Developed by communications designer Andy Cutler over a 2-year period, this model was developed to nurture substantive relationships between smaller cities throughout the world beginning with Copenhagen and Providence. Sharing resources/assets, supporting student engagement, promoting and progressing entrepreneurship and exporting mentoring models and expertise in sustainability (for example) is the basis for this new style of "sites city" relationships.

1. Municipal
ambassadorship
COPENHAGEN + PROVIDENCE:
BEST PRACTICE MODEL

2. Copenhagen + Providence

3. Why Copenhagen & Providence?
COPENHAGEN PROVIDENCE
Founded 1137 Founded 1636
Populuation: 1.2 million Population: ~180,000 (37 th largest metro
(78% Danish; 14.6% Non-Western area in the U.S.; 2 nd largest city in New
Nations; 7.5% Western Nations) England)
14 colleges/universities 7 colleges/universities
34 square miles 20.5 square miles
World class arts & design communities World class arts & design communities
Waterfront development project(s) Waterfront development project(s)
Active commitment social media/blogging Recognized leader in mentoring young talent
-OpenCopenhagen Active preservation movement
-Visit Copenhagen IBM Smarter City
-Miss Design Says Leading American city for youth arts programs
-Copenhagenize One of the oldest engineering programs in
US/Brown
-Go Visit Denmark
Leader in sustainability & bicycle
transportation
IBM Smarter City
Infrastructure movement

4. Distance: 3,705 Miles / 5,963
Kilometers

5. Gateway Communities
Providence
* I-95 Corridor
* 1 hour to Boston
* 2 hours to Cape Cod, Berkshires, Portland
* 3.5 hours (train/bus)/1 hour (plane) to NYC
Copenhagen
* Gateway to Stockholm, Oslo,
Helsinki
* Denmark is southernmost
Scandinavian country
* 1 hour to Berlin
* 2 hours to Paris/London (plane)

6. “The shortest
distance between
two people is a
smile.”
Victor Borge

7. SMALLER CITIES
UNITE!

8. Copenhagen at a Glance
• English is spoken by 80% of Danes (primary second language).
• 26 hospitals, 14 universities, 10,000 researchers, 4 science parks
and 140 biotechnological companies are located in the part of the
Øresund region, named Medicon Valley.
• The transport infrastructure of Copenhagen is among the most
efficient and reliable systems in the world.
• British style magazine Wallpaper has named copenhagen one of the
coolest capitals in the world & Fast Company recently named it one of
the “smartest cities in Europe.”

11. Rhode Island Foundation:
Make It Happen RI (Progress Report)
“Do what Andy Cutler does: let
people in your own social networks
know how great Providence and
Rhode Island is.” (page 46)

12. Legacy of Civic Engagement


13. Citizen Diplomacy
…During the meeting, Secretary Clinton
reiterated the United States’ strong
commitment to engaging young people
worldwide and to using people-to-people
diplomacy as a means to create
opportunities for greater understanding.
-Secretary Clinton Announces Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as
Cultural Ambassador, Excerpt from Press Release,
January 18, 2012

14. Sister City (or Town-Twinning)
Model
• First:
• Paderborn, Germany & Le Mans, France (836)
• First (Modern Era)
• Keighley, West Yorkshire, England & Poix-du-Nord,
Nord, France (1920)
• First (N. America)
• Toledo, Ohio & Toledo, Spain (1931)
• First (of its kind)
• Rochester, Minnesota & Knebworth, UK (1967)

15. The One Who Figures Out How to
Maximize These Relationships Wins!
• According to statistics from Sister Cities
International, there are 694 different US
cities who currently have active Sister City
programs – which, in turn, represent 1,992
partnerships around the world.
• Sister Cities International, is a non-profit
global citizen network, the organization
represents 1,749 international communities
in 134 countries.

17. Does Anybody Know What
Providence’s Sister Cities Are?
• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Riga, Latvia
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Florence, Italy

18. A New Type of Ambassadorship

19. 5 Elements of
Interaction

20. PROVIDENCE
ASSETS

21. Arts & Culture
Tape Art

22. Entrepreneurial Programming

23. Colleges / Universities

24. Conferences / Events

25. Copenhagen Assets

26. Awards/Achievements

28. Societal / Policy

29. Extending Reach: Socialnomics

30. Creation of New Communications
Assets
DR

31. Building Commercial Ties

32. THIS IS ABOUT
CREATING
A MOVEMENT!
There is NO greater power than a community realizing its full potential!

33. ROC vs. ROI
• Economic in nature
• New approaches in addressing community challenges
• Expanded networks
• Experiential learning opportunities for students
• Increasing awareness of our community(ies)
-press (traditional + non-traditional)
-social media
-tourism + travel
-collaboration through through sharing (lectures, conferences, mentoring)
-create & leverage as many storytelling opportunities as possible

34. Full-Time Effort is Necessary!
If a thing’s worth doing at all, it’s
worth doing well.
-H.G. Wells, 1915

35. Next Steps
✔Endorsement from Mayor
✔Secure Seed Capital (public/private investment)
✔Initiate full-time endeavor
-Begin creating online/communication tools
✔Outreach to CPH Mayor Frank Jensen
✔ Mission Tour; documenting visit (lay the groundwork for numerous
partnerships + next visit with Mayor)