ICMA International will continue and expand its signature CityLinks approach with a new award from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for a City-to-City Partnerships program. The new program focuses on three technical areas—climate change, food security, and water and sanitation—with a particular emphasis on climate change and the needs of the urban poor in developing countries.
The award, which is structured as a Leader with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement, could be worth as much as $25 million over a five-year period, depending on the number of Associate awards ICMA is granted under this umbrella. The LWA agreement was awarded by the Office of Urban Programs in USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth Agriculture and Trade.
A Leader with Associates award works like this: In the “Leader” portion, the recipient (in this case a team headed by ICMA) designs an overall approach to a defined challenge (in this case the need to address climate change, food security, and water and sanitation in developing countries). The team then proposes its approach to USAID missions in countries that are facing these challenges and works with them to identify the best way to move forward with individual cities and partner organizations. If the mission accepts ICMA’s proposal, the result is an “Associate” project funded by that mission.
The City-to-City Team
To address the technical areas of the new program, ICMA has engaged two primary partners—the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and Land O’Lakes International Development. Particular assets of these organizations are ICMA’s Center for Sustainable Communities, ISC’s Climate Leadership Academy, and the worldwide agribusiness network represented by Land O’Lakes.
The team also includes five additional resource organizations: Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), the American Public Works Association (APWA), Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI), the Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) Foundation, and the Urban Management Center (UMC), ICMA's representative in South Asia.
ICMA’s Approach
ICMA’s approach to the newly awarded program centers on climate change as the pivotal challenge for communities worldwide. Climate change has been responsible for drought, elevated temperatures, flooding, and other conditions that directly affect food supplies, water sources, and sanitation services—the other areas of focus.
ICMA believes that sound governance and proven management tools and practices can help cities become more resilient and better able to adapt to changes that have already occurred and to mitigate future risks. Resiliency will require cities to be proactive, to include the urban poor in making decisions, and to adopt innovations and approaches developed elsewhere. ICMA will:
- Employ its CityLinks model to create city-to-city partnerships that provide a forum for joint problem-solving and technical assistance
- Engage governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), business, and others to create networks for information sharing and problem solving
- Develop a dedicated site within the Knowledge Network through which ICMA, USAID, participating cities, and others can pose questions, share best practices and lessons learned, assemble relevant documents for reference, and form groups around common interests
- Establish a Leadership Academy to provide training tailored to local needs, including training of local trainers to ensure that the transfer of skills can be sustained in the future.
Opportunities for Participation
A significant strength of ICMA’s CityLinks projects has been the vast pool of expertise represented by ICMA’s local government members, department heads, and staff. These individuals are matched with host cities based on their knowledge and the host city’s needs.
ICMA also has a network of 23 international affiliate organizations based all over the world. And these affiliates can enrich ICMA projects through their national and regional networks and resources.
Many ICMA members are eager to share their experience, and this new award will expand the opportunities for them—most commonly to provide short-term technical assistance on a pro-bono basis. The agreement with USAID commits ICMA to a “cost share” of roughly $350,000, and the dollar value of labor contributed by these local government experts will count toward ICMA’s share.
ICMA Executive Director Robert J. O'Neill Jr. had this to say: “With this new award, ICMA can expand its popular and longstanding series of CityLinks partnerships, in which local government professionals share knowledge and expertise across international boundaries to find practical solutions that meet local needs. The focus areas—climate change, food security, and water and sanitation—are of paramount importance in today’s increasingly urbanized world.”
CityLinks: A Bit of History
The ICMA CityLinks program was inaugurated in collaboration with USAID in 1997. Known initially as Resource Cities, the program has become ICMA’s premier international program, creating partnerships between U.S. local governments and their counterparts in developing and transitioning countries. Under CityLinks, partners work together to meet local challenges by developing management approaches tailored to local conditions.
Although the funded CityLinks program officially ended in 2008, ICMA has continued to employ its CityLinks model in Jordan, Latin America, and Kosovo to address hazardous and industrial waste, crime and violence prevention, municipal creditworthiness, economic development, and other technical areas.
CityLinks: Enduring Partnerships
Periodically, ICMA learns that international partnerships that began under past CityLinks programs have continued to flourish even after the end of the funding:
- The city of Campbell, California, provided technical assistance and training and donated surplus fire equipment and garbage trucks to Rioverde, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, continuing a partnership that began in 2001.
- Oldsmar, Florida, and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, began a CityLinks partnership in 2008; three years later the Oldsmar fire chief spearheaded the donation of protective gear for the under-equipped Dire Dawa Fire Brigade.
- The director of utilities and engineering in Catawba County, North Carolina, continued advising public works and planning departments in the city of Tirana, Albania, long after their 2002-2007 partnership.
- A partnership between Golden, Colorado, and Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria, continued to promote a trade relationship for years after the CityLinks program was officially over.
- ICMA has learned of other enduring partnerships as well.
To learn more, visit the ICMA International website and the International Development topic page of the Knowledge Network, or email international@icma.org.