Toespraak ‘Trust and Leadership in the DNA of the movement’, 25 februari 2026

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

It is great to see you again after we last met in China for the World Council.
It is always a pleasure to be back in Barcelona for the Retreat.

Thank you to the colleagues of the World Secretariat,
and to you dear Maria Eugenia and the municipality of Barcelona, for always hosting us so well.

We speak today about trust.

And perhaps there is no more urgent topic for local leaders to discuss among each other.

In my country, the Netherlands, municipal council elections will take place on March 18.

As always in the weeks before elections, the media asks a familiar question – and I suspect many of you experience the same in your own countries.

How much trust do citizens still have in political institutions?

Newspapers publish surveys.
Commentators analyse trends.
Trust becomes a headline.

But trust is not lived in headlines.

It is experienced in our streets, in our neighborhoods, and in our city halls.

When citizens feel unheard,
when public debate hardens,
when differences turn into divisions,
trust begins to erode locally.

And when trust is rebuilt, it also begins locally.

The greatest risk to trust is not disagreement.
It is disengagement.

In our cities, we cannot afford polarization to become paralysis.

When communities are divided, along political, social or cultural lines,
our role as mayors and local leaders is not to amplify division,
but to model cooperation.

To bring different voices to the same table.
To ensure that debate remains possible and institutions remain fair.
To demonstrate that cooperation across differences is not naïve – but necessary.

And if this is true for our cities, it is also true for our movement.

We meet at a time when geopolitical tensions are increasing, and when divisions between societies are becoming more visible.
It would be easy for these dynamics to shape how we relate to one another as well.

But in a world that is becoming more divided, our movement should not reflect that division,
it should also model cooperation.

UCLG has always been strongest when it acted not as a collection of regions, but as a community of shared responsibility.

Our diversity is our strength.

As we move towards the 2026 Congress, we have an opportunity.

Not simply to define new priorities,
but to reaffirm the standard of leadership we expect from ourselves.

In our cities, we hold together diverse communities.
In this movement, we hold together diverse regions.

If we can continue to demonstrate that cooperation is possible across differences,
then we offer something valuable,
not only to our citizens, but to the world.
We can set an example.

And that is the trust we are here to protect.

Thank you.