The Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM) is a governance body of, by and for mayors from all continents. It builds on the experience, expertise and leadership of mayors in tackling local challenges resulting from global problems. At the same time, it brings local knowledge to the table and thus participates actively in global strategy debates and underscores the need for practical, action-oriented solutions.
Eileen Haring Woods worked alongside the GPM Founder, Dr Benjamin Barber as the Executive Director for the Global Parliament of Mayors Project, through June 2017 and is currently a member of the international GPM Advisory Committee, helping to steer the further development of the GPM.
In the face of the most perilous challenges of our time—climate change, terrorism, poverty, and trafficking of drugs, guns, and people—the nations of the world seem paralyzed. The problems are too big, entrenched, and divisive for the nation state. Is the nation state, once democracy’s best hope, today dysfunctional and obsolete? The answer, said Barber in his book If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities, is yes.
Barber asserted that cities, and the mayors that run them, offer the best new forces of good governance. Why cities? Cities already occupy the commanding heights of the global economy. They are home to more than half of the world’s population, a proportion which will continue to grow. They are the primary incubator of the cultural, social, and political innovations which shape our planet. And most importantly, they are unburdened with the issues of borders and sovereignty which hobble the capacity of nation-states to work with one another.
In April 2017, Dr Barber, our long time friend and colleague passed away. It was an honour and a privilege to work with him on the development and realisation of the GPM, Interdependence Day and many more global projects. He is greatly missed.
GPM Advisory Committee
Jozias van Aartsen, Former mayor of The Hague, Former acting mayor of Amsterdam,
Former minister of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture
Leah Barber, Patron, GPM Advisory Committee
Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive director US Conference of Mayors
Charles Landry, Urban Specialist Creative City
Ambassador Ivo Daalder, President of Chicago Council on Global Affair
Amanda Eichel, Former ED Global Covenant of Mayors
Sigmar Gabriel. Former Vice-Chancellor Germany. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Debra Greenspan, Managing Director Energy & Sustainability team, Finsbury and Glover
Eileen Haring Woods, Haring Woods Studio, Former Executive Director, GPM,
Alaina J Harkness, Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Centennial Scholar Initiative
Ian Klaus Founding Director Garnegie California, USA, Chair Advisory Committee
Michael Nutter, former Mayor of Philadelphia
Anna Lisa Boni, Secretary General EUROCITIES
Elizabeth Johnston, Executive Director European Forum on Urban Security
Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Kingdom of The Netherlands
Mauricio Rodas Former mayor of Quito, WEF
Ulli Sier, Former mayor of Dortmund, Advisor to UN-Habitat
Seth Schultz, CEO Resilience Rising
Lord Wei of Shoreditch, Member of House of Lords, United Kingdom
PDF download of GPM-Summit-2019-report
Key Haring Woods Studio projects for the GPM:
Appointed Executive Director, GPM Project, Spring 2014
Strategic development
Funding strategy and documents
Press and communications
Producing 2014 Third Planning Session in Amsterdam 2014 and Interdisciplinary workshop in partnership with Leiden University
Press launch, London 2015 with Harvey Goldsmith, former mayor Ken Livingstone,
Tom Cochrane, CEO United States Conference of Mayors
Strategy and implementation of content, attendees, culture for the 2016 inaugural
convening in The Hague
Consultation with Socioneers on the GPM Mayors App
Interim Chair of GPM Advisory Committee Feb-May 2017
Member of the Advisory Committee May 2017 ongoing
Participation at GPM 2017, Stavanger, Norway and Interdisciplinary workshop on cities and culture with Charles Landry
Participation in GPM 2018, Bristol, UK as Advisory Committee member
Concept and artwork of the GPM logo.