Millennium Municipalities in Business: A new chapter in the Millennium Municipality Campaign! - 25-05-10

On 15 April, the public kick-off of a new project in the "Millennium Municipality" Campaign took place, under the slogan: "Millennium Municipalities in Business". Eight different "Millennium Municipalities" have been selected to take part in a series of master classes to strengthen the public private partnerships between local government and businesses in support of the UN Development Goals and development cooperation. About twenty representatives of municipalities took part in the first master class in Utrecht, which was very successful. Key note speakers of the day where Bas Eenhoorn, former mayor and chairman of the liberal party, and Roel van der Palen, Manager Business Development at Ahrend Ltd. "Millennium Municipalities in Business" is an initiative of VNG International, consultancy firm CREM and research institute Nicis Institute and was commissioned by the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation.

A "Millennium Municipality" is a municipality that supports the eight Millennium Goals, which are mainly focused on the reduction of extreme poverty in the world. At present 145 Dutch municipalities participate in the Millennium Municipality Campaign. Part of the project is a research into the cooperation between municipalities and businesses in relation to development. The results of this research will be published in a brochure with interviews and good practices. This will be presented at the yearly "Millennium Municipality Symposium", in the Railway Museum in Utrecht on 7 October 2010.