out entirely online, due to the exceptional pandemic situation we are experiencing.

Specifically, a dedicated website www.onda.es was created, surveys were launched for citizens, and meetings with participating stakeholders were held online.

Therefore, the challenge posed by COVID-19 has been successfully overcome, considering the high degree of participation achieved.

METHODOLOGY What methodology was followed for its implementation?

The steps taken for the development of the Onda 2030 Action Plan were as follows:

1. Analysis of the starting point and the municipal context

Preparation of a situation diagnosis for Onda, aimed at identifying the main problems and challenges of the city. A mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques was used for its preparation:

Documentary analysis: analysis of the main plans and programs currently underway in the city and their alignment and contribution to the SDGs.

Quantitative analysis: collection of statistical and registry information from different areas, to obtain territorial indicators, with which to subsequently design a dashboard for monitoring the degree of compliance with the Onda 2030 action plan.

Qualitative analysis: interviews with technical staff from the city council and representatives of Onda’s social and economic fabric. Thanks to these efforts, the following objectives have been achieved:

1. Align the Onda 2030 Action Plan from the outset with international, national, regional, and local sustainable urban development instruments, notably the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda and the 10 Strategic Objectives proposed within the framework of the Spanish Urban Agenda.
2. Ensure the coherence of the Onda 2030 Plan with the rest of the programs and action plans applied in the city to achieve a greater impact in eliminating or reducing identified problems.
3. Promote the involvement of the different municipal areas and services in the future implementation and monitoring of the Onda 2030 Agenda.

2. Citizen participation and communication process

The development process of the Onda 2030 Action Plan has also been supported by various participatory activities, aimed at facilitating the collaboration and participation of the largest possible number of stakeholders in the design of Onda 2030. These were as follows:

a. Publication of a dedicated website www.onda2030.es, so that citizens can learn about this project, where the main actions carried out are published, and a channel for participation is opened for them to submit their contributions.

b. Public presentation of the project by the Mayor of this municipality, which was attended by local media and disseminated through the City Council’s social networks.

c. Citizen survey: Distribution of the online questionnaire “Challenges and priorities for the development of the city of Onda” conducted during the first half of November 2020, in which a total of 227 people participated.

d. Working groups: On November 17 and 18, a total of four working groups were held online, involving 48 socioeconomic stakeholders from the city of Onda. In these sessions, the objectives and working methodology for the development of the Onda 2030 agenda, its areas of action, and the results obtained from the online questionnaire were presented.

Profiles of participants in the working groups:

After these initial working sessions, all attendees were reconvened on December 2 and 3, at which point different
action proposals to be included in the Onda 2030 city plan were put forward and debated.

A total of 48 people with the following profiles participated in this process:

Business representatives: 10

Representatives of social entities: 8

Technical administrative staff: 17

Representatives of the local corporation: 13

Thanks to these activities, the following objectives have been achieved:

• • Engage all citizens and the main socioeconomic stakeholders of the territory in the design process of the Onda 2030 Agenda.
  • Create spaces for participation to make the Plan a reality.
  • Strengthen awareness of the role each person plays in the process of designing
    a city.
  • Identify and recognize current opportunities and weaknesses.
  • Agree on a clear and shared territorial vision for the coming years.
  • Achieve consensus and commitment on future strategies and lines of action.
  • Make the decision-making process visible during the development of the Plan.

3. Development of the Onda 2030 Action Plan

Based on the conclusions derived from the analysis phase and the citizen consultation process, the guiding principles and future objectives to be achieved as a city have been defined.

Based on these principles and in coherence with the framework of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the strategic objectives of the Spanish Urban Agenda, Onda 2030 contemplates the following general objectives:

1. Promote and foster urban economy, based on criteria of diversity, sustainability, and balance.
2. Create an environment of equality and opportunities for people, offering responses to social changes and developing preventive strategies to guarantee the quality of life of the population.
3. Maintain a high commitment to the sustainable management of the territory and the urban fabric.
4. Innovate in service management and improve intervention capacity, through the use of information and communication technologies and the development of instruments associated with better governance.

These four objectives form the basis of the Onda 2030 Action Plan, which is structured into a logical framework of strategic axes, lines of action, and specific actions, already defined in the plan itself with their temporal forecast and budgetary allocation.

Currently, we are in the process of reviewing the budgetary commitments assigned to each of the actions for the coming years.

Subsequently, the indicators assigned to each action will be specified to determine the extent to which the plan is being fulfilled and the governance model for monitoring its implementation.

Finally, it will proceed to its approval.

 

CONDITIONING FACTORS What conditions must be met for the project to be successfully replicated (in a similar context)?

1. Obtaining external funding (subsidies, etc.)
2. Political involvement.
3. Increase in personnel due to the work involved in implementing all planned actions.

REPLICATE/SCALE/TRANSFER What elements should be considered for the project to be replicated in another Local Entity? What resources are needed?

Given the complexity of developing the Plan, the Onda City Council contracted technical assistance for the “Design and development of the Plan for the implementation of the Urban Agenda 2030 and the SDG objectives in the municipality of Onda.”

With specialized technical assistance in the development of this type of plan, we have begun the journey to transform Onda into a “friendlier and more sustainable city,” focusing our efforts on achieving the SDGs.

The work was assigned to the Sustainable and Healthy City Area, so all phases of preparation, participation, and development of the Agenda involved:

• • The Environmental TAG.
  • The administrative assistant of the Area.
  • 2 Representatives from the contracted company.

The participation phase also involved:

• • IT technician.
  • Most municipal technicians.
  • All political groups.

STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT Which local stakeholders have been involved in the project (citizens, third sector organizations, private sector, academic sector, etc.)? How was this involvement achieved?

Citizens, municipal associations, representatives of the industrial, commercial, and HORECA sectors, health representatives, municipal technicians, politicians, etc.

Citizen participation, through the specific website where they can consult all information about Onda 2030 and where they could fill out a survey on the matter.

The rest of the main stakeholders interacted through the participatory sessions held online.

INTERNAL COORDINATION How has the project been coordinated internally within the Local Entity?

From the Sustainable City Area through the Environmental TAG and the administrative assistant of the Area.

ALLIANCES Have other institutions been involved in achieving the set objectives?

The Onda City Council is part of a large number of networks. In relation to the project, we must highlight our adherence to the Network of Local Entities for the 2030 Agenda, the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the Network of Cities for Climate, the Network of Healthy Cities, etc.

RESULTS/MEASUREMENT Have the project results been measured based on local indicators?

As already indicated in other sections, although the actions to be undertaken have been detailed, the budgetary amounts still need to be reflected, and subsequently, the indicators will be specified. Therefore, the results have not yet been measured.

RELEVANCE What is the adequacy of the objectives and results? Is there coherence between the objectives set and the results obtained?

No measurement has been carried out yet.

TRIPLE IMPACT: Is the project sustainable from an environmental, economic, and social point of view?

Yes, provided external funding is obtained.

OBSTACLES: What have been the main obstacles encountered in all phases of the project?

The novelty of the project, without similar cases that could be used as examples.

The coordination of municipal technical staff and politicians to ensure their presence at meetings, as it involves practically the entire City Council.

CONCLUSION. Project impact and usefulness.

• • Having a Strategic City Plan that clarifies the main actions to be implemented in the coming years, regardless of any political changes that may occur.
  • Creating a citizen participation process that has achieved greater involvement from all key project stakeholders and can be replicated in other projects.
  • Gaining greater knowledge of the actions being carried out by other departments within the City Council itself, to achieve greater coordination among them and greater efficiency in our work.

Information block

FURTHER INFORMATION

To be included shortly.

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