Archived News and Updates
February 07, 2018
More than 300,000 people participated in over 100 sister cities related activities hosted by the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission and its regional partners throughout 2017. Learn more about some of the Commission's highlights in the 2017 Annual Report.
December 19, 2017
Both Atlanta and Ra’anana, which have been sisters since 2001, have embraced the concept of global municipal partnerships. Atlanta has 17 sister cities; Ra’anana, which has a population of about 71,000, has roughly two dozen sisters.
December 15, 2017
Five decades after he first flew to Newcastle with Martin Luther King Jr., Ambassador Andrew Young returned to the U.K. city in November to unveil a bronze statue of the late civil rights icon.
December 02, 2017
They may not know who she is or what she stands for, but kids (and adult shoppers) of all ages seem drawn to the golden-haired Christmas angel from Nuremberg, Germany, as she glides around the Atlanta Christkindl Market at Atlantic Station.
October 05, 2017
TThe City of Atlanta hosted the 'Daegu Art Fun' Exhibition for a one-week viewing at the City owned Gallery 72 as well as Atlanta City Hall.
September 16, 2017
TThe Atlanta -Lagos Sister Cities Committee in collaboration with the Lagos Island East, Local Council Development Area has put all machinery in motion to use the sister cities relationship between the cities of Lagos, Nigeria and Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America to generates developmental projects for Lagos Island in the areas such as tourism traffic, provision of medical support such as equipment for health centres being managed by the Local Government, provision of educational materials and tools for primary schools within the development area, cultural and education exchange programs for the benefits of the citizens of Lagos Island amongst others.
September 08, 2017
Joining the tour were representatives of cities participating in the inaugural Atlanta International Economic Development Summit, a two-day forum that attracted representatives from 12 partner cities like Cape Town, Paris, London and sister cities like Nuremberg, Germany, and Ra’anana, Israel. The goal was to discuss how cities can better work together to spur investment.
September 07, 2017
The Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, in partnership with the Brookings Institution, is hosting the inaugural Atlanta International Economic Development Summit, a three-day summit on economic development best practices with partnering cities across the globe. The summit which runs through Sept. 8 brings together an intimate group of 50 thought leaders and economic development professionals from Atlanta’s sister and partnering cities to discuss the importance of city-to-city cooperation and how it can be leveraged to create economic development opportunities.
September 05, 2017
The Atlanta International Startup Exchange, a program launched by software solutions company Sage, the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, and Invest Atlanta, has announced the Atlanta and UK startups that will be traveling across the pond for a week this Fall.
August 31, 2017
The British Ambassador to the United States visited Atlanta in advance of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. earning his honorary doctorate from Newcastle University--linking Atlanta and Newcastle as sister cities.
May 06, 2017
2017 marks an important milestone in the special relationship between Georgia and Newcastle upon Tyne in the northeast of England.
April 30, 2017
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King journeyed to England to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University. At the time, many Americans viewed Dr. King as a controversial figure, and Newcastle was the only British university to honor him during his lifetime.
Atlanta-Brussels Sister Cities Chair Honored by Belgium Secretary of State for Foreign Trade
March 23, 2917
Belgium Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter De Crem awarded Mr. Anton Mertens, President of the Belgian-American Chamber of the South and Chair of the Atlanta-Brussels Sister Cities Committee, the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Leopold for over twenty years of service facilitating improved cooperation between Belgium and the U.S.
February 18, 2017
The Atlanta Sister Cities Commission has launched a new website and charitable foundation as it redirects its focus toward economic development.
February 02, 2017
Those engaged with managing Atlanta’s relationship with Taipei, Taiwan, are hosting a Super Bowl party to celebrate their longstanding sister city ties.
December 05, 2016
For Lars Oltmanns, being German in Atlanta hasn’t been too difficult over the past decade: there’s a strong community of expats and even schools where kids can learn their parents’ native tongue. German food is decently accessible, and it’s pretty easy to be an impactful ambassador of your country.
October 10, 2016
Late in September, the City of Atlanta revealed four young companies — two from Atlanta and two from France — selected for a startup exchange with its sister city of Toulouse next month.
August 04, 2016
Sister city arrangements have long been praised for their cultural benefit, but a new study suggests that “citizen diplomacy” and the exchange it fosters can mean real money for cities and their partners.
Presented at Sister Cities International’s annual conference in Washington last month, the study observed the impact of travel and tourism, foreign investments from sister cities, spending by students coming for exchange programs, impact of volunteers, in-kind donations and more.
August 16, 2016
Atlanta’s Mayor Kasim Reed, wants to broaden the relationship that now exist between the City of Montego Bay, Jamaica and Atlanta, to include a closer working relationship with the government.
July 31, 2016
Amidst considerable negative press surrounding the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, an Atlanta nonprofit is shining a bright light on the positive development stories coming out of local community projects in the Brazilian city.
July 19, 2016
Teri Simmons, a partner with the Atlanta-based law firm of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, has been elected to the 27-member board of directors of the 560 U.S.-member city Sister Cities International network.
March 22, 2016
Virginie Bay didn’t want to be late for a job interview Tuesday so she rose early and headed straight for Brussels’ Arts-Loi metro station.
Already, there had been an explosion at the city’s airport and and Belgian capital was beginning to buzz with the news.
November 20, 2015
Fukuoka, Japan’s 41-year-old mayor came to Atlanta last week on the tail-end of the SEUS Japan 38th conference held in Birmingham, Ala., bearing his optimistic agenda for his city’s future.
October 8, 2015
An additional 2,000 St. James residents are benefiting from health and outreach services being provided by the Montego Bay/Atlanta Sister Cities Vin Martin Memorial Health Mission.
July 6, 2016
The Atlanta Toulouse Sister City Committee, an organization fostering relationships between residents of metro Atlanta and Toulouse, France, recently held a reception for Sandy Springs resident Betty Davis, who after 14 years as the committee’s president, handed her gavel to Atlanta resident Mark Long, the new president.
August 14, 2014
Travelers arriving in Atlanta on nonstop flights from Lagos, Nigeria, and Rio de Janeiro can now see evidence of their hometowns as soon as they enter the international terminal.