Medcities is a network of Mediterranean coastal cities created in Barcelona in 1991 at the initiative of the Mediterranean Technical Assistance Programmes (METAP). The METAP, whose objective is environmental improvement in the Mediterranean region, was established in 1990 by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. The goals of the network are to strengthen the environmental management capability of local administration, through decentralised activities involving technical assistance, and also to reinforce awareness of interdependence and common responsibility regarding the policies of urban environmental conservation in the Mediterranean basin. History The creation of Medcities was a consequence of METAP's objective of strengthening decentralised actions involving technical assistance as the best means of promoting awareness of urban environmental problems and making those actions into a vehicle for empowering municipalities in developing countries in respect of management of urban environmental issues. Medcities continues offering this support. Afterwards, Medcities has extended its activities from the initial local environment to the wider local sustainable development field. Objectives The Medcities network is a tool to strengthen the environmental and sustainable development management capability of local administration, but it is also useful in order to identify the domains where a common activation could be the most useful means to improve the regional environmental conditions. The goals of the Medcities Network are the following: - to reinforce the awareness of interdependence and common responsibility regarding the policies of urban environmental conservation in the Mediterranean basin; - to strengthen the role and the means (institutional, financial and technical capability) of municipalities in the implementation of local sustainable development policies; - to develop awareness and involvement of citizens and consumers on urban sustainable development; - to set up a direct cooperation policy in order to implement the partnership between coastal Mediterranean cities. Members The network originally comprised one city in each country, with a preference for cities other than the capital. Then an accord was subsequently reached expanding possible membership to two cities per country, and including Jordan. Medcities includes today 27 cities from Mediterranean countries: - Aleppo - Alexandria - Ancona - Ashdod - Barcelona - Benghazi - Dubrovnik - El Mina - Gaza - Grand Lyon - Izmir - Larnaca - Latakia - Limassol - Marseille - Oran - Rome - Sfax - Silifke - Sousse - Tangier - Tetouan - Thessaloniki - Tirana - Tripoli - Zarqa Organisation General Assembly: it