Daily trash pickup in Chiang Mai, Thailand . . . local handicrafts promoted only by word of mouth in the absence of marketing dollars . . . a 78-year-old “bridge to nowhere” that once provided access to a remote area for pioneering farmers . . . a national parliament building in New Zealand where even the Queen of England is not allowed to cross the line between the monarchy and representative government . . .

These were among the surprises reported by participants in a portion of the U.S. Department of State’s Professional Fellows Program that was managed by ICMA this past year.

Since 2011, 32 professionals from Asian/Pacific countries and 20 local government professionals from the United States have participated in reciprocal exchanges that have expanded their horizons and reinforced the value of global knowledge sharing. The numbers will rise in the coming months. ICMA has managed exchanges—with China, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia—since 2010.

In addition to surprises, the Fellows learned about day-to-day local government activities in the countries they visited: economic development and tourism, finance and budgeting, local and regional planning, sustainability programs, service delivery practices, and citizen engagement initiatives.

Similar opportunities will continue, thanks to new funding from the State Department‘s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. ICMA has been selected through a competitive bidding process to manage a portion of the program again, this time involving Indonesia and Timor-Leste (East Timor).  

The new program is a successor to the Sustainable Communities Fellowship Program in 2010-12 and the Legislative Process and Governance Fellowship Program that began in 2012 and continues through June 2014. The newest program also centers on the legislative process and governance, particularly citizen engagement. ICMA will work with its affiliates in Indonesia (APEKSI) and Australia (Local Government Management Australia, LGMA) to select participants.

Each program cycle begins by bringing professionals from other countries to the United States, where they start in Washington, D.C., for an orientation. The Fellows then disperse throughout the country, each one spending three weeks in a local jurisdiction that can provide insights into one or more of the challenges identified by the international visitor(s).

U.S. host jurisdictions have an opportunity to select a staff member to return the visit. Participants have been Albany, Oregon; Basalt, Colorado; Tulsa, Oklahoma; University Park, Texas; Park City, Utah; El Paso and Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Palm Bay, and Alachua County, Florida; Palo Alto, California; Mission, Kansas; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Dubuque, Iowa; and the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Council of Governments.

During the first round of the current program, starting in April, eight professionals from China, New Zealand, and Thailand visited Washington, D.C., as a group before traveling to their host cities. During the summer, U.S. Fellows from Albany, Tulsa, University Park, and Pitkin County, Colorado, traveled to Thailand and New Zealand to visit the cities whose professionals they had hosted earlier.

Kate Porsche, Albany’s economic director, was featured in the local press in Wanganui, New Zealand, as she absorbed the “kiwi experience,” including “a big earthquake and  . . .  a potato-topped pie” as well as learning about the workings of the city.

This month, a second cohort of Fellows from China, Thailand, and New Zealand are visiting the U.S. The pre-departure orientation for the Chinese Fellows coincided with Executive Director Bob O’Neill’s visit to China, so he was able to meet with them and introduce them to ICMA. Staff members from the U.S. cities will make their return visits in February and March, 2014.

To learn more about ICMA’s international programs, browse the “International Development” topic or email international@icma.org.