News
Current Year Events and Activities
February 10-13, 2010, NCIV Annual Meeting - Washington, DC
Royce Anderson, Sharon Olander, Pat LaRochelle and Ken Johnson attended the annual meeting of the National Council for International Visitors which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
March 31, 2010. ICW hosted 11 delegates from the Middle East and North Africa on a program with the theme of “Science Education in American Primary and Secondary School”. These visitors are invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program. Their program was arranged by Graduate School, International Institute. This program is designed to provide an overview of science education issues at the federal, state, local and grassroots levels and to examine how various types of schools address science education and curriculum development in primary and secondary schools.
March 26- April 3, 2010. ICW hosted upcoming program for medical professionals from Astrakhan, Russia. Among the 9 delegates were the Rector and the Provost of one of the best schools in Astrakhan region - Astrakhan State Medical Academy and the representatives from Astrakhan State University. The overall objective of this program was to demonstrate ways in which government agencies and professional associations in the United States provide health care services, monitor quality, set clinical guide-lines, and continue health service quality improvement. ICW organized meetings with the UMass Medical School professionals in order to share their experience in teaching techniques and research methods.
April 21-25, 2010. ICW hosted two visitors on a program entitled “Volunteerism in America”. This visit was part of a larger program in which 50 participants from around the world are traveling to the United States to study volunteerism. As part of their trip the visitors fanned out across the country in pairs (or groups of three) to look at local approaches to volunteerism and civic engagement. Through visits to a range of organizations, participants examined how volunteers of all backgrounds and ages, especially young people, are inspired to community service. The project looked at the impact of social entrepreneurship and technology in developing new avenues for civic engagement and participation.
May 2-5, 2010 ICW hosted international visitors from Saudi Arabia in Worcester May 2-5 under the program 'Special Education'. The 4 delegates are in charge of the ‘Help Center’, a special education institute in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which has grown from a small group to a Center serving 350 children. They were here to exchange and gain experience in all aspects of support for individuals with developmental delays, from early childhood intervention to employment and community living.
May 7-14, 2010. ICW designed two programs for international visitors. At the beginning of the month ICW hosted visitors from Azerbaijan under the Open World program funded by the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress. The theme of the program was “Accountable Governance” and it offered its participants an opportunity to meet with the Mayor of Worcester and other City officials to get an understanding of the local form of government. According to the specific theme of the program, such local professional resources as the City’s Election Commissioner, Chief Financial Officer, or Office of Economic Development were visited. ICW also selected private NGOs such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters, or other scores of private and community organizations in Worcester for the international visitors from Azerbaijan to meet with.
May 20- June 10, 2010. A group of 10 Russian professionals in TB and HIV came to Worcester under the Community Connection program entitled Tuberculosis and TB/HIV Care in the USA. The program’s goal was to equip participants with the knowledge on the US best practices of provision of comprehensive care to TB and TB/HIV patients, which includes medical care, counseling, and a wide range of social services; design of TB control programs and management of TB/HIV co-infection in civilian and prison settings; obligatory treatment of non-compliant patients with infectious forms of TB; etc. Participants also had an opportunity to establish professional connections with peers in the US, so that they can gain the knowledge, support, and inspiration necessary to successfully facilitate healthy lifestyle changes in Russia.
June 14 - Annual Meeting was held. Guest speaker was George Lane, Former American Ambassador to Yemen, who shared his knowlegde on “Obama's Middle East Challenges: From Afghanistan to the Mediterranean”.
June 2-6, 2010 ICW hosted 7 delegates from Russian universities who visited Worcester under the program ‘Expanding U.S.-Russian University Partnership’ program sponsored by the U.S. government. This program was designed to introduce university administrators and academics from Russia to institutions of higher learning that have fostered international linkages with Russian universities or would like to facilitate such programs. In Worcester delegates met with representatives from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Quinsigamond Community College and Clark University.
June 23-27, 2010 300th Anniversary Celebration of Worcester Sister City, Pushkin
Worcester’s sister city Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo) celebrated the 300th anniversary of its founding by Peter the Great. ICW organized a group of people to travel to Pushkin as the official delegation representing Worcester. This was part of the annual international cultural festival that Pushkin has celebrated since 1994. Royce Anderson led a delegation of 6 ICW members: Jim Welu, Ken Johnson, Mimi Berberian, Anna Godfrey and her daughter Victoria. ICW worked with the City Administration of Pushkin and the Chamber of Commerce of Pushkin and Pavlovsk to arrange for housing and activities for the delegation, including some official events where the delegation presented a proclamation from the Mayor of Worcester, keys for the city and information about Worcester.
July 1, 2010 ICW organized a local program entitled “Environmental Protection in the United States” sponsored by the U.S. Department of State for the delegates from Azerbaijan who came. The specific objective for their local Worcester program was to understand Water and Sewer Operations in the U.S. and how Water/Sewer Operations are managed by the Worcester City Government. The program started with the meeting in the administrative offices of the Water/Sewer Operations Division for an overview of this municipal service. They then met visited the Water Treatment plant which provides water to the City of Worcester. They finished their day with a visit to Worcester’s waste water treatment plant, which treats and cleans sewer and stormdrain runoff for return into the Blackstone River
July 5 - August 15, 2010 July 5, 2010 ICW has met 8 students from Astrakhan, Russia at the JFK Airport, NYC. They are Clark students who arrived for their last semester before completing their Master’s degrees. ICW will cooperate with them to organize some summer activities: Atlantic Ocean is their number one plan! They also plan to visit New York including Niagara. We hope by their time to return home on August 15th, they not only will have their degrees but tons of new impressions and great pictures of America!
August 4-6, 2010 Royce Anderson has been invited and has received a grant to lead a session at the 2010 NCIV Western Regional Meeting which will take place August 4 – 6 in Bozeman, Montana. The theme of the session will be involving business in citizen diplomacy. Panelists will present the proposed contents of NCIV’s business outreach “tool kit,” will describe the latest research important to business on America’s image abroad, update you on recent and upcoming corporate roundtables, and introduce the State Department’s new “Public-Private Partnership” program.
August 13-18, 2010 ICW will host 8 Russian leaders in August under the USAID-sponsored program on Science and Technology Policy and Innovation Small Business. The program is designed to expose 8 participants who are with the private sector, academia, and the government to US support of small businesses, especially in the high tech sector and US policy on innovation. The program's objective is to further the connections and relationships developed between the Russian and US counterparts and advance peer-to-peer cooperation. It is hoped that once they return to Russia, they can adapt successful US models, approaches, and techniques.
August 22-25, 2010 Lord Richard Faulkner, a former member of the upper house of the British Parliament, will visit Worcester August 22-25, and we encourage any of you to step forward and help renew our relationship with Worcester, UK. Lord Faulkner is a resident of Worcester, England, and is much involved in a wide range of cultural and sporting activities in the city (theatre, museums, rugby, cricket, football (soccer), the cathedral, the university, schools and colleges). Helping to promote friendship with Worcester, MA is something which he, according to his own words, is really keen on. Along with the Office of Mayor of Worcester, ICW will participate in organizing a business program as well as cultural activities for Lord Faulkner and will attract its members who were interested in Sister City relationships to participate in hosting our guest.
September 17-25, 2010 ICW will host Russian professionals from our Sister city Pushkin from September 17-25. Three men and three women from Pushkin town Administration and educational institutions aged 29-52 will visit Worcester to fulfill their business program and get a unique experience from their American colleagues. We are looking for families to host one or two of these six delegates in their homes for eight days: September 17-25. We are especially happy to welcome new host families to explore the homestay experience and Citizen Diplomacy. If you are curious about home hosting, please contact us with no obligation. We will meet with you and your family to go through our international orientation information package with you and answer all your questions and concerns.
Past Year Events and Activities
December 12-20, 2009, Public Safety and Community Policing: Pushkin, Russia
ICW hosted four 4 public safety officials from Pushkin, Worcester’s Russian sister city, funded by the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress. The delegation included Pushkin's Chief of Crime Police, Chief of Road Police, the Fire Chief, and the Deputy Fire Chief. The theme is “Public Safety and Community Policing” with an emphasis on human rights and public relations. The program included meetings with the Worcester Police and Fire Dept., the Worcester DA, the Mayor, City Council, and the Public Schools. Visitors stayed in the homes of local families in order to experience American culture first-hand.
December 1-6, 2009
ICW hosted Victor Afanasenko, Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Pushkin, Russia. During this time he was the keynote speaker at two local business events: the Worcester Chamber of Commerce’s “Breakfast Club” and a Worcester Rotary Club luncheon. Mr. Afansenko spoke on the importance of international business involvement, the current global recession, and some recent international initiatives and opportunities for organizations. He also met with Gordon Lankton of the Russian Icon Museum and Richard Kennedy of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Afanasenko was featured on the special insert of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette on Thursday, December 3rd.
November 18, 2009
ICW helped design a program for 11 delegates from Germany under the invitation of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program titled ‘‘Workforce Development in Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency in the U.S.’’ Visitors visited Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC), where they learned how the College has converted its central energy and heating plant to use entirely locally-available bio-fuels (wood and plant materials gathered from local sources). Visitors met with MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino, and were also giving a tour of the College by Edward R. Terceiro, Jr., Resident Engineer, and MWCC Acting Deputy Commissioner for Fiscal Affairs, Mass. Dept. of Higher Education.
October 21-24, 2009
ICW hosted two delegates from the Uruguayan office of education on a program with the theme, ‘‘Education in the US a Project for Uruguay.’’ These visitors were in the country under the invitation of the United States Department of State’s International Visitor’s Leadership Program. The program exposed participants to the US experience in the field of K-12 and vocational studies to educational planning, administration, teacher training and technology. It also gave participants the opportunity to learn about the U.S. evaluation system, including supervision of teachers in the public system, curriculum development, evaluation, and quality in education.
October 19 and October 21, 2009
ICW hosted 18 delegates from the State Information Center in Beijing, China as part of the Fee for Service Program. They are invited to the U.S. under the auspices of the Institute of Transitional Economies. The program was designed to introduce participants to Comparative Models of Economic Transformation, business opportunities and government linkages in the high tech/telecommunications sector, and the role of technology parks in promoting economic growth in the United States. The group met with Professors from the Department of Economics and the Graduate School of Management at Clark University. They also met with Julia Dvorko from the Massachusetts Export Center and Dick Kennedy from the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. ICW also treated participants to a reception at the Traina Center at Clark University cosponsored with the COPACE and GSOM departments.
October 1-22, 2009, Healthy Lifestyle: Russia
ICW hosted a group of 10 Russia doctors on a Community Connections program sponsored by USAID. By exposing participants to a broad overview of American healthy lifestyle campaigns, participants will gain inspiration, knowledge, and connections to help them facilitate healthy lifestyle changes upon their return to Russia. The program focused on showing participants how to engage different sectors in healthy lifestyle campaigns, and how to facilitate their collaboration. Topics this program explored include: substance abuse prevention and treatment, sexual, nutritional, and physical education in schools; enforcement of drug and alcohol laws; reproductive health, and HIV prevention; community centers and advertising campaigns dedicated toward promoting healthy lifestyles; mental health, stress management, and suicide prevention programs; the role of the media in promoting healthy lifestyles; and the role of the government in encouraging healthy lifestyles and discouraging unhealthy lifestyles.
July 14, 2009.
ICW hosted the Executive Director of OXFAM in the Netherlands on a program entitled ‘‘Community Foundations, NGO Development, and Public Policy’’ She was invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The program gave her opportunity to experience and exchange views about peace building, conflict management and development cooperation in fragile states. She also met with the staff of Congressman Jim McGovern, paid a visit to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, and met with faculty and graduate students at Clark University’s Department of International Development, Community and Environment.
May 17th 2009 - May 20th 2009, Community Support for Youth Engagement: Ukraine
ICW hosted 5 visitors from the Ukraine this month. The goals of the program were to provide insight into the creation and operation of community youth centers, examine public-private partnerships in services for youth, explore community initiatives that provide training and mentorship for young people, and highlight the integration of community service components into programming at local youth centers. During their time in Worcester the visitors visited YOU, Inc., the Worcester Youth Center, Worcester Public Schools, and the Worcester Police Department. The visitors also enjoyed a night of home hospitality with ICW member, James Welu.
April 26th - May 5th, 2009, Technology Parks - A Project for Oman
ICW hosted 3 visitors from Oman on a program titled "Technology Parks - A Project for Oman" These visitors were invited to the United States through the International Visitor Leadership Program. Their program is arranged by the Voluntary Visitors Division of the Office of International Visitors. The delegates participated in visiting universities to diversify their understanding of research, science and technology in the field of technology parks/incubators established by universities. The participants were senior officials of the Sohar University in Oman. Participants visited several universities including Harvard, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
April 23- May 14, 2009, Historical Preservation; Ukraine
ICW hosted a group of 10 delegates from the Ukraine on a program entitled "Preservation of the Historical and Social Environment of Cities." This program was a Community Connections program arranged through USAID. The goal of the program was to raise awareness among the targeted group about the importance of preserving the historical, cultural and social environment of cities and to examine how this can be done while assuring services and economic security for the population. Participants learned what makes a city attractive to live in, how citizens are involved in determining, maintaining or transforming their environment, and what are the key elements that need to be considered (schools, hospitals and other services).
April 7, 2009 Business Summit on Citizen Diplomacy "Engage the World and Improve Your Business" (Download program summary - PDF document)
Location: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Worcester
Participants learned what you can do to improve the international climate for business and trade. Join the national movement among businesses across the US to engage in Citizen Diplomacy. Share your opinions and experiences. You can have a positive impact on America's prosperity, security, and global standing.
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