Wunderbar Together: Showcasing U.S.-German Sister Cities Partnerships
Although the formal SCI Wunderbar Together partnership has concluded as of December 2019, numerous engagement ideas, models, and resources are available to continue strengthening community resilience and citizen diplomacy between the U.S. and Germany.
Through December 2019, Sister Cities International partnered with Wunderbar Together to showcase the shared heritage, values, and interests between the U.S. and Germany and how these have been strengthened by Sister Cities partnerships over the last 60 years. Germany has the fourth most U.S. sister cities in the world (100), including many of the oldest partnerships in the network, spanning 31 states. Through an integrated #SCIWunderbarTogether communications campaign, community engagement, and guiding our U.S.-German sister city members, we both highlighted and strengthened the person-to-person connections between the U.S. and Germany. We were especially interested in strengthening U.S.-German collaboration in community and climate resilience, showcasing the lasting impacts of citizen diplomacy through exchange, and featuring the diverse range of sister cities programming across the entire United States.
Videos Showcasing the Impact of the SCI Wunderbar Together Partnership
In 2019, four videos were produced to recap the impact of the SCI Wunderbar Together partnership. The videos, available in a playlist below, include an interview with SCI President and CEO Roger-Mark de Souza, a recap video on the importance of U.S.-German relationships, a video summary of the SCI BMW Spartanburg event, and a video summary of the St. Charles panel discussion.
Ways for Members and Partners to Stay Involved
- View SCI Engagement Ideas, Language Templates, and Further Resources for U.S.-German Partnerships
- U.S.-German Members: Join the “U.S.-German Member Community” Facebook group
- Member submissions for our blog: We highly encourage members to submit text+image or video testimonials, upcoming events, previous event summaries, and summaries of your U.S.-German partnerships through our Member Submission Form
- Follow us on social media:
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- Promotion on social media/blogs: We would appreciate if you share our Wunderbar Together content through retweets/reposts/features on your blogs! For any content posted about U.S.-German sister cities, we also appreciate the use of our #SCIWunderbarTogether hashtag
We also welcome new collaboration and cross-promotion avenues! If you have any further ideas or questions, you are welcome to email Sister Cities.
Recent Events
“The Path to Freedom and German Unity: The Peaceful Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall 30 Years On” | Event by the American Council on Germany, Sister Cities of Nashville, and Wunderbar Together | November 18
Location: BMW Zentrum (Hall)
Spartanburg, South Carolina
As this year's #SCIWunderbarTogether partnership ends, we would like to convey a heartfelt THANK YOU to our U.S.-German members, network, and #WunderbarTogether for making this year's impact possible. We invite you to stay connected through our webpage: https://t.co/eTqtuHxWpu
Following 4 convened events and a communications campaign with over 100k impressions in 2019, our #SCIWunderbarTogether partnership has drawn to a close, but the impact will continue. Resources for strengthening U.S.-German partnerships are available here: https://t.co/xowGbjdkVI
The strong potential for U.S.-German #climateresilience collaboration at the city and citizen level has been recognized by numerous transatlantic programs. @gmfus has organized 3 U.S.-German "Sustainable Urban Development" programs. https://t.co/WPCA9ZfWRu #SCIWunderbarTogether
As we wrap up this year's partnership with #WunderbarTogether, we invite you to view our video recap on the continued importance and impact of U.S.-German sister city relationships: https://t.co/Tv3gYHhzQE #SCIWunderbarTogether
With Seattle’s carbon-neutral electric utility, San Diego’s green hotels, and Chicago’s 5 million sq feet of green roofs, U.S. cities can also serve as models of urban #sustainability and #climateresilience for their sister cities. #SCIWunderbarTogether https://t.co/Ali5A6Njxr
Wunderbar Together is a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI). Working with over 200 partners, it is showcasing the close bonds between the U.S. and Germany in over 2,500 events in all 50 states. For more information, please visit the Wunderbar Together website here.