2024 City Diplomacy Masterclass
In 2024, six participants from Victorian local government completed the city diplomacy masterclass:
- Cr Belinda Coates – Councillor, City of Ballarat
- David Collins – Climate Emergency Coordinator, Brimbank City Council
- Kate Henderson – UN Sustainable Development Goals Lead, City of Melbourne
- Helen Kerley – Coordinator Climate and Resilience, Wyndham City Council
- Emma Lake – Manager Climate Futures and Resilience, Municipal Association of Victoria
The program was themed around building the capacity to engage internationally, particularly on climate and sustainability issues, and included:
- A one-day workshop at the University of Melbourne on climate city diplomacy, the ecosystem of city networking, multilateralism and global environmental governance.
- A series of online sessions focused on building skills and knowledge relating to: cities and the international system, city diplomacy and economic development, managing municipal foreign policy and partners.
- A weeklong delegation visit to Hong Kong meeting with scholars, experts, policy makers and site visits.
- Completion of a capstone project to develop an international engagement initiative for their local government.
Participants had the opportunity to meet with key experts on city diplomacy and sustainable urban development, as well as domestic and international government representatives and peers including:
- Representatives from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government
- Experts from Hong Kong University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Australia’s Consul-General in Hong Kong, Mr Gareth Williams
- Experts from the University of Melbourne
- International practice experts from the US, UK and Mexico.