26 JUNE 2026
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
For most Congress delegates, today’s agenda begins somewhere between the hotel lobby, the airport shuttle and the last cup of Moroccan mint tea. The formal UCLG World Congress programme may have come to an end, but the work certainly has not.
Some still have one official appointment. From 8:30 to 14:00, the Metropolis General Assembly meets in Room Tingis under the title Urban leaders shaping a future for all. The Assembly will bring together metropolitan governments to set priorities for the 2027–2029 strategic period and to elect the Board of Directors, who will in turn designate the President and other governing positions for the upcoming term. For everyone else, today offers a different kind of programme. Read the Tangier Outcome Document. It is, after all, the political legacy of the week and the roadmap that will accompany local and regional governments well beyond this Congress.
Take one last walk through the Medina. Visit the Kasbah, the Ciné Alcazar or one of the cultural spaces that have accompanied this week’s pages. Look again at the Strait of Gibraltar.
Exchange one last business card. Send the message you promised to send. Thank the colleague you only met three days ago but with whom you are already planning your next project.
Pack the publications you collected, even if your suitcase complains. Leave a little room for new ideas as well.
Most importantly, take Tangier home. The conversations on housing, care, peace, democracy, climate, culture and local public services only matter if they become decisions in council chambers, neighbourhoods and communities around the world.
Tomorrow, there will be no Congress agenda waiting. There will be budgets to negotiate, citizens to listen to, parks to improve, buses to run, homes to build, inequalities to reduce and trust to restore. Safe travels—and see you in the next city!