From 2 to 4 June, the Urban7 International Mayors’ Summit in Nancy will mark the first time cities take their seat at the G7 table as an official engagement group.
In a few weeks, mayors and local leaders from across the G7 and beyond will convene in Nancy, France, from 2 to 4 June 2026, for the Urban7 (U7) International Mayors’ Summit. The gathering takes place under exceptional circumstances: for the first time in the history of the G7, cities are participating as an official G7 Engagement Group, on a par with Business 7, Civil 7, Youth 7, and the other long-standing platforms that channel structured input into G7 decision-making.
The Summit will produce the Nancy Declaration, to be transmitted to the French G7 Presidency ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian on 15 to 17 June 2026. It is at once a milestone and a test: a milestone in the evolution of city diplomacy, and a test of whether cities, now formally recognized, can translate that recognition into substantive influence on the global agenda.
A Recognition Five Years in the Making
Founded in 2021 and co-chaired by the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM) and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Urban7 has spent five years building the case that local and regional governments belong inside, rather than alongside, the G7 process. In January 2026, that case was accepted: the French G7 Presidency formally acknowledged the U7 as an official engagement group, giving cities, for the first time, a structured channel through which their priorities feed directly into the G7 agenda.
The implications became visible quickly. In April 2026, the outcomes of recent G7 ministerial meetings explicitly reinforced the role of cities in global decision-making, confirming that the U7’s institutional integration was already shaping the substance of G7 deliberations. On 4 May 2026, the Urban7 Heads of Delegation Dialogue opened in Paris, formally launching the political process that will culminate in the Nancy Declaration.
At the Summit’s official press conference held in Nancy on 6 May, Dr. Eckart Würzner, Lord Mayor of Heidelberg and Head of the German Delegation to the U7, captured the stakes of the moment:
“This is a game changer, because this gives us, for the first time, a voice on this level, on the state level. […] I think I can talk for thousands of cities: if we are strongly seen, the transformation process is done in a much smoother way, in a much faster way, because we, as city leaders, are directly linked to the citizens. [Urban7] is absolutely an important place for cities to meet, greet, and share experiences, of course, but also to use this strong voice in the G7 process, where cities normally don’t take part. Today, the point of peace and what we call democracy is local. […] More than fifty percent of people are already living in cities and bigger towns, [and we] take over responsibility for all those topics, and this has to be also strongly seen on the political agenda of the G7.”
An Architecture Designed for Legitimacy
What makes Urban7 effective as a G7 engagement group is its underlying architecture. The U7 brings together the national city associations of the G7 countries, supported by leading international city networks. Together, these associations represent tens of thousands of municipalities, lending the Summit a combination of democratic legitimacy and concrete operational experience that few international platforms can match.
For 2026, the Summit is organized by France Urbaine as chair of the U7 process under the French Presidency, working alongside the Urban7 Secretariat (ICLEI and GPM), the City of Nancy, the Greater Nancy Metropolitan Authority, and a broad coalition of partners that includes the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the German Marshall Fund, and the City Diplomacy Lab.
The City Diplomacy Lab as Scientific Coordinator
At the invitation of the Summit’s Presidency and of the U7 co-chairs, the City Diplomacy Lab has been appointed Scientific Coordinator of the Urban7 2026 process. The role draws on the Lab’s experience in curating major international gatherings on cities’ international action, including initiatives at the World Urban Forum, the United Nations in Geneva, and the European Parliament, and its mission to connect rigorous research with the practical needs of city diplomacy practitioners.
The Lab’s contribution centers on the scientific coherence of the Summit’s program and, above all, on the political effectiveness of the Nancy Declaration. The Declaration is being structured around the three macro-themes of the French G7 Presidency, international partnerships and solidarity, resilience, and sustainable economic transformation, so that each priority directly addresses the agenda G7 Leaders will bring to Évian. For each orientation, a call to G7 Leaders is paired with an evidence-based statement of why municipal capacity is decisive for the outcome in question, consistent with current scholarship on effective multilevel governance.
Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, Founding Director of the City Diplomacy Lab, framed the work this way:
“Across more than a dozen sessions, the Summit’s side events, and dialogues with civil society, the media, the business community, universities, national governments, and international organizations, mayors who have established themselves as leading figures of city diplomacy will demonstrate that cities are not only implementers of international commitments, but co-creators of strategies for a more resilient, sustainable, and just world. Working alongside the U7 Secretariat to give the Summit and its Declaration the analytical foundation they deserve is a privilege, and a responsibility we share with every partner committed to ensuring that the recognition cities have just obtained at the G7 translates into lasting influence.”
Summit Calendar
The three days of closed-door political dialogue in Nancy are framed by two in-person side events, co-organized by the City Diplomacy Lab and open to the public free of charge upon registration.
1 June 2026 | Opening Side Event in Nancy (in French)
Nancy, International Actor, a public roundtable on the global engagement of intermediary cities, co-organized with the City of Nancy. 6:00 p.m., Grands Salons, Hôtel de Ville de Nancy. Free registration required.
2–4 June 2026 | U7 International Mayors’ Summit, Nancy (closed-door)
Three days of high-level political dialogue, working sessions, and partner meetings, culminating in the adoption of the Nancy Declaration, transmitted to the French G7 Presidency ahead of the Leaders’ Summit in Évian.
5 June 2026 | Closing Side Event at Reid Hall, Paris (in English)
U.S. Mayors and the Rising International Engagement of Cities, an official U7 2026 side event co-organized with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Coffee reception at 9:00 a.m.; program from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Reid Hall, 4 rue de Chevreuse, 75006 Paris. Free registration required.
For further information on the Urban7 process, visit g7u7.org and France Urbaine’s Urban7 page.