Just about two years ago, ICMA started working with the U.S. Department of State to offer a professional fellowship program that was focused on creating more sustainable communities. It was our first foray into this kind of program, and there were many unknowns lined up like challenges on Fear Factor.  After some initial setbacks, ICMA and our partners in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and China coordinated a program that brought 24 local government professionals to the United States for a week of orientation in Washington; two weeks with host communities; and finally another week in Washington for a Fellows Congress.  Reciprocally, US fellows travelled abroad for two week exchanges in one of the four other countries, meeting with local stakeholders and experiencing local government management in an international setting.  

When I started writing this post I was tempted to offer the typical, yet usually boring and frequently unhelpful listings of lessons learned that so often form the epilogue of final reports.  But as I struggled with the things “we" learned, I kept referring back to the blogs that each of the fellows posted and quickly realized that the lessons learned were embedded in their experiences, the ideas they took home to their communities and the eloquent and impassioned messages they expressed as they took part in the program.

You can read all of the entries on the Climate Change Fellowship blog.  It is a rich and interesting collection of essays by 40 intrepid local government leaders.  The listing of lessons learned that follow were selectively but not scientifically culled from the fellows posts and spin a far better yarn than I could ever tell.  In some cases, but not all, the names have been removed to protect the innocent.

• In the USA you can’t call it climate change. You can refer to climate variability or climate weirding  . . . It didn’t take long to realize the US is going nowhere with climate change planning. They are too busy arguing about whether it is actually happening, whether it’s human induced, whether it’s a conspiracy. 
• It is one of those staggering numbers that bend the mind.  Between 2010 and 2025, Chinese authorities project that the population of their cities will grow by another 300 million. That means that the Chinese are re-creating an urban environment as large as all American cities and suburbs combined -- in just fifteen years.
• Late in the morning, the van scattered a herd of goats and pulled into a courtyard.  We were greeted by a wiry, gray-haired gentleman, who gestured us to follow him to a roofed structure.  Peeking around the wall, I came face to face with a cow.   Here in the midst of this packed urban neighborhood was a small dairy herd.  The farmer showed us how manure is washed down into a concrete septic tank.  The tank is connected by pipes to a methane tank nearby.  This tank in turn is connected by a hose to a small cooking stove nearby.  With obvious pride, the farmer demonstrated the system by lighting a burner on the stove.   A few minutes later, the farmer led us several houses down the lane to another small dairy, also with a bio-digester and cook stove. 
• So I came all the way to NZ to find out how similar we are as people, as local government managers and climate change "co-conspirators" :) We share the same issues with our bosses, the elected officials and with the demands of the residents we serve. I feel that I have made true connection and in some cases, even friends.
• The reclaimed Hart-Miller islands 11km of dredged contaminated soil. It really brought home to me how damaged our fragile earth has become through unfettered industrial development. The up-side was the spectacular birdlife on the manmade wetlands.
• We are making our way by van through the narrow streets of Bogor’s neighborhoods.  The houses are one- to two-story buildings, side-by-side and up tight against the street.  Prosperous homes share walls with humble ones.  People are everywhere.  I never realized that low-rise development could be this dense.
• It is here in Park City Utah, that the maturing of relationships between community advocacy groups and local governments has turned “P” for painful into “2P” productive partnerships. With around 92 NGO’s covering the broad spectrum of sustainability initiatives, the local council has capitalized on community groups’ enthusiasm, expertise and wider networks through partnering, support and collaboration to be leader in environmental, social and economic sustainability. 
• My fellows have already been at work summarizing our experiences so far, so before we go our separate ways into our host communities I thought I would share one key learning for me, there are others. The big one for me is the importance of sharing; sharing problems, experiences, successful and failed experiments and ideas

One of the last blog postings showcases the power of fellowship programs like the one just concluded and how they can impact personal and profesional lives.

So, the inevitable question is, always, what are we to do? In the face of such large problems, it will not be the technical solutions, or nuts and bolts answers that matter most (they may yet to be discovered), but our awareness and will and the questions we are willing to ask.  The solutions will come if we are driven enough to believe that we can save ourselves from our folly. If we awaken to what we have wrought and the bleaker, diminished inheritance we will surely pass on to our children.  If we recognize, like the good people of Kaikoura, that nature has given us a gift, a most bountiful and generous gift.  I will not be content with little victories or the best practice of the moment, when I know that what is being asked of us extends far beyond such bureaucratic goals. The truth of every human being’s life has always included the advancement of civilization. Much of what we are doing around the world and in the communities, within which we live, is not civilized. We should be ashamed. We have settled for so little, when we have been given everything.