The City of Charlottesville is an active member of Sister Cities International and proudly serves as Sister City to:
• Besancon, France
• Pleven, Bulgaria
• Poggio a Caiano, Italy
Sister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.
In the European Union, such pairs of towns are known as friendship towns, partner towns or twin towns.
The American sister cities program was initiated in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower. It was originally administered as part of the National League of Cities, but since 1967 it has been a separate organization,
Sister Cities International (SCI), which is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between U.S. and international communities in an effort to increase global cooperation at the municipal level,
to promote cultural understanding and to stimulate private business and economic development.
The newly formed Sister Cities Commission is always looking for citizens to participate in many capacities. The Commission is responsible for: Planning and coordinating sister city activities; seeking private funding for activities and operations; promoting sister cities to the community; establishing guidelines for future sister cities; creating a subcommittee for each sister city; advising and overseeing staffing; and evaluating the need for the non-profit entity.
For more information or to get involved in the Sister Cities Commission in Charlottesville, Virgina call 434-970-3113.
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