City-to-City Partnerships to Localise the Sustainable Development Goals

Annex A. List of questions used to test the self‑assessment framework

Annex Table A.1. Initial self-assessment framework – List of questions

G20 Principle	Question
Territorial approach	Do you use city-to-city partnerships to address concrete local challenges such as clean forms of urban mobility, affordable housing, gender equality, access to green spaces, balanced urban development, clean water and sanitation, air quality, solid waste management, territorial inequalities or service delivery?
	Are the established city-to-city partnerships creating synergies across sectoral policies and plans at the local level?
	Are city-to-city partnerships integrated into the local development strategy?
	Do you establish city-to-city partnerships in policy areas that can help exploit the territorial development potential of the city?
	Do you use city-to-city partnerships to foster territorial cohesion and recover from COVID-19?
Multi-level Governance	Do the SDGs provide a framework for a more holistic and bottom-up design of your city-to-city partnerships?
	Are you engaged in the process of voluntary national reviews and do you use city-to-city partnerships to strengthen vertical co-ordination with regional and national levels of government?
	Are there governance arrangements and/or working practices that support effective communication on city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you evaluate the benefits of your city-to-city partnership with regards to policy makers and stakeholders (e.g. reduced information asymmetries, optimisation of financial resources use, reduction/elimination of split incentives/conflicts)?
	Do you receive guidance or support from other levels of government regarding the implementation and development of city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you foster horizontal co-ordination across sectoral departments to manage trade-offs across policy domains in the implementation of the SDGs and to ensure decisions taken or progress made in one SDG do not work against other SDGs?
Rural-urban connectivity	Do your city-to-city partnerships consider rural-urban connectivity and/or facilitate territorial co‑operation between urban and rural areas to promote an integrated development approach?
	Do you assess possible economic, environmental and social gains from such enhanced rural-urban co-operation?
	Do you adopt a functional approach to design policies and strategies to achieve the SDGs beyond administrative boundaries and based on where people work and live?
	Do your city-to-city partnerships consider rural-urban connectivity and/or facilitate territorial co‑operation between urban and rural areas to promote an integrated development approach?
Data and indicators	Do you produce or collect disaggregated data on your city-to-city partnerships for the assessment of territorial disparities and their contribution to the SDGs?
	If you produce them, do you make data on city-to-city partnerships publicly accessible and update them regularly?
	Are there mechanisms or incentives to encourage local and regional governments to exchange approaches and practices in implementing city-to-city partnerships and mainstreaming SDG indicators into planning and policy documents?
	Have you agreed on key performance indicators related to your city-to-city partnerships in co‑operation with partner cities?
	In addition to quantitative data, do you use qualitative information (e.g. storytelling, community of practices) to showcase the performance and success stories of the city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you produce or collect disaggregated data on your city-to-city partnerships for the assessment of territorial disparities and their contribution to the SDGs?
Monitoring and evaluation	Have you established monitoring and reporting mechanisms for your city-to-city partnerships (e.g. joint reviews, surveys/polls, benchmarking, evaluation reports, ex post financial analysis, regulatory tools, national observatories, parliamentary consultations, etc.)?
	Do you have capacity-building events to strengthen the data collection, management, storage and reporting processes?
	Have you developed quantitative tools to assess the potential contribution of the city-to-city partnerships to the SDGs?
	Do you share the results of the monitoring and evaluation process with the wider public to provide transparency and accountability?
	Do you assess the level of dialogue and participation by partner organisations and local authorities in the definition, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the city-to-city partnerships?
	Have you established monitoring and reporting mechanisms for your city-to-city partnerships (e.g. joint reviews, surveys/polls, benchmarking, evaluation reports, ex post financial analysis, regulatory tools, national observatories, parliamentary consultations, etc.)?
Peer-to-peer learning	Do your city-to-city partnerships generally include a component of peer-to-peer learning?
	Have you put in place knowledge-sharing opportunities across your city-to-city partnership stakeholders (city representatives, schools, civil society, private sector and academia) to exchange and learn from each other’s experiences?
	Do you engage in international networks and fora to exchange best practices and learn from peer cities on city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you actively reach out to peer cities via email or social media to search for new practices and innovative approaches to policy making in the framework of city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you attend events (e.g. webinars) relevant to the thematic area of your city-to-city partnership to get inspiration?
	Do you consider how practices showcased by peer cities or stakeholders could be transferred to your city?
Capacity development	Do you review and analyse the local managerial capabilities and required skills for carrying out all of the activities associated with designing, setting, implementing and monitoring the city-to-city partnerships?
	Based on such a diagnosis, do you offer capacity-building modules and workshops that can help address imbalances and create bridges among actors and territories with different levels of expertise and knowledge?
	Are there capacity-building activities in the public service to collect and analyse evidence about the impacts of different policies implemented in the framework of the city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you mobilise sufficient funding to train relevant project stakeholders in the monitoring of city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you collaborate with regional, national or global associations of local governments, non-governmental organisations or research centres to consolidate and expand skills and competencies needed for city-to-city partnerships to deliver intended outcomes?
Stakeholder engagement	Do you use the SDGs as a vehicle to enhance accountability and transparency of your city-to-city partnerships through engaging all territorial stakeholders, including civil society, citizens, youth, academia and private companies, in the policy-making process?
	Have you carried out stakeholder mapping to make sure that all those that have a stake in the outcome or that are likely to be affected are clearly identified and their responsibilities, core motivations and interactions understood?
	Have you defined the objectives of stakeholder engagement and the expected use of their inputs in the city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you facilitate a dialogue between stakeholders on policy incoherencies or areas of disagreement regarding the city-to-city partnerships?
	Have you identified place-based priorities for the city-to-city partnerships through a participatory and multi-stakeholder process?
	Have you put in place regular assessments of stakeholder engagement costs or obstacles at large?
	Have you put in place-tailored communication strategies for relevant stakeholders?
Financing	Is there sufficient funding available to shape the city-to-city partnerships according to the needs of the local stakeholders and project partners?
	Do you incentivise public-private partnerships as well as the engagement of businesses in city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you use the SDGs in budgeting processes linked to the city-to-city partnership?
	Do you use financial instruments such as taxes or fees to catalyse needed revenues to implement city-to-city partnerships?
	Does your local government have sufficient leeway to adjust and manage revenues to respond to the needs of city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you have access to (innovative) financing tools such as green bonds, land value capture mechanisms, infrastructure funds or pooled financing instruments that include lending or de-risking investment, such as guarantees for municipal bonds to secure sufficient funding for city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you collect data and report on official development assistance (ODA) as part of your city-to-city partnership?
Digitalisation	Do you have local government strategies to build human, technological and infrastructural capacities to make use of and incorporate digitalisation best practices in city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you use digital technologies – such as interactive online platforms – to encourage stakeholders to exchange information and good practices within the city-to-city partnerships?
	Have you integrated specific targets related to digitalisation into your city-to-city partnerships?
	Do you use initiatives or approaches that effectively leverage digitalisation to boost citizen well-being and deliver more efficient, sustainable and inclusive urban services and environments as part of a collaborative, multi-stakeholder process?
	Do you have local government strategies to build human, technological and infrastructural capacities to make use of and incorporate digitalisation best practices in city-to-city partnerships?