UBC-LVRLAC COOPERATION

The co-operation between UBC and LVRLAC, UBC sister organisation in East Africa, has taken speed from January 2001. The first co-operation projects are well under way. The first priority is to strengthen the LVRLAC organisation.

Mr Magnus Rydén, the former UBC web-master from Kalmar, visited Africa in February to start projects aiming at introducing modern Internet technology for internal and external communications. Ms Iwona Œmigerska-Belczak from the UBC Secretariat visited Entebbe to discuss daily routines in a city network secretariat with her colleague in LVRLAC.

One important task is to introduce the UBC concept of Commissions and Networks. The first meeting was with the UBC Women's network, and Ms Hjördis Höglund was leading a seminar which lead to the creation of the LVRLAC Women's network.

Next activity was a study tour in April to the Baltic Sea Region. 15 high ranking politicians and officials as well as the leaders of LVRLAC started their tour in Nacka, where the main attraction was the environmental pedagogic centres. It has got followers in Latvia and Lithuania, and the idea is to is to export the idea of such a centre also to Lake Victoria Region.

The next stop was Turku, secretariat of the UBC Commission on Environment. The environmental activities concerning the river that flows through Turku, Aura River, was also studied.

After Turku, the group travelled to Kalmar to meet the UBC President and have political discussions. There was time also to study the engagement of the city in tourism and the Tourism commission as well as some environmental projects.

The finale of the tour was in the Tri-city region, where the Commission on Sport introduced itself in Gdynia, and the UBC secretariat presented their work in the new premises in the Gdansk New Town Hall.

The next step will be to start work on creating Environmental Pedagogic Centres with inspiration from Nacka and their experiences. Mr Guldbrand Skjöberg will be responsible for that.

There will be a meeting at the end of June between UBC and Sida in order to evaluate the results so far and to discuss the continuation of the project. There is a three-year agreement between UBC and SIDA. The perquisite for UBC to engage is that no part of the cities contribution to UBC shall go to the project. SIDA pays all costs, and there is even a small financial profit for UBC.