Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak made the assessment at a news conference on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Disability- and green-friendly conference
The deputy minister, who oversaw the five-day event, said that it had been “the most accessible World Urban Forum in history,” with wheelchair ramps and lifts, maps in braille, hearing loops and other conveniences for seniors and people with disabilities.
“WUF-11 was also eco-friendly,” she added, telling reporters that facilities had been powered by renewable energy and that "all infrastructure will be recycled."
250 volunteers
Jarosińska-Jedynak thanked everyone who "contributed to the success" of the Katowice conference, including the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Katowice authorities and volunteers.
“We had 250 well-trained, smiling volunteers who helped everyone in need,” she said, adding: “We are totally exhausted, but very happy and filled with positive energy.”
22,000 participants from 174 countries
The hybrid conference brought together over 22,000 people from 174 countries. There were over 10,000 in-person participants and a further 6,000 who took part via video link, Jarosińska-Jedynak said.
She added that WUF-11 had some 700 panellists and more than 500 events, from workshops to roundtables and special sessions.
There were seven main themes: equitable cities; greener urban futures, technology and innovation, building resilience for sustainable urban futures, urban planning and management, future urban economy and finance, and crisis response and reconstruction of cities.
Postwar reconstruction of Ukraine
Jarosińska-Jedynak said that much discussion was devoted to the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine.
“We’ll be supporting our neighbours, friends, brothers in the reconstruction effort - just as today we are supporting war refugees from Ukraine,” Jarosińska-Jedynak told reporters.
Meanwhile, the president of the UN-Habitat Assembly, Mexico’s Martha Delgado Peralta, thanked Poland and Katowice for being “an incredible host” for WUF-11.
“It’s been a meeting we’ll never forget,” she said.
The World Urban Forum is held every two years. The 2020 conference took place in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Poland's Katowice in 2018 hosted the UN's COP24 climate change conference, which drew around 21,500 participants from almost 200 countries, according to officials.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, wuf.unhabitat.org