Global Outlook, Local Impact: The Transatlantic Potential for Citizen Engagement
Channel: Aspen Institute Germany
Date: 2023-07-04

Cities around the world are growing rapidly, making it even more important to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and develop forward-looking strategies. To counter challenges ranging from climate to inequality to mobility, cities must be responsive to their citizens’ needs and priorities, requiring responsible leadership. Two issues are on top of the urban to-do list: Youth empowerment and workforce development. To shape the leaders of tomorrow, cities need to engage the young generation in decision-making early on. Offering economic opportunities and taking measures to develop a workforce fit for tomorrow’s challenges are necessary. Cities are not in this alone – transatlantic relations offer the ideal framework to cooperate and learn from the experiences of each other. By keeping a global outlook, cities ensure the local impact of their policies in a sustainable and inclusive way.

Speakers include
Paige Alexander (CEO, The Carter Center)
Clyde Higgs (President & CEO, Atlanta BeltLine Inc.)
Vanessa Ibarra (Director, Mayor’s Office of International & Immigrant Affairs, City of Atlanta)
Anna Roach (Executive Director & CEO, Atlanta Regional Commission)

Aspen Germany’s “Future Cities – A Transatlantic Townhall Project” brings together a group of urban actors from Berlin, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The project seeks to provide new impetus for the development of the cities we live in and raise awareness for their complexities within the framework of transatlantic discourse.