Urban Diplomacy Exchange

December 2, 2024

Connecting cities for a sustainable future

The Urban Diplomacy Exchange project was launched at the end of 2021 and is addressing topics of sustainable development between German cities and their partner cities in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. It is an opportunity to learn from partner cities and to work together to implement a positive change in our cities. Birmingham is partnered with Leipzig in Germany. The project is commissioned by the German Federal Foreign Office and carried out by the Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) from Engagement Global in cooperation with the Association of German Cities .

Birmingham and Leipzig’s International Affairs and Public Health departments secured funding to take part in both the UDE part 1 and 2.

UDE Part I

Part I of the exchange was delivered in 2023 and 4 key themes were outlined for Birmingham and Leipzig’s collaboration. These included: healthy ageing, dementia care, community engagement and substance misuse.

This exchange included two study visits, one hosted in Birmingham and one hosted in Leipzig. The visits were a great peer-learning opportunity and through this exchange we have implemented 3 wellbeing services in our cities:

Commemoration event – inspired by the Leipzig version, this is a memorial service which pays tribute to those who have passed away without families. The event was held in St Martin’s Church in Birmingham and included various stalls and a life café. This forms part of Birmingham’s Compassionate Cities work.
Leipzig have implemented a similar service to that offered in Birmingham in the Wellbeing zone in the Library of Birmingham, which includes wellbeing resources available for the public. The Library of Birmingham also work with a positive mental health group.
International Lunch & Learn – virtual series exploring various public health issues such as ageing and diabetes. This was the 1st international event (the local Birmingham event runs monthly) and included speakers and attendees from Leipzig and Birmingham. The topics of this event were related to the UDE themes. This will be repeated in spring 2025.

UDE Part II

Part II of the exchange was recently announced in 2024 and a conference was held in Edinburgh in November 2024 to share learning from Part I and to decide the future of UDE. Following this we hope to identify new topics and areas of collaboration for the development of our two cities. The event also had a focus on youth and was an opportunity to present aspects of the broader Leipzig/Birmingham Action Plan including the You WIL summit as detailed below.

Youth Initiatives

Other partnerships with Leipzig include our collaboration on youth initiatives. Birmingham host the Young Women into Leadership summit each year. This is an online leadership programme aimed at 14-16 year old young girls in Birmingham, our partner cities and other cities around the world. Students hear from incredible female leaders from the fields of politics and public service, business, sport, STEM, culture and media. Part of the programme includes a group presentation activity whereby the students are divided into multinational groups and work together with their assigned mentor to develop a presentation that they present to the US Embassy in London. Each year, Leipzig are invited to nominate 5 students from their city to take part in this initiative.

Leipzig and Birmingham also share school partnerships. Over the past few years, primary and secondary schools in Leipzig and Birmingham have partnered up and engaged in various activities such as pen pals, exchange visits and more.

Birmingham shared the opportunity to participate in the summit with other German cities.

Leipzig and Birmingham look forward to UDE Part II and future collaboration opportunities.

Urban Diplomacy Exchange

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