| :: International Relations |
Mayor's Message
|
Mayor Ron Loveridge |
Moving deep into Fall, we have been busier than ever.
First, kudos to North High’s student newspaper, The North Star, for setting new standards of journalistic excellence! Editor-in-Chief Malcolm Clayton, and reporters Alice Koga and Michelle Shin attended every one of our 2009 Race Equality Week events, and provided thoughtful and excellent reports on them.
I had an enjoyable visit with members of the Orange Club of Sendai, in Riverside to work on the Japanese Garden in White Park. The Garden was Sendai’s gift to Riverside in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sister City relationship between the two cities. Orange Club members are complementing the terrific work by Parks, Recreation, and Community Services to keep the Garden looking beautiful.
It is always exciting meeting students from other cultures. I had a chance to meet with some of the 10 Egyptian students who are enrolled at Riverside Community College as part of the California Community Colleges Egypt Initiative. Their visit was particularly meaningful as the International Relations Council (IRC) gets ready to explore the potential for a Sister City in the Muslim world through a Jordan-Egypt trip that is being planned for March 2010. The trip will be led by IRC President Dr. Larry Geraty, a world renowned archeologist who has been excavating in Jordan for the past 40 years.
Some other congratulations are in order. The Honorable Emiko Okuyama has been elected as Mayor of Sendai. I am looking forward to working with her on strengthening and expanding the historic ties that bind our two cities. She succeeds the Honorable Katsuhiko Umehara who retired at the end of his term in August.
And some farewells. My friend and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, Dr. Y.S. R. Reddy died tragically in a helicopter crash. His passing leaves a void in the deep Sister City bonds Riverside has with Hyderabad, India.
Soon, UCR will be breaking ground on a solar innovation center at its Center for Environmental Research & Technology. The center is the result of a collaborative effort by Riverside, UCR, Sendai, Sendai’s Tohoku University, and other partners to bring cutting-edge solar technology to our region. It also represents the platform on which I hope our historic relationship with Sendai will grow and flourish over the next 50 years.
Click here to view past messages from the Mayor.
This has been a busy summer in international relations. In July, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our Sister City relationship with Gangnam, Republic of Korea, at a highly successful and well attended reception at the Grier Pavilion. Later that month, our City was awarded the 2009 Sister Cities International (SCI) Innovation award in Arts and Culture for cities with populations less than 500,000 for an artist exchange project created by Mark Schooley, Executive Director, Riverside Community Arts Association, and Board Member, International Relations Council (IRC) of Riverside. Mr. Schooley's artist exchange project, “Riverside Views” exhibited works by 25 artists from our Mexico sister cities, Cuautla and Ensenada in Riverside, and works by 25 Riverside artists in those cities.
August saw us welcoming 10 students from Egypt who will be spending the next 10 months studying at RCC as part of a California Community Colleges Egypt program. August also saw us bid farewell to four students from the Republic of Korea who spent 16 weeks interning in the City's IT Department under the Mayor's International Internship Program.
We celebrated Race Equality Week in September with a uniquely international flavor, highlighting the cultures of our seven sister cities. During that same time, we hosted a delegation from Obuasi, Ghana, our newest Sister City. Obuasi Mayor John Ackon and his delegation participated in many of the events of Race Equality Week, most notably in the California Peace Crane Project event at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum where he and I made origami cranes in memory of Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps in World War II. A highlight of the visit was a Peace Concert held by the IRC Obuasi Committee at White Park.
Later this month, we will be welcoming a citizen delegation from Sendai, Japan, our sister for 52 years. This is the oldest continuous Sister City relationship in the United States. We were awarded 2008 SCI award for Best Overall Program for our celebration of the 50th anniversary of the relationship. But more about that next month...
Hide Archive
Read the International Brochure
View the Photo Gallery
Read the International Strategic, 2004, Plan Overview
|
Our Partners
|
 |
THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COUNCIL OF RIVERSIDE
Contact: Dr. Lawrence Geraty
The International Relations Council of Riverside is a 501[c][3] organization that helps facilitate Riverside’s Sister City relationships. It is composed of seven Sister City committees, one for each of Riverside’s seven Sister Cities. The 2009-2010 President of the IRC is Dr. Lawrence Geraty, President Emeritus of La Sierra University, and former Chairman of the Board of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.
|
 |
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL VISITORS
Contact: Diane Elton, Jodi Cahill
The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) is a national network of program agencies and more than 91 community-based organizations. These nonprofit groups design and implement professional programs as well as provide cultural activities and home hospitality opportunities for foreign leaders, specialists and international scholars.
|
 |
THE WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL
Contact: Marylin Jacobsen
World Affairs Council is the premier forum in the Inland Empire for discussion of national and international subjects. The Council provides a platform for leaders and experts in diplomacy, news, media, business, international trade, the military, arts and culture. Speakers from the United States and other nations around the globe present programs at the invitation of the Council. Whether you are an expert on foreign affairs, or just want to keep up with current news, the Council offers you ample opportunity.
|
Our Calendar
|
 |
| INTERNATIONAL EVENTS CALENDAR
|
Riverside's Sister Cities
|
 |
SENDAI, JAPAN
Sister City Since: December 10, 1957
Chairpersons: Karla Adams, Bob Bishop
Sendai became Riverside’s first Sister City on December 10, 1957, making this relationship the oldest in the nation. In 2007, Riverside and Sendai celebrated the 50th anniversary of their relationship. Located about 180 miles north of Tokyo on Japan’s largest island, Honshu, Sendai is one of Japan’s 11 major cities. The city of 1 million is home to Tohoku University, which signed an inter-university agreement with the University of California, Riverside as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. The agreement is designed to facilitate the exchange of scholars and researchers. |
 |
CUAUTLA, MEXICO
Sister City Since: July 9, 1968
Chairperson: Phil Holder
A relatively small city of 145,000 in the Mexican state of Morelos, Cuautla became Riverside’s second Sister City on July 9, 1968. Known for its natural warm sulphur springs and mild climate, Cuautla is an important tourist destination. Because of its role in Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain, Cuautla is also an official historic city. Riverside Fire Department personnel frequently travel to Cuautla to train their counterparts in firefighting techniques. Riverside Fire Department also donates decommissioned vehicles. The relationship is rich in art and cultural exchanges as well.
|
|
ENSENADA, MEXICO
Sister City Since: March 9, 1976
Chairperson: Lea Petersen
This port city of 460,000 in Baja, Mexico, is an important fishing and commercial hub, and is home to four universities. Ensenada became Riverside’s third Sister City on March 9, 1976. It produces 90 percent of Mexico’s wines, and is one of Mexico’s most important tourist destinations. Ensenada’s relationship with Riverside is characterized by arts and cultural exchanges as well as public safety exchanges. Riverside frequently donates decommissioned fire and police equipment to the police and fire departments of Ensenada. |
 |
JIANGMEN, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Sister City Since: April 15, 1997
Chairpersons: Dale Kinnear, Cate Whitemore, Amber Zhao
A city of 3.9 million in the Pearl River region of South China, Jiangmen is an industrial and manufacturing hub, and has been Riverside’s Sister City since April 15, 1997. Jiangmen, which translates as “River Gate,” is also the citrus capital of China and one of that nation’s fastest growing economies. Ties between the people of Jiangmen and Riverside pre-date the Sister City relationship to the late 19th century when immigrants from the Jiangmen region arrived in Riverside to work in the citrus industry. |
 |
GANGNAM, REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Sister City Since: May 1, 1998
Chairperson: Patrick Brien
Gangnam, Seoul’s wealthiest municipal district, became Riverside’s Sister City on May 1, 1998. With a population of more than half a million, Gangnam is an international center for business, industry and finance. Since the inception of the relationship, there have been cultural and information technology exchanges between Riverside and Gangnam. One of the most significant outcomes of this relationship was the establishment in 2001 of the Gangnam University of California, Riverside International Education Center. The Center provides English language training. |
 |
HYDERABAD, INDIA
Sister City Since: February 16, 2000
Chairperson: Surekha Acharya
This center for high technology and India’s fifth largest city with a population of 7.5 million became Riverside’s Sister City on February 16, 2000. That same year, the University of California, Riverside entered into sister university agreements with Hyderabad’s Osmania and N.G. Ranga Agricultural universities. As a direct result of the Sister City agreement, Infotech Enterprises, Hyderabad’s second largest software company, opened its first United States office in Riverside, staying until 2007. This relationship is characterized by business, educational and governmental exchanges. |
 |
OBUASI, GHANA
Sister City Since: September 13, 2008
Chairperson: Robert Airhart
Riverside’s first Sister City in Africa, Obuasi is known for its gold mining operations. Located about a hundred miles north east of Ghana’s capital, Accra, it is home to one of the top 10 gold producing mines in the world. Obuasi is also rapidly moving into the bio-fuels sector. It has distributed a million seedlings of the oil-rich jatropha plant to farmers in the area. Like Riverside, Obuasi has a citrus heritage, and farms about a thousand acres of the African honey orange. |
| |
|
|
International & Sister City Links
 |
|
National & Local Links
 |
|
|
