Coalition for Citizen Diplomacy

The CCD is a newly formed umbrella group made up of major international affairs non-profits in the US that have nationwide membership.

The members include:

WACA
National Council for International Visitors
Institute of Int'l Education
Sister Cities International
Partners of the Americas
People-to-People International
Alliance for Int'l Educational and Cultural Exchange
Academy for Educational Development
American Council of Young Political Leaders
Meridian Int'l Center
NAFSA (National Foreign Student Organization)

and certain foundations, companies and individuals interested in the field. Full membership list

The CCD's program is based on the concept that individual citizens have the right and the responsibility to be engaged as global citizens to promote positive international relations.The CCD has launched a national campaign to increase dramatically the number of internationally active Americans. The campaign will include community meetings and summits across the US in 2005-06. The process will culminate in Washington DC in July 2006 with:

- a Capitol Hill Day
- a National Summit on Citizen Diplomacy
- a White House event, and
- the 50th Anniversary of Sister Cities and People-to-People Int'l
- a Global Press Conference.

What is Citizen Diplomacy?

Citizen diplomacy means:

- citizen participation in foreign policy issues
- people-to-people activities overseas
- hosting international visitors in the United States.

Local Summits in the CCD Process

The National Summit will be built from local summits held throughout the US. It will directly incorporate the ideas, experiences, and recommendations that you generate through the local summits.

Holding a Local Summit

We would like you to consider organizing or partnering with other local groups in holding a local summit. About 60 cities  have so far indicated an interest in doing so. The CCD is hoping for more than 100. The preference is for these events to be done with partner organizations so that a new pattern of cooperation emerges as is the case nationally. If however you wish to do this alone, i.e. without partners, that is acceptable. If you are interested in being a part of the CCD process, please send us information on your prospective local event (s):

Proposed Date:
Proposed Theme(s):
Proposed Partners:
Contact Person:

Goals for the Community Summits

-- Celebrate the achievements of citizen diplomats, both public and private.

-- Get into the public domain the benefits of citizen diplomacy in business, education, government, military affairs, religion, and more.

-- Seek to increase the number of citizens engaged in citizen diplomacy in your community.

-- Attract new public and private resources to the field.

-- Put your ideas into the national summit process.

When Should the Community Summits Take Place?

The local summits should be organized between September 2005 and March 2006. The major national events are scheduled for July 13-15, 2006 in Washington.

Partnering Organizations

Look through the list of organizations currently considering hosting local summits. Please see if any of the organizations in your city are already considering sponsoring an event. If so, we encourage you to contact them about partnering or they may contact you.

Funding

The funding for the local summits is not available through WACA or the other national partnering organizations. Councils and their local partners will be responsible for all program costs.  The two pilot events to date in Springfield IL and Arlington VA have not involved big price tags.

Benefits of Participation

Benefits include:

-- Attending Capitol Hill Day and the National Summit on Citizen Diplomacy

-- Raising the visibility of your council and citizen diplomacy locally and nationally

-- Getting the attention of the President and Members of Congress

-- Finding new members in your community

-- Forming new long-term partnerships with the international affairs
non-profits.

Toolkit

CCD created a toolkit that provides "how-to" knowledge on organizing the community summits as well as give a background for the CCD work.

It includes:

-- community summit fact sheet
-- project description
-- suggested formats
-- suggested themes
-- media kit
-- speaker invitation information
-- volunteer/committee recruitment information
-- post-event checklist
-- online evaluation
-- participant evaluation.

When you send us your indication of interest, we will send you a complete toolkit.

Timeline for the CCD Process

Spring 2005 - Communities express interest in participating

June 2005 - CCD local summit toolkit and materials distributed.

August 2005 - CCD summit process website goes online

September 2005 - Community summits begin

March 2006 - Community summits end

April 1, 2006 - Final due date for local summit reports and recommendations

July 2006 - Capitol Hill Day, National Summit on Citizen Diplomacy, Meeting with President, 50th Anniversary of Sister Cities and People-to-People, Global Press Conference.

Questions?

For more information or to participate please contact Ljiljana Komnenic.