Professionals from six U.S. cities will participate in exchanges with their counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and China in a series of international partnerships focused on climate change and sustainability at the local level. This exchange is made possible by a grant to ICMA from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State as part of the State Department’s Professional Fellows Program.

The exchanges will start April 8, when ten fellows from New Zealand, Australia, and China arrive in Washington, D.C., for orientation and professional development sessions. Next, each one will spend two weeks in a U.S. host city, learning what the city is doing in terms of climate action planning and adaptation. The U.S. cities participating in the program are Palm Bay, Florida; Austin, Texas; Dubuque, Iowa; Tallahassee, Florida; Park City, Utah; and El Paso, Texas.

The Professional Fellows Program of which these exchanges are a part will bring more than 200 individuals from more than 30 countries to the United States in 2011. In addition to climate change, they will explore issues relating to food security, global health, legislative development, and “education to employment.”

Following the city visits, the Asian/Pacific fellows will return to Washington for a Fellows Congress hosted by the State Department to provide intensive professional development and networking opportunities.

In June, professionals from each U.S. city will spend two weeks in the country whose fellow(s) they hosted, participating in short-term internships, job shadowing, meetings with government officials, and outreach to nonprofits and community groups working to create sustainable communities.

In September, a second group of Asian/Pacific fellows will come to the United States and attend the ICMA conference in Milwaukee. Fellows from Indonesia will begin their exchange visits at that time. U.S. participants will make visits overseas early in 2012.

Fellows were selected in cooperation with ICMA’s affiliate organizations: Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA), the New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM), and the Association of Indonesia Municipalities (APESKI), and the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), with which ICMA is forming a working relationship. 

The program will promote local government partnerships, establish networks and international relationships, and lead to creativity in identifying locally appropriate solutions for creating more sustainable communities within the panorama of a changing climate. Its overall objectives are to: 

• Provide opportunities for professional development and cultural exchange
• Promote partnerships on climate change and sustainable communities at local governance and community levels between key local government practitioners and professional associations in the United States and their counterparts in other countries
• Actively engage the fellows in exploring local government policies and adaptation strategies for dealing with climate risks and for creating more sustainable communities
• Develop and implement a long-term plan of engagement between exchange fellows and other local governance stakeholders that will continue after the grant program has ended
• Increase opportunities for local government professionals to network and develop solutions for impending climate risks by helping them create more sustainable and resilient communities.

The Professional Fellows Program receives financial assistance from ECA under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, as amended. For additional information about the program, see the website for the Office of Citizen Exchanges at the State Department. Visit the ICMA website for information about ICMA’s Center for Sustainable Communities, and see the "Air, Climate, Water" topic area in the Knowledge Network