Their commitment is shared by a dense network of Bonn-based actors: six German federal ministries, 150 international and internationally active NGOs, scientific and academic institutions, development services, businesses, media and, of course, the City of Bonn itself. Climate change, desertification, biodiversity, early warning and international development are only a few of "Bonn's topics". Bonn stands for networking and dialogue, along with interdisciplinary cooperation and unexpected synergies. The City has become an active partner in many processes.
Several Conferences of the Parties to UN Conventions, major environmental conferences as well as a great number of events focusing on development cooperation have taken place here to date. Bonn is where the UN laid down a path to peace in Afghanistan, where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 2001, where global progress on clean energy was made at Renewables 2004, and where the 2008 UN Conference on Biodiversity helped to achieve a new degree of inclusion of stakeholders into the global debate. Bonn also hosted the mid-term conference of the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development in 2009 and was honoured by the presence of some 80 laureates of the Right Livelihood Foundation in 2010.
For most of these events, Bonn provided much more than excellent facilities and logistic support. Together with local and international partners, the City offered supporting programmes and linked global debates to daily life by addressing the civil society in general or children and students in particular. International Mayors' Conferences in Bonn have had significant influence on the contribution and the recognition of the local level within global strategies. The "Bonn Spirit" embodies open-mindedness, multilateralism, constructiveness, cooperation and understanding.
Altogether, Bonn has become a renowned and appreciated platform for the international debate and a major hub for international exchange — a place to learn and benefit from each other on the path to a sustainable future.