The European City Managers Network (ECMN) met in Riga, Latvia, in June 2015 with local government manager representatives from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

The concept of this European network of chief executives originated during a study tour of the ICMA International Committee in Copenhagen in May 2013. The plan to create a network was confirmed at the ICMA Annual Conference in Boston in September 2013 by the European ICMA members present. ICMA pledged to offer what support it could to coordinate the initiative and to work more closely with the European affiliates.

Participants at the meeting in Latvia agreed on three key elements necessary to move forward together on building the network: coordination and communication, leadership, and a focus on common interests and shared activities. They also expressed an interest in organizing a special conference for European managers, which the Czech representatives offered to host in the summer of 2016 in Prague. Agreeing to accept ICMA’s offer to coordinate the ECMN initiative, those who were present will report on the outcomes of the meeting at ICMA’s annual conference in Seattle.

The network’s positive momentum has resulted in affiliation agreements between ICMA and associations in the Czech Republic (STMOU) and Romania (AAPRO).  A new affiliation with the association in Latvia (LPIA) is expected to take place at ICMA’s Seattle conference.

The ultimate goal of the network is for all European associations to become affiliates of ICMA, resulting in the promotion of good governance in local government throughout the European Union and to strengthen the international dimension of ICMA’s activities worldwide.