Get to know Charlotte’s international sister cities
What do Peru, China, Germany, Russia, France, Poland and Ghana have in common?
Stumped? No time to tweet or text. A last minute lifeline to Alexis Gordon from the City of Charlotte’s International Relations office gives you the answer: Charlotte has a sister city in each country.
After WWII, President Dwight D. Eisenhower popularized the Sister Cities program as a way to incorporate peace into a bruised world. He believed that forming a permanent relationship with a city in another part of the globe would begin the healing process.
Sixty years later, valuing other cultures and sharing information about energy, industry and education continue to benefit communities today.
New report reveals global economic impact of sister #city relationships http://t.co/GLwG0axFRv @SisterCitiesInt @CEOatSCI #SisterCities
— Cities Today (@Cities_Today) October 15, 2015
//><!--Forming a Sister City relationship in Charlotte requires citizen involvement, city council approval and $50,000 in donations. After both mayors sign the agreement, volunteers coordinate various activities needed to build the partnership.//--><!
Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before…and meet new people, form a friendship. #CitizenDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/bhT1W2ayUC — Citizen Diplomacy (@CitDiplomacy) October 7, 2015
Charlotte joined the program in 1962 with its first Sister City, Arequipa, Peru. In 1988 Jerald Melberg, his artists and patrons built the Charlotte School for 1,000 children in the community of Ciudad de Dios.
After the Cold War, the State Department declared normalized diplomatic relations with Russia, opening up the opportunity in 1991 for Charlotte and Voronezh, Russia, to become Sister Cities.
A photo posted by воронеж (@voronej_mycity) on Jun 30, 2015 at 1:14am PDT
In 1992, Charlotte and Limoges, France became Sister Cities. Every two years, Limoges invites its sister cities to send student musicians to perform in Le concert des Citées Unies at the Opéra-Théâtre.
Students stay with host families, sightsee and learn each other’s music. In November, with the help of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, nine Charlotte students will be attending.
The Sister City program also provides opportunities for firefighter and police officer training, student exchange programs and government delegation visits.
Charlotte’s other sister cities:
– Krefeld, Germany. Established in 1985.
– Baoding, People’s Republic of China. Established in 1987.
– Wrocław, Poland. Established in 1993.
– Kumasi, Ghana. Established in 1995.
– Hadera, Israel. Charlotte’s Sister City partnership declaration was signed in 2008. It will be finalized once Charlotte has a mayor in place.
Alexis Gordon is the point person for the Sister Cities program and your best resource for all things internationally connected to Charlotte. Contact her at intlrelations@charlottenc.gov.
Photos: Charlotte Observer file photo; Charlotte Office of International Relations; Alexis Gordon
This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 10:34 PM with the headline "Get to know Charlotte’s international sister cities."