Current Year Events and Activities

August 7-20, 2008 Quality Improvement and Evidence-Based Medicine

The ICW will be hosting a group of 10 visitors from Azerbaijan. This program is a Community Connections Program sponsored by USAID. The overall objective of this program is to demonstrate ways in which health care providers, government agencies and professional associations in the United States monitor quality, set clinical guidelines, continue health service quality improvement, employ techniques of evidence based medicine and license hospitals and healthcare professionals. Visitors will also observe the role of universities in providing updated data and new methodologies on health issues discovered through analysis and research. They will better understand how the government regulates the health sector and assures the quality of healthcare services provided by private and public providers.

May 23-June 11, 2008 Tolerance, Community Relations and Minority Rights

The ICW will be hosting a group of 10 visitors from St. Petersburg. This is a Community Connections Program sponsored by USAID. The program will work to promote more tolerant attitudes between individuals towards members of different races, adherents of other religions, and people with different views on sensitive issues. It will demonstrate how various governmental and non-governmental agencies work together to create a more tolerant environment in their communities, how all sectors of society are involved in tolerance work, how educational institutions provide education on the subject and their collaboration with law enforcement agencies. Participants in this group will understand how grassroots organizations in the United States work to support community dialogue, integration, and tolerance of non-mainstream cultures.

We need to find homestays for all of them (see this flyer). Short bios are currently available on each participant and will be forwarded on request.

May 5-7, 2008 Grassroots Democracy and Good Governance; Angola and Mozambique

The ICW will be hosting four visitors from Angola and Mozambique invited to the United States under the auspices of the State Department's International Visitor Program. Their national program is administered by Phelps Stokes Fund. The objective of this program is to provide a better understanding of the democratic form of government in the U.S. and the significance of citizen participation in the democratic process. The group will also be traveling to Washington, DC, Little Rock, AZ, Bozeman, MT, and Denver, CO during their stay in the United States. While in Worcester they will be observing democracy in action at the local level by observing a town hall meeting.

April 19 - 29, 2008 Higher Education in the United States; Astrakhan

ICW is hosting a group of 11 delegates from Russia. This program is a Fee for Service program sponsored by the State University of Astrakhan. The group will be meeting with faculty from both WPI and Clark University. The group will spend the last four days of their trip in New York City visiting the NY School of Visual Arts and Columbia University as well as getting the chance to do some sightseeing. This group is part of the ongoing partnership between the ICW and the University of Astrakhan.

February 23-March 2, 2008 Secondary Education; Russia

ICW hosted five secondary educators from Russia participating in this Open World Program. Their program was coordinated by the Academy for Educational Development. The main objective was to examine educational issues within the context of the highly decentralized American model, with a focus on educational policy, technology integration into classrooms, alternative financing of public education, equity/access, the role of testing in educational assessment and access to higher education, community involvement, extracurricular and after-school activities, and school-to-work programs. They were able to visit with several principals from the area as well as the Assistant Director of the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association (MSSAA) and members of the Worcester Public Schools Central Administration. The group was also able to enjoy a day in Boston.

January 24- February 5, 2008 Professional Education and Methodology in the U.S.; Astrakhan

December 12-14, 2007 Community Foundation Development, Ukraine

October 26 - November 3, 2007 Open World Leadership Program

October 15, 2007 Telematics, Poland

ICW hosted Grzegorz Boleslaw Holowinski from Poland.  This program was administered by Meridian International Center and funded by the U.S. State Department. The objective of this program was to see how telematics (communications technology in traffic control) is used in city and urban logistics.  Examples of vehicle telematics and traffic management in urban areas include variable message signs, traffic light control, sensing systems, etc., to learn about systems for municipal services such as refuse collection, public transport, etc. and about open source software in public administration. Mr. Holowinski met with consultants at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation's Traffic Control Center, an engineer at Worcester's Department of Public Works, and a faculty member at the Center for Wireless Information Network Studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  

June 21, 2007 ICW Annual Meeting

ICW's Annual Meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Grace Conference Room at the Higgins University Center, Clark University.  The theme of the Meeting will be the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Worcester and Pushkin, Russia.  Professor Emeritus at Holy Cross College and former Mayor of Worcester John B. Anderson will speak on the formation of the Sister City Project and 20 years of friendship.  ICW Board members and officers for 2007-2008 will be elected.

Republic of Georgia, May 4, 2007

The International Center of Worcester hosted four Rectors (Presidents) of Universities in Georgia. The program was on the administration of higher education in the U.S. and the role of education in democratization.  Their Worcester program focused on the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  One of the visitors is Rector of a State Medical University in Georgia.  Their national program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program and administered by Meridian International.

ICW Attends National Council for International Visitors Annual Meeting 2007

Four ICW representatives drove to Washington DC to attend the Annual Meeting of the National Council for International visitors (NCIV), February 13-17: Executive Director, Royce Anderson; Project Manager, Nadia Anderson; Webmaster, Ken Johnson; and Membership Manager, Vita Aronson.  It was the largest Annual Meeting in the 17 years of such meetings with 668 representatives from other centers for international visitors in 42 states, State Department personnel, National Program Agency staff, and other attendees.  This was the first time Vita and Ken attended an NCIV annual meeting.  Read their reflections on the experience here.
View photographs of the meeting here.

Links:

www.usaidtraining.net/community-connections.htm
www.worldlearning.org/wlid/tande/ccp/index.html

Information Package for the Program

For more information, contact us.