May 2006 · Volume 88 · Number 4 

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CITYLINKS PARTNERSHIP ALLOWS THAILAND TO BENEFIT FROM PORTLAND’S COMMUNITY OUTREACH EFFORTS 
City officials in Portland, Oregon, know the value of actively seeking citizen participation in community decisions. And now, thanks to a volunteer partnership created by ICMA’s CityLinks program, city officials in Thailand know its value too. 
The partnership between Portland and the Thai cities of Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Phuket was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and originally grew from Thailand’s need to foster and improve environmental management and redevelopment as the country struggles with urban growth and the impact of such growth on the environment. Citizen participation and outreach played an important role in the environmental management and redevelopment training that Portland officials shared with Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Phuket. 
“Portland is known as a city that takes the time to build community consensus on an issue and then to actively engage community members in its efforts,” explains Ron Bergman, former general services director for Portland and ICMA member. “That is something we really wanted to emphasize in our partnership with the three Thai cities.” 
Portland, as partner and technical adviser in the program, offered staff expertise in how to increase municipalities’ ability to communicate with their citizens and ensure that local government is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. As a result, the municipal employees of several Thai cities—especially Khon Kaen staff— learned to place more emphasis on their citizens’ perspectives, increased their understanding of their community’s concerns, and were able to more effectively communicate the municipality’s objectives and long-term goals. 
ADDITIONAL THAI CITIES SIGN ON 
Khon Kaen wanted to spread the word to other Thai municipalities, so that they too could build a sense of community ownership among their citizens and ensure that local initiatives respond to public needs. 
To help them achieve this goal, Portland offered training in citizen participation techniques, methodologies, and practices to Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Phuket. As a result of the training, Khon Kaen realized the importance and benefit of citizen participation and outreach, and asked Portland and ICMA to assist the city to become a national leader in this area and to train selected Khon Kaen staff to serve as trainers of trainers.
The partnership between Portland and the three Thai cities wrapped up with a lessons-learned symposium to highlight the accomplishments achieved by the partnership. A highlight of the symposium included a day- long training session conducted by the participating Thai officials in the methods and practices needed for successful community outreach and involvement. 
PARTNERSHIP RESULTS
As a result of this partnership, Portland’s practices are now serving as a model for fostering citizen engagement in Thailand. By sharing their experiences, Portland volunteers planted the seeds of understanding for community involvement with local officials in Chiang Mai, Phuket, and especially Khon Kaen. The Thai cities adapted what they learned to create a system uniquely suited to their own needs and culture. 
Ron Bergman explains that during the partnership, he and his Portland colleagues weren’t just imparting wisdom on effective government management to their Thai counterparts. They were gaining it, as well. 
“When you partner with another city to assist in its improvement, it really requires you to reflect on the best way you can do your own job back at home. The opportunity to meet and work with people who face challenges similar to those we work on every day in Portland was an incredibly valuable experience.” 
Global challenges to economic development, basic service delivery, and disaster recovery are met every day by cities and towns where local officials, citizens, and organizations work together to improve their communities. Through the ICMA CityLinks program and its precursor, the Resource Cities program, more than 30 U.S. cities have been partnered with more than 70 international cities for multiyear programs that focus on helping communities solve these local challenges through peer-to-peer technical assistance. ICMA members and other local government officials serve as volunteer experts, and ICMA International staff manage the programs, which are funded by USAID. 
Since 1989, staff members working at ICMA International have had the honor of working with local government colleagues from around the world. By obtaining grants and contracts from USAID and other international development organizations, staff members are able to carry out ICMA’s mission on a global scale: to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional local government management worldwide.
For more information, visit http://ICMA.org/international and http://www.usaid.gov.