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By Ann Allen
Athens, Ga., and Kamianets-Poldilsky, Ukraine, are university cities that have experienced major political changes in recent years--government unification in the case of Athens and the break-up of the Soviet Union and a swift change to democracy for Kamianets-Poldilsky. The two cities have nearly the same population, and both cities are home to many historical sites and buildings.
Because of their similarities, they were selected by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation to be partner cities under the Community Partnership Project managed by the foundation and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation asked the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s International Center for Democratic Governance to facilitate the partnership through which the Athens-Clarke County unified government will help the Ukrainian city deal with some tough government and economic issues.
Through this partnership project, Sergey Babiy, secretary of the Kamianets-Podilsky city council, and Victor Travinsky, director of the city’s Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Tourism, and Development, recently spent two weeks in Athens. While they were in Georgia, they also visited Savannah, Jekyll Island, Madison and Stone Mountain.
The partnership began in September 1999 when Robert Snipes, Athens-Clarke County deputy manager, and Dan Durning, Vinson Institute senior public service associate, traveled to the Ukrainian city to help assess the project’s goals.
“Working with Athens-Clarke County government, we have been able to determine project objectives and provide the internships for Sergey and Victor,” Durning explains. “This spring we will send a local government employee and university faculty member to Kamianets-Podilsky to provide two weeks of training and consultations,”
The December visit by Babiy and Travinsky was designed so they could see local government in action, as a model for them to take back to their young democratic community.
“They attended many meetings with city officials and others in the Athens community, as well as sessions with university faculty members to discuss economic and community development and public administration,” Durning says. “Like Athens, the officials in Kamianets-Podilsky have an active interest in promoting tourism to their 900-year-old city, which has more than 200 historical and architectural landmarks that are more than 300 years old,” he adds.
The Center for International Democratic Governance has initiated several similar projects. They have provided for the exchange of political knowledge and skills of university faculty and government officials with their counterparts in emerging democracies in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Estonia and Shanghai.
“We believe the partnership project between Athens-Clarke County and Kamianets-Podilsky is a good example of a cooperative activity that strengthens the connection between the two cities and between the university and the unified government,” Durning says.
OTHER CITIES, OTHER TALES
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/
In addition to facilitating the partnership project between Athens-Clarke County and Kamianets-Poldilsky, the Center for International Democratic Governance has provided for the exchange of political knowledge and skills of university faculty and government officials with their counterparts in emerging democracies in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Estonia and Shanghai.
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