Hosting History in Belfast

As the first Sister Cities International Conference hosted outside of the United States, history was made. Events like these take many partners some seen and some invisible to the average participant. Below you can enjoy one of our leadership voices from Northern Ireland - Alan Chambers. He recently finished his sixth and final year on the Sister Cities International board. He served as our leading partner on the ground for everything from volunteer recruitment to media relations. Asked him to give us a perspective as a ciziten of Northern Ireland and what our conference meant to him and the community.

Guest Blogger: Councillor Alan Chambers, SCI Honorary Board and Chairman of the Belfast Host Committee

It is a great privilege for any community to be chosen to host such an important and prestigious event as the Annual Conference of Sister Cities International. That sense of privilege is enhanced when it also provides the opportunity to be involved in the creation of history by being the first international venue for the conference in 53 years. Belfast and Northern Ireland was very proud to have been selected to be the first international host. Given the growing, and ongoing, peace process the opportunity to host the conference was an important building block for peace.

The concept of going “International” for the Annual Conference was a new idea for the SCI Leadership and the huge family of member communities and partners. It was also something new and a challenge for the Washington DC staff. There had to be a bond of confidence developed between the Host Committee and the SCI staff that were, for the first time ever, organising a huge logistical conference operation on the other side of an ocean.

The idea of Belfast hosting the conference at some time in the future was first discussed when the then President of SCI, Sherman Banks, attended a meeting of Northern Ireland SCI members at a get together hosted in the US Consulate in Belfast in January 2005. If you thought that the First Minister was joking when he told us all at the Stormont reception that he hadn’t spoken to his Deputy First Minister until two years ago it should be noted that the event in the Consulate represented the first occasion when members of all the political parties in Northern Ireland had sat around the same table to discuss issues of mutual interest. This unique gathering was only possible because of the involvement of SCI and its President.

This small example of cross community political cooperation was built on at the 50th Anniversary Conference in Washington DC in July 2006 when we hosted a reception where we announced that the Fall Board meeting would be held in Northern Ireland. The fundraising and organisation of this event created some more cross community bonding.

The Northern Ireland reception in Kansas City in 2008 was the most dramatic example of this political cooperation when the largest ever delegation from our shores, of around fifty people, from all shades of political opinion worked in total cooperation and harmony to promote the conference in Belfast. The Government in Northern Ireland began to take notice of what a shared interest in an organisation like SCI was capable of delivering in terms of cross community cooperation.

Obviously the actual conference totally copper fastened this united approach to promoting Northern Ireland and was a tangible opportunity to demonstrate how far we had all moved forward in our journey to lasting peace.

A personal plus for me in this adventure was to stop taking for granted all that Northern Ireland has to offer its visitors. I have looked at photographs taken by the delegates of places like stately home gardens etc and marvelled at the beauty of these sites. To my shame they might only be 15 miles from my home and I haven’t visited them in years. It also exposed me to the quality and talent of local dancers, singers and musicians and made me proud that these performers, who provided so much enjoyment and entertainment, were my fellow Northern Ireland citizens.

My legacy of the conference is that I have been left with a much broader appreciation of what my small country has to offer both resident and visitor alike. It has also alerted me to the little acts of kindness shown by local people to the delegates and proved to me that the famous Irish hospitality is for real! I am proud of Northern Ireland and its people and I am especially proud of SCI for what it has contributed to peace in this country and that it continues to deliver throughout the world.

The legacy of the conference for Belfast and Northern Ireland can not be measured but it is immense! Sister Cities, and its mission, is now better known here as a result of the conference and will now be associated with something very positive rather than been seen as a weak excuse for travel on the public purse. SCI has been contributing to the healing process in our country since the decision was made to hold the conference in Belfast. The cosmopolitan nature of the conference has encouraged all of us here to concentrate on looking outwards rather than inwards. Domestic friendships that once would have been impossible have been firmly established across the community divide. For all of that we are grateful!

Hosting the conference was a huge responsibility but we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Please come back and see us soon fellow SCI peace makers!

Toxic Waste Off Africa, Confidence & Diplomacy

So with a title like this, I must be writing about the our Youth Conference. Right? Of course! I plan to provide space for a few voices to tell you about our conference experience in Northern Ireland, but this first one is from a star intern who joined us over the summer.

Guest Blogger: Sarah Gardiner
Written August 10, 2009

As a college student in Washington, DC studying international relations, a lot of my time is spent learning about conflict: which groups are fighting, who is denied access to resources necessary for their basic needs, how current institutions are are ill-equipped for the many problems facing the world. I spend a lot of time learning about the way things are. It isn’t often that there is space set aside to think about the way things could be and how we could get there.

This summer, I hit the undergrad internship jackpot, and began work as the Young Artist and Authors Showcase intern at Sister Cities International. At the end of July, I had the opportunity to travel with the art I’d spent the summer organizing to Belfast, Northern Ireland. While there, I helped to staff the annual Youth Conference. Exactly 142 youth from the United States, Northern Ireland, Russia, Mexico, and France came together to reflect on the theme, Bridging Differences: Building a Peaceful Future.

The morning the kids were due to arrive; I was true butterflies-in-my-stomach nervous. I’m sure some of it had to due with feeling out of my element as a visitor to a city with a very recent conflict history. A lot of it had to do with the fact that high school students are never an easy group to work with and once you throw in different languages, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, you just really don’t know how it’s going to work out.

Five whirlwind days later, my boss and I sat exhausted in our make shift office incredulously repeating to each other, “It’s over…” and then, “Everything went … really well.” Pause. “That was just amazing.”

Although a lot of the credit for the success of the conference goes to the talented team of youth workers facilitating the workshops, as well as the hospitality of our host city, the participating youth were what really made it a success.

It’s not often that anyone is given the opportunity to take a few days to truly reflect on who they are and how this fits into a broader context. The participants of this year’s youth conference did not squander this opportunity. They were honest, open, and willing to discuss their differences and identities. Some of the participating youth had traveled extensively, some had never left their home country. However, no one adopted an attitude of superiority. Everyone had something different to bring to the table, and this was respected.

There were several times during the course of the week where I had to take a step back to make sure what I was seeing was really happening: kids getting heated about toxic waste dumping off the horn of Africa, a beat boxer from Craigavon starting a call and response of ‘Sister - Cities!’, and a very enthusiastic conference wide Cupid Shuffle dance off.

At the end of the five days, students went their separate ways with the parting words, “See you in Alberquerque,” the location of next year’s annual and youth conference. In the week since we’ve been back, the Facebook group has been buzzing with youth eager to continue the conversation they started in Northern Ireland.

All this means that this year’s youth conference participants really internalized the principles of citizen diplomacy they were taught. They comprehend that true understanding and respect can’t come through one meeting, but must be continually nurtured. Even though my role in the youth conference was consumed with behind the scenes logistics, I feel like this rubbed off on me too. As a college student, it’s easy to think of my life post-university as when I will begin to truly work toward change. This is a flawed perspective – all of us have the capacity in our daily lives to build new connections.

One of the best conversations I had at the conference occurred with a youth worker from Northern Ireland. We discussed how confidence levels affect various aspects of a youth’s life. Ultimately, lack of confidence inhibits individual ability to dream past immediate reality. The point of citizen diplomacy is to expand individual world views, to widen the sense of what is possible, to enable the tools needed to dream, and, ultimately, to act.

What's Hot? Belfast - Next Week.

A week away from the opening of the first Sister Cities International Conference that will be held - internationally! Next week more than 500 adults and youth will descend on Belfast, Northern Ireland for a mix of educational workshops, networking, and social gatherings.

I always look forward to the event because it's where we bring into focus - the hot issues in the Sister Cities network. Here are a few highlights:

• "It's the economy stupid" - well, we didn't name a session quite that bluntly but there will be a sessions on strategies to secure grants in the U.S. and in Europe, as well as a session on 'jump starting' your fundraising program. In these times, it'll be a mix of renewing old tricks and finding new tactics.
  
• You can't read a newspaper or click on an online news outlet without talking about 'green energy.' We've got our own session led by a pro from the U.S. Department of Energy that will feature some of our winning Sister City programs working in sustainable development as well as an audience conversation on how Sister Cities programs are complementing their local government's efforts.
  
• You can't run an effective Sister Cities program without a positive partnership with your mayor/city council. We've lined up a mix of mayors and local elected officials from the U.S. and Europe to give insight on how to navigate a successful relationship with the CEO of your home town.


• In our version of "ripped from the headlines"...a buzzworthy couple of sessions with journalist Alicia Anstead. She'll take on two hot topics in an interview setting: the Muslim story in the U.S. and Europe, and citizen diplomats working in regions of conflict.

It's hard to pick a few sessions over others since the economic development session is chock full of heavy hitters from around the U.S. and youth and adult conferences will connect for an afternoon of interactive discussions on peacebuilding - both will eye-opening for attendees.

If you can't join us in Belfast, watch our updates and reactions on Twitter (new for us!) and this blog. Check out the full conference schedule at www.sister-cities.org/conference.

Picking Partners in Peace

How did Portsmouth, New Hampshire get the sister city of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland? Why is Denver, Colorado partnered with Baghdad, Iraq? Ningbo, China and Jacksonville, Florida...really? These are the types of questions most folks start with when they see the sister cities directory. How does one city pick another city for sisterhood?

While as an organization we have a number of recommendations for communities to consider before partnering (population, economic drivers, topography, university town, and other common links), at first this wasn't the case - there are some rich stories dating more than 50 years.

• What U.S. city has the most sister cities? Chicago, IL (27)
• What's the largest city in the U.S. with sister cities? New York, NY (Population: 8,000,000+)
• What's the smallest city in the U.S. with sister cities? Gilbert, AR (Population: 32)
• Which country has the most sister city partnerships with the U.S.? Japan (269)
• What continent has the most sister city partnerships with the U.S.? Europe (35% of U.S. partnerships)

I invite you to see what cities your hometown is partnered with at www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/index.

Question of the Day: What's the most unusual sister city pairing you can find?