Peer learning and local leadership: A way for changing our cities?

1. Peer learning and local leadership: A way for changing our cities? Background: The 6th African Summit of local authorities, Africités6 focussed on the themes of governance, capacity building and local finance. UCLG with members and sections as well as partner networks used this gathering as an opportunity to review peer learning experiences, facilitated by UCLG and its partners over the past 2 years with the aim of discussing future learning priorities. To partners were invited to share their experience of peer learning and to contribute to a discussion on how to further this form of knowledge sharing intervention.

2. Session Objectives Objective 1: Review different peer learning methodologies and emerging practice in the global north and global south Objective 2: Draw conclusions on the outcomes of these learning interventions with particular reference to its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities arising from the different life cycle stages in which each of these learning interventions are currently at. Objective 3: Explore the demand for learning intervention both in terms of content as well as methodological approach. Objective 4: Review the impact of peer learning interventions on addressing practice and policy imperatives at scale.

3. Presentations How city mentorships are transforming cities in Mozambique – ANAMM and Porto Alegre mentorship program - Mr. DaniellyVotto, Head: International Relations, Porto Alegre Municipality (Brazil) The impact of south-south knowledge exchange on policy development – the story of housing transformation in two cities(Sao Paolo and Durban) - Mr. Marcelo Rebelo, Sao Paolo Municipality (Brazil), MrAndileNcapai, EthekwiniMetropolitan Municipality (South Africa) Scaling up peer learning in Mozambique – peer learning amongst the intermediary cities of Matola (Mozambique) and Guarulhos (Brazil) - Mr. Fernando SantaMauro, FrenteNacional (Brazil) and Mayor. Manuel Cambezo, Dondo Municipality (Mozambique) The debt free city – Bilboa’s experience of successful urban transformation and its role as a knowledge leader – Mr Leandro Ardunta, Special Advisor, City of Bilboa (Spain). Institutionalizing knowledge and learning – the experience of the Municipal Institute for Learning (MILE)- Mr. SogenMoodley, Manager: MILE, Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality (South Africa)

4. Issues emerging from Peer Learning Session • In the cases shared, the following elements emerged as common practice: • City to city partnership (through formal sister city arrangement or informal knowledge exchange partnerships) • Discovery process where officials and politicians understand the contextual issues that define partner cities • Understanding of what can be learnt and what can be shared between the cities. • Practical arrangements around who will be involved in knowledge sharing / peer learning process. • Structured engagements of learning and sharing that could involve a variety of learning methods including exchange visits, video and teleconferencing, sharing of documentation, discussions between peers, actual professional advise shared between peers. In some cases (as between eThekwini and Sao Paulo) peer learning was enhanced by a pilot project intervention. • Where learning was a core part of the development agenda of a city, further steps were taken to ‘institutionalize’ knowledge exchange as in the case of eThekwini (with MILE) and with Bilbao (where core knowledge management concepts were adopted as part of the strategic agenda of the city through the knowledge hub). • Peer review (as presented by UCLGA’s Programme Manager Charles Paseka) emerged as demand driven methodology that had received good reception from the pilots that had been conducted in 2012.

5. Facilitator Reflections • Peer review • Peer review can be a useful part of the discovery process to yield issues for learning and is the start of the action learning process. • Peer review is an important stakeholder engagement process especially where there is political reservation about learning and exchange. • It can be a ‘safe space’ for cities to start the process of understanding how to approach knowledge as a tool for city change and transformation. • Current practice – quick wins • If not currently in place, it would be an important element for peer learning partners to document their experience and what has been learnt, substantiated by codified forms of knowledge that might have been shared during the peer learning process. • It is important that the circle of learning be widened to include officials and politicians that might have not been primarily involved in the peer learning engagement. This could take the form of internal city learning sessions where peer learning partners are able to talk about their experience and what has been learnt. • Critically it is important for the action learning process, that something ‘tangible’ should happen as a result of the peer learning event. This is easier done where pilot projects have been identified and form part of peer learning process.

6. Facilitator Reflections • Content issues • Aside from the content issues identified by the peer learning process, there appeared to be significant interest in role of citizens in the governance process and more importantly how to develop strong lines of collaboration and engagement between citizens and local governments. • Peer learning methodology • It is important to capture the reflections of the actual peer learning methodologies employed by partners. This will aid in structuring further learning engagements and will establish a basis to improve practice. • Cities that have experienced a peer learning engagement are best placed to start a discussion about how to institutionalize learning as a strategic process for city development. • Peer learning and peer review reflections combined with an analytical review of other contemporary South South learning engagements could be a valuable point of departure to develop a practice guide to share with other learning partners working in the same space.