Sister City Partnerships Conference

Sister Cities Conference in Kaiserslautern

November 29, 2007. On Thursday November 29, Deputy Principal Officer Richard Aker addressed the Atlantic Academy Kaiserslautern conference on the future of sister city, county and state partnerships between the United States and Germany. The conference, held at Kaiserslautern’s Fritz-Walter Stadium, provided a forum for discussion on how to create, expand and sustain a community partnership between the two nations. To open the event, Mr. Aker gave a speech outlining a few methods that German communities can use to awaken interest in potential transatlantic partners, including working through secondary and higher education contacts. Afterwards, Mr. Aker and cultural specialist Dr. Kirsten Gerstner participated in a panel discussion on the results of the Atlantic Academy’s survey of existing community partnerships and Rheinland-Pfalz. Following the panel discussion, Mr. Wolfgang Tönnesmann of the Atlantic Academy gave a talk on the multiple layers of municipal governance in the United States and showed the complexity of partners one must address in order to create a lasting and mutually beneficial partnership. During the conference, Mr. Aker gave an interview to SWR television on the American perspective on the future of sister cities.