In 2019, De La Salle University (DLSU) became a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). The SDSN was launched in 2012 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to mobilize global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of its commitment, the SDG City Lab was established in DLSU to provide research and capacity-building support to LGUs in the SDG localization process.

In the SDG City Lab, the partner local government unit (LGU) will serve as a test-bed in the co-creation of SDG City tools, technologies and programs geared towards the attainment of SDG targets. The collaboration between DLSU and LGUs will be anchored in a university town and participatory local governance approach that will lead to the co-production of data-driven governance tools to foster SDG localization.  

 An SDG City Partnership Program will be established between DLSU and the following cities: City of Manila, City of Alaminos, and City of Iriga with the support of various development partners, including national government agencies, civil society, private sector, academe and international organizations. The Program is a collaboration platform for undertaking Capacity Development and Research and Innovation activities to support SDG localization.  

 The Program has six major objectives: (1) to identify priority SDG projects through a series of co-creation workshops;  (2) to pursue a whole-of-government approach through the improvement of inter-operability and data governance processes within the LGU; (3) to mobilize the participation of higher education institutions in SDG localization; (4) to institutionalize open governance through the development of open data and participatory local governance mechanisms; (5) to build a monitoring and evaluation system to track the effectiveness of priority SDG projects  and assess the progress of SDG localization; and (6) to develop a Voluntary Local Review mechanism for SDG localization.