What we do

The Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) Facility, a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is an invitation to reimagine urban and local spaces for positive transformative change and future-readiness. The M4EG was launched in 2017 for local authorities in the Eastern Partnership (EaP), and the current phase is implemented by UNDP.

Local authorities that are members of the M4EG receive new learning and networking opportunities. This includes a new approach to local economic development, moving from a project to a “portfolio of options” approach to tackle complex challenges, innovation mentoring and grants. It will all come together and be shared under the newly deployed Urban Learning Centre.

Objective

The overall objective of this action is to enhance economic inclusive growth and job creation in the region by supporting local authorities in the EaP countries to design and implement innovative approaches to local economic development in line with the principles of good governance and sound financial management. 

The specific objectives are to: 1. Supporting local authorities in their participation to the M4EG initiative. 2. Supporting the preparation and implementation of municipal projects building on systems design and transformation. 

Some results so far

• The Facility covers towns and cities in the Eastern Partnership countries. Over a period of 4 years, around 350 local authorities benefit from training, capacity development and knowledge exchange activities, through the Urban Learning Center.

• Three Armenian local authorities (Areni, Gyumri and Kapan) explore moving from a project to a portfolio approach to better address complex local challenges by integrating urban planning, gender responsiveness and innovation at the local level.

• 34 signatory local authorities in Armenia supported to develop a new capacity to support local economic development building on the Mayors for Economic Growth methodology.

• Innovation seed-funds for at three Armenian local authorities (Alaverdi, Ashtarak and Charentsavan) to explore what reimagining the town or city space could look like. This enables local authorities to develop and implement human centered design approaches for municipal development.