The East European and Eurasian Sustainable Development Seed Grant Program
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What is the East European and Eurasian Sustainable Development Seed Grant Program?
Program Updates and Highlights
What is the East European and Eurasian Sustainable Development Seed Grant Program?
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Sister Cities International received a grant from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to link U.S. and East European and Eurasian communities to address various issues of sustainable development through mutually beneficial exchange programs. The grant, totaling $50,000, provides 10 sister city communities with a $5,000 seed grant to support on-going projects or to initiate new projects. All members of the Sister Cities International network with sister cities in Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia and the Balkans were eligible to apply for the grant through a competitive RFP process and an independent review committee determined the final selection.
The 10 sister city communities selected to participate in the program are: (1) Arvada, Colorado and Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan; (2) Bloomington-Normal, Illinois and Vladimir, Russia; (3) Cambridge, Massachusetts and Yerevan, Armenia; (4) Corvallis, Oregon and Uzhgorod, Ukraine; (5) Eugene, Oregon and Irkutsk, Russia; and Communities for International Development, representing (6) Blount County, Tennesse and Zheleznogorsk, Russia; (7) Fox Cities, Wisconsin and Kurgan/Shchuchye, Russia; (8) La Crosse, Wisconsin and Dubna, Russia; (9) Livermore, California and Snezhinsk, Russia; and (10) Los Alamos, New Mexico and Sarov, Russia.
The Eastern Europe and Eurasia Sustainable Development Seed Grant Program is part of the Sister Cities Network for Sustainable Development, launched in 2003 to build the capacity of local member organizations to conduct development-oriented exchanges in the areas of good governance, sustainable economic development, health, water, environmental protection, sustainable energy systems, and social development.
Program Updates and Highlights
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Starting March 15, 2004, all 10 communities initiated their exchange programs. The following is a summary of each program and highlights from each exchange.
Arvada, Colorado and Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan
Arvada Sister Cities International and its counterparts in Kyzylorda will conduct a joint survey of Kyzylorda's water management and distribution system as well as the power supply and community planning procedures. The joint survey teams will generate a plan to upgrade present water and sewer utilities appropriate to the power system/needs and anticipate community development plans. The partners aim to develop an ongoing relationship that will help design and finance improvements to the associated systems through the leveraging of community-based resources in Kyzylorda and the entrepreneurial development of small and medium enterprises in the city of Kyzylorda. A reciprocal exchange to Arvada will also be conducted to give planners in Kyzylorda a first hand look at water quality management and distribution systems in Arvada. Project planners will also explore financing options with support from local area businesses and banks in Arvada.
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois and Vladimir, Russia
The Vladimir/Canterbury Sister City Association of Bloomington-Normal and Vladimir are working together to develop the tourism industry in Vladimir. With support from Illinois State University faculty, American Home in Vladimir and the City Administration of Vladimir, project managers will assess and inventory existing tourism resources, compile tourist market research profiles for the Vladimir region and facilitate a market planning session with tourism stakeholders in Vladimir. One of the goals of the program is to develop strategic and tactical plans to enhance tourism growth in the Vladimir region.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Vladimir was a significant tourist destination as it is part of the Gold Ring, a circuitous cultural/heritage attraction of international importance. The city itself may be more than 1,000 years old and it is the former capital of the ancient Russia. The American Home has a reputation for "getting things done" as evidenced by the Home's highly regarded American English and Culture Program. The program serves more than 350 Russian students per term and since its inception in 1992, more than 7,000 Russians have studied English at the Home.
Cambridge, Massachusetts and Yerevan, Armenia
The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association in cooperation with its counterpart, the Yerevan-Cambridge Sister Cities Association seek to promote youth empowerment and leadership on issues of sustainable development through environmental education projects supported by local government, universities and NGOs working in both communities. The educational programs will focus on energy efficiency in both communities.
Exchange activities in Yerevan will include high school students from Cambridge participating in a one-day environmental youth summer camp, project team leaders hosting environmental education workshops for up to ten teachers in Yerevan, who will then share their knowledge with their colleagues in the community, and round-table discussions with local government leaders, teachers, students, university officials, other NGOs and citizen committees. In Cambridge, a science teacher from Yerevan will be invited to participate in a three-week exchange to learn more about U.S. curriculum development in the area of energy efficiency and science in general, youth involvement, and community awareness. Round table discussions among students, teachers, city officials, community-based organizations, university officials, and citizens will also take place in Cambridge.
Corvallis, Oregon and Uzhgorod, Ukraine
The Corvallis Sister City Association in collaboration with the Uzhgorod Sister Cities Association plan to conduct a transparency and openness project focused on two key areas: increasing citizen participation in Uzhgorod city government and the design and implementation of a university level continuing education curriculum focused on transparency in business and finance for the training of civic and business leaders in Uzhgorod. The exchanges will be supported by both local governments, the University of Uzhgorod and Oregon State University, the Transcarpathian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, various business and economic development organizations in Corvallis and volunteers from both sister city organizations.
The project will focus on transparency and openness issues unique to both communities and will make use of an on-going 13-year dialogue about the importance of citizen participation in local government, especially in the areas of economic development. The program seeks to develop educational and community resource to help the local community at large understand the importance of good governance, review and contrast public information methods of the two communities, engage key stakeholders in the design and implementation of strategies to enhance public participation in local governance, and identify strategies for public and private sector reform.
Eugene, Oregon and Irkutsk, Russia
The Eugene-Irkutsk Sister City Committee (EISCC) and its counterparts in Irkutsk developed an exchange project that addresses the role of art in sustainable development. Since its inception in 1987, EISCC has used visual art exhibits and exchanges as a means to foster greater understanding, appreciation and friendship between Eugene and Irkutsk. The primary goal of the project, entitled Siberian Dreams - An Art Marketing Project, is to add an economic development component to on-going exchange activities.
EISCC will use grant funds to create an entrepreneurial partnership to sell native Siberian artwork in the Pacific northwestern region of the United States Revenues generated from the sale of Siberian art work will be used to support the economic well-being of the local artists as well as fund future exchanges. Professionals from Eugene will travel to Irkutsk, identify and select exceptional artwork by regional artists, prepare and ship the artwork to Eugene, and conduct research on the feasibility of creating a commercial art market in Irkutsk. After completion of the trip, a professional exhibit will be conducted in Eugene to sell the artwork to generate funds to sustain current and future exchanges and to develop a viable commercial market for Siberian artwork in the Pacific Northwest.
Communities for International Development
Under the management and leadership of World Services of La Crosse, Inc., the Communities for International Development (CID) will sponsor exchanges to Russia to conduct planning sessions and develop a strategic plan to address key issues affecting each community in the areas of education, economic development, federalism, health and the environment. The goals of the exchange program are to enhance the continued development of the organizational and operational structure of the CID, to conduct planning sessions with specialists from the U.S. and Russia in each of the four focus areas, and to formalize a model Sister Cities' Coalition that is sustainable and replicable by other sister city programs.
The CID is a consortium of sister city partnerships between the U.S. and Russia, formed to achieve sustainable development in five Russian cities of strategic interest to the United States. In each of the five Russian communities there is or has been the design, development, production or storage of weapons of mass destruction. The five sister city partnerships represented in the CID are Blount County, Tennesse and Zheleznogorsk, Russia; Fox Cities, Wisconsin and Kurgan/Shchuchye, Russia; La Crosse, Wisconsin and Dubna, Russia; Livermore, California and Snezhinsk, Russia; and Los Alamos, New Mexico and Sarov, Russia. CID members believe that working collaboratively on key development issues they all have in common will bring synergy to their development processes and avoid costly duplication of efforts.
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For more information about the organizations involved in the East European and Eurasian Sustainable Development Seed Grant Program, please visit the sites below.
The Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs
Arvada Sister Cities International
Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association
Corvallis Sister Cities Association
Vladimir/Canterbury Sister City Association of Bloomington-Normal
World Services of La Crosse, Inc.
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