ACTION PLAN TO IMPLEMENT
THE 1993 FUTURES REPORT

Background

Since 1984, various NLC leadership groups, such as the International Economic Development Task Force and its successors, the International Task Force and the International Municipal Consortium, have focused significant attention on international issues generally, and on international economic development in particular. In 1993, the NLC Advisory Council, the International Municipal Consortium, and the Community and Economic Development (CED) Steering and Policy Committees included international topics as part of their working agendas.

Conclusions from the work of these groups point to the fact that U.S. cities and towns are more closely linked to the rest of the world than ever before. According to the 1993 Futures Report, Global Dollars, Local Sense, "America's cities and towns, in order to prosper in the 21st century, will have to improve their capacity to deal successfully with new international contexts. The most successful will be closely connected to the rest of the world — through trade, transportation, technology, education, arts, and culture." ¹

In order to implement the principles identified by the Advisory Council in their work on cities and towns in the global economy and to keep these issues at the forefront of ongoing NLC commitment, action, and policy and program development, the following action steps are recommended.

Recommended Action Steps

1. The Board of Directors should affirm NLC's overall priority commitment to enhancing the capacity of NLC and of U.S. cities and towns to function successfully in their international contexts, especially the global economy.

2. The International Municipal Consortium should take a lead role in coordinating implementation of the community globalization strategies, working closely with the Advisory Council.

3. The five policy and steering committees, when planning and implementing their work programs, should consider the impact of global economic competition and increased international connections and exchanges on U.S. cities and towns. Critical areas of NLC policy that might be reviewed to consider their international dimension include telecommunications, trade, community economic development, and regional cooperation.

4. The NLC Leadership Training Council, as part of their ongoing mission, should explore the implications of globalization for the leadership roles of U.S. local elected officials and consider ways in which municipal officials might ensure that the international context becomes part of the way the community thinks, talks, and addresses issues.

5. The Board of Directors should support, actively promote, and participate in the Symposium on World Trade Efficiency, planned for October 1994 in Columbus, Ohio, as one way of demonstrating NLC's continuing commitment to and leadership role on this issue.

6. The NLC President should write to the Presidents and Executive Directors of the state municipal leagues to encourage the leagues to determine appropriate ways to incorporate cities and towns in the global economy as a topic for attention within their states, such as workshops at annual state conventions or articles in newsletters and to provide input to NLC about this topic.

7. The NLC President should write to the chairs of NLC's constituency and member groups to encourage each group to provide input to NLC about the topic of cities and towns in the global economy and to determine its own appropriate agenda to address this issue.

8. The chair of the International Municipal Consortium and such other knowledgeable persons as may be appropriate should be invited to join the Program Committee for the 1994 Congress of Cities and Exposition to provide input on the issue of cities and towns in the global economy, and the general topic of international connec-

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   tions, for inclusion in the program for the Minneapolis convention.

9. The Board should confirm and encourage the work staff and members are doing to incorporate the issue of cities and towns in the global economy into the ongoing activities of NLC, and support those projects being carried forward in collaboration with other relevant organizations such as Sister Cities International, Japan Local Government Center, U.S. Agency for International Development, International City/County Management Association, and U.S. Information Agency.

10. Staff should review the range of NLC activities and assess the need for and feasibility of including global economic or other international dimensions in those activities.

11. The International Municipal Consortium should provide regular reports to both the Board and the Advisory Council, beginning at their December 1994 meetings in Minneapolis, on programs and projects to ensure that U.S. municipal officials and NLC are active participants in the globalization process, and that the recommendations contained in this action plan are being implemented.

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