The Regency of Berau and the City of Port Angeles became CityLinks partners after the Nature Conservancy, a nongovernmental conservation organization that has worked in both Berau and Washington State, recommended that the two cities work together as a result of Port Angeles' firsthand experience in owning and operating stormwater systems and solid waste operations, as well as its full service engineering staff. Berau and Port Angeles have certain similarities: both are coastal port cities and have experience with the timber industry and its associated challenges for their communities. Thus, Port Angeles was in an ideal position to share its knowledge and experience with Berau.

Partnership Objectives and Activities

During the initial stage of the partnership, representatives from Berau and Port Angeles decided to focus on the areas of drainage and solid waste, with an additional focus on the education of young people.

Drainage. The objective is to design a program that would improve drainage in Berau without the city having to make a major capital investment. The drainage program would first be piloted in a small section of town, where it would be tested and adjusted. If successful, this project would be expanded to other areas.

Solid Waste. Control of solid waste would directly improve the drainage system. The objective of this component of the program was to improve the removal of solid waste and to clean the city's streets, canals and public disposal areas.

Education. The partners developed a curriculum that stresses environmental protection and city beautification by training elementary school teachers in new curriculum and teaching methods. These classes were to be implemented at the elementary schools within the areas identified for the drainage and solid waste project. The education project was designed to provide assistance to elementary school teachers as well as support the water and drainage projects being undertaken by Berau's Departments of Public Works and City Affairs.