Sister Cities International: A Global Citizen Diplomacy Network
Posted by mayacu on January 29, 2009
I saw a poster for this organization in the Jacoby Center yesterday and it caught my eye because it prominently declared “50 Years of Global Citizenship.” Their mission statement, as declared on their website, is to “Promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation — one individual, one community at a time.” They attempt to do this by pairing cities around the world together and fostering international connections. Their goals include increased awareness and participation, both primary concepts of global citizenship as stated by Schattle, and cross-cultural empathy, a secondary concept of global citizenship.
This is a commendable example of an organization that fosters global citizenship. I truly believe that if you get to know someone personally, then your ability to hurt or discount that person is greatly diminished. I believe Appiah mentioned in his lecture we watched that just speaking with someone and discovering you have something in common can create an increased awareness and care for them and put someone on the path to global citizenship. The world is too populous for us to all meet everyone, but connecting groups of people as large as cities and making them interconnected to each other can greatly impact world relations and the choices and interactions of our governments and citizens.
mayacu said
I have no idea why my entire post became a link to the Sister Cities website, but it unintentionally did. Sorry about that!
anequidnimis said
Very true–getting to know people all around the world really gives meaning to having respect for global communities, particularly so in the aspect of environmentalism. That your actions can negatively affect the life of someone far away has been enough to make me pause and think twice many times.
Also, that is a massive link.
bklunk said
It is also interesting that Stockton’s Sister Cities are a reflection of our ethnic diversity–Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Cambodian, Mexican, etc. That’s another nice bit of concreteness.
jonthepackardman said
Very interesting read Maya! Thanks for sharing… I wanted to say that this kind of initiative to make connections across the globe is crucial for mutual understanding and betterment of international relations. These “Sister Cities” provide a chance to connect with people that you may never have had the opportunity to meet – thus giving you an insight into their way of life, their culture, and their actions.
As a side note, Folsom, CA – home of the famous Folsom Prison that Johnny Cash sings about, and the Folsom Dam – is quite close to my hometown and whenever you enter the city limits you are greeted by signs announcing that you are entering Folsom, CA – Sister City of some city in Italy (that I can’t recall at the moment).
Professor Klunk: so am I to gather that Stockton has multiple “Sister Cities”???
bklunk said
Yes, Stockton has a half dozen or more sister cities. We keep adding them and it’s hard to keep track, but there has been a clear effort to parallel Stockton’s ethnic make-up.