Local Efforts and Global Impacts: A City-Diplomacy Initiative on Decentralisation

International activities of local governments (city-diplomacy) have significantly increased since the last quarter of the 20th Century. A clear indication of this evolution is the acknowledgement of these initiatives by central governments and international organisations. Using the case-study of the UCLG Decentralisation and Local Self-Government Committee, this paper presents several new trends of city diplomacy. To do this, an analysis of the activities and results of a network led by the Province of Barcelona shows its impacts in at least three areas: capabilities, norms and relations.