Russia continues to face serious challenges to developing a democratic, open and participatory civil society that can foster economic growth and well being for its citizens. A demographic crisis is looming, caused by poverty and deteriorating public health. In particular, the worsening physical infrastructure in the outlying Far East region is undermining economic stability. Resources have largely been flowing to Moscow and the western cities, leaving people in the Far East feeling disenfranchised, with many basic needs unmet. This is amplified by the geographic isolation and hostile climate of Russian Far East (RFE).
ICMA's two-year RFE-Alaska CityLinks Program established technical partnerships between communities in RFE and Alaskan cities and organizations to provide access to hands-on technical assistance and peer-to-peer learning in the area of Local Economic Development (LED). The Program took advantage of existing successful LED practices already in place in the region to provide a valuable basis from which to initiate comprehensive community LED efforts in RFE partner communities. The program also built upon partnerships that existed between RFE communities in these regions and Alaskan cities and organizations.
The CityLinks RFE program provided hands-on technical assistance, training and focused exchanges with the selected communities, complemented by targeted project assistance funding. Eight RFE cities were identified and matched with appropriate Alaskan partners based on the needs of the RFE cities and expertise of the Alaskan local governments:
Dolinsk and Nevelsk, RFE - Anchorage, AK
Bikin and Luchegorsk, RFE - Juneau, AK
Bolshoy Kamen, RFE – Kenai, AK
Ussuriisk and Arsinyev, RFE – Wasilla, AK
Viazemsky, RFE- Skagway, AK
Round I was kicked off in March 2006 and Round II in December 2006, each with a two-day conference that included basic LED training. Diagnostic visits in the RFE communities followed, in which projects were identified and action plans drafted.
In the course of the program, partners worked on a wide variety of projects--tourism, small business development and support, investment attraction, marketing, business planning--all geared toward improving overall economic development in their communities. The program is described in detail in the report Enhancing Economic Development Opportunities in Communities in the Russian Far East . Results include:
- Development of a business incubator
- Development of a business plan for investment attraction of a factory
- Establishment of a one-stop shop for tourism
- Development of a tourism passport and a municipal tourism plan/program
- Development of a concept plan for a business park
- Establishment of an economic development center.
The program concluded in August 2007 with a Best Practices Symposium in Vladivostok. The symposium attracted about 100 people representing the highest levels of municipal management of 14 RFE cities and regional governments in Khabarovsky kray, Primorsky kray, and Sakhalinskaya Oblast, economic development experts, government officials from Alaska, USAID/Russia, and the U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok. Each partnership project, individually tailored to meet the specific needs and expectations of the local community, was showcased, sharing methods, tools, and results with other RFE communities.