Vermont Council on World Affairs
Contact: Bonnie Tangalos/Carol Casey
Telephone: 802-654-2482 or 985-3063
btangalos@smcvt.edu,carolcaseyvt@aol.com
March 25, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Mayors from Ukraine will be visiting Vermont March 24-26, 2004
The Vermont Council on World Affairs and will host a group of four mayors and four other distinguished visitors from Ukraine This group is visiting the United States under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitors Program. They will be in the United States from March 15-26, 2004 to learn about "Environmental Protection Strategies for Sustainable Development" from their peers in the U.S. in order to obtain information and ideas they can bring to bear back at home as they develop their local environmental strategies.
While in Vermont, they will be meeting with:
- the Secretary of the Agency for Natural Resources and agency personnel responsible for waste water management, solid waste management, water quality and water supply;
- the Institute for Sustainable Communities which has been involved in a number of projects in Ukraine, including the Ukraine Local Environmental Action Program (LEAP);
- Peter Clavelle, the Mayor of Burlington;
- Tom Dion, the Chief Operator of Burlington's water plant; and
- Thomas Moreau, General Manager of the Chittenden Solid Waste District.
"It's wonderful opportunity for us to showcase how Vermont leads the way in environmental protection efforts," said Bonnie Tangalos, President of the Vermont Council on World Affairs.
Dr. Tangalos noted that "These mayors from Ukraine are just one of many groups that will be visiting Vermont this year. "We hosted 24 groups last year, and already in 2004, we've welcomed a delegation from Lithuania and one from Macedonia who visited Vermont for the March Town meetings and related events. Next month, a group of doctors from Vietnam will be visiting to learn about rural health care," she added.
Anyone interested in meeting with international visitors or becoming involved in the international visitor program is encouraged to contact the Vermont Council on World Affairs at 802 654-2482.
The Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA), headquartered at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont, was founded in 1952 by U.S. Senator Warren R. Austin and other distinguished Vermonters. Its mission is to promote understanding of world affairs among Vermonters by providing a wide range of educational programs and services and by hosting international visitors. Over the years, VCWA has hosted more than 2,000 individuals from around the globe, linking them up with Vermont business, academic, cultural, governmental and other organizations and people in order to promote citizen participation in, and understanding of, the role of the United States in the international community. This 501(c)(3) organization had also sponsored a number of lectures by prominent international relations specialists, most notably the widely attended and well received presentation by The New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman in September 2002.
For further information about the Vermont Council on World Affairs, visit our website at www.vcwa.org or call 802 654-2482.