Sister City relationships – still relevant or old news?
It's a small world.
While one of the earliest known sister city relationships has existed since 836 between Paderborn, Germany and Le Mans, France – the concept truly came to the forefront in modern times in the 1900’s particularly after the devastation of World War 2 in an effort to bring former adversaries together at a more grass roots level; a level of citizen diplomacy.
What defines a Sister City?
According to Sister Cities International, it’s defined as a broad based, long term partnership between two communities in two countries. They often lead to exchanges of information and ideas, economic development and cultural partnerships. You can gain an insight to the vast web of globally connected cities here.
What tangible benefits do they bring?
While Federal Governments are typically responsible for foreign policy, the unique aspect of sister city relationships is where they sit within the realms of government. In the majority of cases, they are managed at a city/region (local government level) in line with the original concept of citizen diplomacy and forming good will between global communities.
As such, they can often be maligned by a public that see the relationships only existing for the benefit of politicians and bureaucrats to abscond on some sort of government funded holiday – and no doubt, across the world, there have been instances of this. What they do bring, when managed right, are unique opportunities to their respective local communities despite the global geo-political rumblings that their senior governments may be engaged with at the time.
Looking closer to home, here in the City of Ipswich, we have long lasting reminders such as the very popular Nerima Gardens, ongoing education exchanges, library book exchanges and other areas of city to city promotion. Many countries, particularly in Asia, take these relationships seriously, often monitoring local news to send support during times of natural disasters or times of celebration.
When can it go wrong?
Local government, as a custodian of these relationships, can sometimes find itself in a difficult situation when at a federal level, things get a little frosty between two nations. A recent example is the City of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales when in April this year the council voted to sever its China sister city relationship – which it had been a signatory of for over three decades. This move drew instant condemnation from numerous corners, including state MPs with many highlighting that it’s a relationship between two communities – not governments. In this instance the council later rescinded the decision and issued an apology.
Other traps local representatives can fall into is commenting on or engaging in foreign policy/relations that should be left in the realm of the Federal Government. Additional risk can also be encountered by simply not taking the relationships seriously with little investment or token activities – leading to a sceptical public.
As the Wagga example above shows, one misstep can lead to much larger headaches and ruin decades of friendly relations.
Do they still matter?
In an increasingly polarised world, the spirit of citizen diplomacy is needed more than ever to keep grass root connections alive across the world. Sister City relationships can still continue to open doors for trade, education and cultural exchanges while potentially exposing future leaders to friendly communities around the world – leaving a lasting impact. Exchanges are providing a different perspective that may, as the post war sister city movement had intended, help promote peace into the future.
Like any relationship, you only get out what you put in!
The challenge in modern times for local government to show that these relationships ‘pay their way’, proactively invest in them and embrace the real opportunities. If this can’t be achieved, then tangible benefits will be few and far between and perhaps, they’d be better off not engaging in global relationships in the first place.
I for one hope they continue into the future for the right reasons.
BH
