PARTNERSHIP

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PARTNERSHIP

• Partner City Application for CPWR

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Invitation to Join the Network
This is an invitation for the interreligious
movement in your city to join the Partner Cities
Network of the Council for a Parliament of the
Worlds Religions.
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What is a Partner City
Today, in cities around the world, diverse local
religious and spiritual communities reside side
by side. Because of this, there is the need to
foster and enhance a rich and vibrant local
grassroots interreligious movement, in order to
foster harmonious and cooperative relationships
between these communities, and to support their
efforts in working with other sectors of their
community in creating a more just, peaceful and
sustainable city. Our strategy in partnering
with these cities is to create a network that
facilitates the sharing of best practices and
opportunities for cooperative action.
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Why Become a Partner City?

• Becoming a Partner City provides your local
  interreligious movement with the following
  opportunities
• To enter into a consultative relationship to
  assist in organizing or enhancing your local
  metropolitan interreligious movement
• To join a networking relationship with local
  movements in other Partner Cities
• To make visible the collective efforts of local
  interreligious movements in the world
• To take part in a collaborative relationship to
  make the 2009 Parliament event (and future
  Parliament events) a catalyst for your local
  interreligious movement

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Why Become a Partner City?

• To leverage the name, offices, resources and
  expertise of the Council and its partners for the
  enhancement of the interreligious movement in
  your city
• To promote encounter, dialogue and cooperation
  among diverse religious and spiritual communities
  in each Partner City in ways that are appropriate
  to the local context
• To share the learnings, methodologies, and
  experience from each site with other Partner
  Cities
• To facilitate and encourage interaction between
  Partner Cities to uncover shared aspirations and
  create opportunities for collaborative action on
  issues of common concern.

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What Constitutes a Partner City?
Partner Cities have a local interreligious
movement that can demonstrate the following
Capacity of a partnering organization, either
existing or emerging, to effectively promote the
interreligious movement in their locale
Participation of a wide variety of religious and
spiritual communities and their leaders, civic
leaders, young people and other peace activists
in the agenda-setting and decision-making
processes Sensitivity to diverse constituents
and the other interreligious efforts in their
locale Compatibility between their vision and
values and the vision, mission and values of the
Council
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What Constitutes a Partner City?
Commitment to building relationships
characterized by understanding and trust within
and among religious and spiritual communities as
a whole (along with leaders, interested
individuals, denominational structures,
affiliated organizations, etc.) Interest in
sharing their learnings, expertise and models
with the Council and other Partner Cities
Willingness to seek joint funding for
collaborative projects with the Council and other
Partner Cities.
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What is Partner City Process?
There are four steps involved in the Partner City
process Belongto the Network Engagein local
and global interreligious activities Servethe
Network with your local expertise Achievethe
designation of an interreligiously harmonious
city It is understood that in some cities, the
Partner Cities process would be used to initiate
a local interreligious movement. In others
cities, there is already a local interreligious
movement that could be further enhanced by
participating in the Partner Cities process.
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Belong to the Network

• A city comes to belong to the Partner Cities
  Network when it completes a self-assessment of
  its local interreligious movement, or the need to
  establish such a local interreligious movement.
• The Council provides a series of questions to
  help a city conduct such an assessment, in order
  to explore the following areas
• History and Demographics
• Community Dynamics
• Current Activities
• Vision for the Future
• Evaluating Progress
• Once a city successfully completes this
  self-assessment, it formally becomes a part of
  the Partner Cities Network. Belonging to the
  Network does NOT require a certain level of
  interreligious organization or activities.
  Belonging to the Network happens when a city has
  brought all the relevant parties to the table to
  assess their current situation and envision the
  future.

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Engage in Interreligious Activities

• A local interreligious movement in the Partner
  Cities Network would engage in interreligious
  activities, that might include
• Exchanges between local communities of worship
  and practice
• Educational forums
• Public celebrations and forums
• Joint service projects and programs
• Networking with interreligious movements in other
  cities
• Joint projects and programs with interreligious
  movements in other cities
• Participation in activities of international
  interreligious organizations
• Hosting of a Pre-Parliament event (for the 2009
  Parliament)
• Participation in the 2009 Parliament in Melbourne
  (December 3 - 9 , 2009).
• Current activities, and a vision for future
  activities, would both described in the
  assessment process.

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Serve with Your Local Expertise
The local interreligious movement in a city may
have a particular expertise that could be shared
with other cities in the Partner Cities
Network. For instance, the Consortium for
Interfaith Education in New York City is
comprised of educational and community-service
organizations that promote interreligious
education in communities, educational
institutions, and among the general public. The
UNESCO Centre of Catalonia, which serves the
local interreligious movement in Barcelona, has a
long history of research and advocacy concerning
religion, spirituality and human rights. Through
the Network, local interreligious movement would
have an opportunity to share their expertise in
services to both local and global activities,
programs and projects. This expertise would be
identified through the self-assessment process
and made available to the Network by the Council.
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Achieve Designation as an Interreligiously
Harmonious City

• The Council is seeking to develop a criteria and
  process by which a city would be designated as
  interreligiously harmonious. Drawing on the
  expertise of existing interreligious movements,
  and other international interreligious
  organizations, the Council will establish such a
  criteria and develop a process by which cities
  could receive this official designation.
• The criteria would necessarily include the
  following
• Wide and diverse participation by communities and
  organizations in a vibrant and active local
  interreligious movement
• Harmonious and engaged relations between diverse
  communities
• Effective engagement and partnership between the
  local interreligious communities with other
  sectors of society (education, business,
  government, media, organizations of civil
  society) in promoting the good of the wider
  community.
• An local expertise put in service of the global
  interreligious movement.

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Self-Assessment
The self-assessment process consists of the five
steps listed below which are explained in more
details on the following slides Step One
History Demographics Step Two Community
Dynamics Step Three Current Activities Step
Four Vision for the Future Step Five
Evaluate Measure
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History Demographics
Provide a brief history of your area
highlighting its character, community assets, and
struggles that would inform your involvement
with the Council. Describe the demographic
trends of your city, your region and your nation
with particular reference to Religious and
spiritual diversity Ethnic and cultural
diversity Economic diversity Political
diversity
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Your Team

• How did you select your team? How does your team
  effectively reflect your local community, region
  and nation? Please identify participants. Why
  are they participating?
• Are there groups, communities or organizations
  you have attempted to engage in this process that
  are not participating? Why?

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Community Dynamics
How are religion and spirituality viewed and
valued in your community? Describe the
dynamics interactions, tensions, issues and
opportunities that emerge from your local,
regional and national diversity with particular
reference to Religious and spiritual
diversity Ethnic and cultural diversity
Economic diversity Political diversity How
do these dynamics reflect current and historical
realities? How are people engaging and
addressing these dynamics?
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Current Activities - Locally

• Describe your current activities locally.
• What are the formal or organized interreligious
  organizations and projects currently active in
  your local community?
• Who is involved in these structures and
  movements (i.e. religious and spiritual
  communities, civic leadership, ethnic and
  cultural groups)?
• Are there other informal interreligious
  initiatives and activities in your metropolitan
  area? If so, please describe.
• What are the relationships between and among
  these interreligious organizations and projects?
• How does the broader public view these
  organizations and efforts?
• What resources currently support your local
  interreligious movement? Where do these resources
  come from?

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Current Activities - Globally

• Describe your vision for the future globally
• What is the nature of your current involvement
  with interreligious dialogue and cooperation with
  other cities around the world?
• How do your citys religious and spiritual
  communities and the local interreligious movement
  engage with or address regional, national or
  global issues?
• What is the awareness of the Council in your
  area? How would a relationship with the Council
  be perceived?

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Vision for the Future - Locally

• Describe your vision for the future locally
• What is your vision of the ideal relationship
  between religious and spiritual, ethnic and
  cultural communities in your local area, region
  and nation?
• What do you see as the most beneficial
  relationship between religious and spiritual
  communities and the broader society?
• How might these visions be expressed in future
  relationships, activities, and expressions of
  common concern, cooperation and affiliation?

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Vision for the Future - Globally

• Described you vision for the future globally
• How might your local efforts serve as a model for
  the worldwide interreligious movement?
• What local projects or initiatives might usefully
  be linked to efforts to address global concerns
  and issues?
• What role would you like to see the Council play
  in connecting your interreligious movement to
  movements in other cities?
• What new outcomes are likely to emerge from the
  realization of your vision for your local
  interreligious vision and your partnership with
  other cities?

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Vision for the Future - Resources

• Described the resources available to support the
  local and global vision
• What resources and relationships would be
  required to realize this vision for your
  interreligious movement? Where might these
  resources come from?
• Would you be interested in pursuing joint
  fundraising activities with the Council? What
  might these activities include? What might joint
  proposals focus on?

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Reflecting on Your Progress

• Describe how you will reflect critically on the
  progress of your local interreligious movement
• How can you successfully measure the impact of
  the partnerships and coalitions you will foster
  and enhance amongst your goals?
• What are successful techniques that you have
  identified for measuring and reporting your
  efforts amongst the larger global community and
  network?
• How will you share what you have learned and
  accomplished as a Partner City?
• What is you process for taking what you have
  learned and continually improving your role as a
  Partner City amongst the CPWR global network?

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What is the Partner Cities Criteria?

• Compatibility between your vision and values, and
  the vision, mission and values of the Council.
• Capacity of your city and partner organizations
  realizing your vision.
• Commitment to partnership.
• Process by which your proposal was developed as
  indicative of how you might collaborate with the
  Council and other partners.

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Consultative Services
The Council will provide a variety of levels of
consultative services to cities and their local
interreligious movements. General In general,
the Council will provide consultative services
for a city as it undertakes the self-assessment
process by which it will come to belong to the
Partner Cities Network. Once a part of the
Network, the Council will provides consultative
services as these cities engage in activities,
seek to serve the Network, and aspire to be
designated as an interreligiously harmonious
city. These services will be primarily provided
through the Councils website, by email and
phone, and in some instances, through site
visits.
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Consultative Services
Targeted The Council is willing to enter into a
more direct and structured consultative
relationship with a city that may include a
formal agreement for targeted services such as
on-site assessment, visioning, training and
organizing. These services would be provided on a
fee-for-service basis. Comprehensive The
Council is also able to provide a city with a
comprehensive, 18 month organizing process that
would engage the local interreligious movement
and wider community at all levels, and culminate
in a major local interreligious event. Such a
comprehensive approach would be provided on a
fee-for-service basis.
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Next Steps

• The next steps in embarking upon the Partner
  Cities Process are as follows
• Complete and submit the Partner City Application.
• Upon review and acceptance of your Partner City
  Application, our Partner Cities Director will
  consult with your local team about your
  application.
• Once a city has entered the self-assessment
  process, it will receive a page on the Councils
  website to chart its progress.
• If negotiated, the Partner Cities Director can
  make a site visit to further evaluate your
  potential status as a Partner City and look for
  opportunities to strengthen your local and global
  network.

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Partner Cities Webpage
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Partner City News
Photo Album
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Partner City 1
Partner City 2
Partner City 3
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• Links to Partner Organizations
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• Document Archive
• Partner City Proposal and Report