Enhancing Civic Engagement

The cooperation between cities and towns in the United States and Northern Ireland has grown stronger over the years. These town and city partnerships have continually developed strong civic links that produce practical and tangible benefits for our citizens.

We have seen the benefits of civic partnerships in many ways, including opening up new markets for businesses, creating jobs, fostering student and cultural exchanges, promoting urban regeneration and examining best practice in areas of civic responsibility.

Many of our councils are engaged in dealing with issues that have an everyday impact on communities, from recycling to attracting businesses to the area and from providing leisure services to town planning. The nature and delivery of local government services has changed with the introduction of new technology and we want to encourage the sharing of knowledge of how our local governments actually function for the benefit of our citizens. We want to share technology, share knowledge on good customer practices and initiate partnerships that will help to promote understanding of different cultures.

The Northern Ireland Bureau will continue to work with organizations in the United States and at home to develop new entrepreneurial strategies, to do business together and to work with existing civic partnerships to see how our relationships can further develop. If you are involved in any ‘Twinning’ projects with Northern Ireland, or if you would like to explore possible links, please contact us at the Bureau.