| FACTS ABOUT WINTER CITIES,
THE ORGANISATION Back
to general information
 Mr Nobuo Katsura.
Mayor of Sapporo. President International Association of Mayors´ of Northern Cities. |
 Mr Patric Coleman.
President of Winter Cities Association of North America. |
 Mr Kjell Mickelsson.
President of Winter Cities Europe. |
| International
Association of Mayors´ of Northern Cities |
Winter Cities
Association of North America |
Winter Cities
Europe |
| The first
Northern Intercity Conference was held in Sapporo in 1982 for the purpose of providing a
venue to share experiences and technology that deal with problems that harsh winter
climate poses for city planning in the northern region of the world. Since then, the
conference has been held in various northern cities of the world continuously. The Winter Cities Showcase, comprised of the Winter
Cities Forum and the Winter Expo, began in 1988 at the Edmonton Conference to appeal to
academics and business people and have been held in conjunction with the Northern
Intercity Conference. The International Association of Mayors of Northern Cities (IAMNC)
was established in 1994 at the Anchorage to expand a winter city network. In 1997, the
IAMNC was granted NGO status by the Uêited Nations’ Eco-nomic and Social Council and
Department of Public Information. This NGO membership enables the IAMNC to spread the
opinion of the winter cities, thereby increasing its global influ-ence.
Thus the IAMNC has created the "Winter
Cities Movement" under the slogan "Winter is a Resource and Asset", further
extending the horizons of winter city planning toward the next century. |
In 1982, a
Toronto journalist named Jack Royle founded the Livable Winter Cities Association (WCA).
At the forefront of the winter city movement, the WCA has published a newsletter since
that time, which later became the quarterly magazine journal "WINTER CITIES".
The WCA is also noted for organizing Winter City Forums held during odd-numbered years. The mission of the WCA is to serve as a source of
information related to improving living conditions in the north. The membership includes
large and small municipalities, economic development and tourism agencies, regional
organizations, universities, and professionals from many disciplines, including
architects, planners, engineers, academics and business interests.
With new, strong interest in improving the
livability of northern cities, the WCA has renewed our commitment to serve as a conduit of
research, and information to our membership. We have become the Winter Cities Association
of North America to better focus our resources. Through cooperation with sister
organizations Winter Cities-Europe, Winter Cities-Russia and the International Association
of Mayors of Northern Cities (IAMNC), a world-wide network is established to support new
approaches to winter city development. Our web site, hosted by Northern Michigan
University, offers great opportunities to improve and expand communications and the
delivery of information about winter cities in the future. |
Winter Cities
Scandinavia was founded in 1992 at the initiative of Tromso City inNorway. A secretariat
was established there. The city’s Mayor, Erlend Rian, was the president the first two
years, and since then the organisation has been headed by Kjell Mickelsson, now former
Mayor of Luleå, Sweden. In 1997 the name was changed to Winter Cities Europe (WCE) in
order to open membership to countries outside Scandinavia. Winter Cities Europe is based on municipality membership with
affiliations according to the bylaws of Winter Cities Association (now Winter Cities
Association North America). These bylaws are being revised at the moment.
WCA now has 12 members in the northern
parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, in Greenland and in Bosnia Herzegovina. The bigger
cities also have a membership in IAMNC. Gradually, new members are being invited to join
the WCE. In addition, a close relationship with Winter Cities North America is being
developed.
The basics for WCE is the need for smaller
municipalities in a limited geographical area to build a network for cooperation and
exchange of ideas and knowledge about living in a winter climate. Every odd number year
WCA organises a member-conference or seminar. Two seminars have discussed winter festivals
while information technology is the main theme in Nuuk, Greenland in 1999. |
Winter Cities Conferences
Since 1988, the date and content of the Winter Cities
Conference have been co-ordinated with those of the Mayors’ Conference. The
underlying philosophy is that winter is a resource and an asset. This view has broadened
perspectives in community planning and development of winter cities. Previous conferences
have been held in:
1988 - Edmonton, Canada
1990 - Tromsø, Norway
1992 - Montreal, Canada
1994 - Anchorage, USA
1996 - Winnipeg, Canada
1998 - Harbin, China,
A Winter Cities Conference includes
- A number of seminars directed to various types of
community planners, decision-makers, scientists and practitioners, universities and other
institutions.
- A public trade fair/trade exhibition for
representatives of commerce and industry, conference attendees and the general public
- Cultural events and other activities to help to provide the
mayors, conference attendees, exhibitors, lecturers and the population of the host city or
region with enjoyable and memorable experiences.
Luleå and Kiruna will be the joint hosts of the year 2000
Winter Cities Conference. The conference after that will be held in Aomori, Japan in 2002.
Winter Cities sub-committees
In order to develop co-operation and gain a deeper
understanding of certain issues, special sub-committees have been formed. At present there
are the following three sub-committees:
- Tourist and visitor industry chaired by Anchorage.
- Economics and trade, chaired by Tromsø.
- Waste disposal and a sustainable society, chaired by Luleå.
Application for membership
The Winter Cities organisation (The International
Association of Mayors of Northern Cities) consists of member cities located in the
Northern Hemisphere. The organisation has received the status of "NGO in
consultative status (Roster) with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations".
An application for membership should be sent to the
organisation’s secretariat:
International Association of Mayors of Northern Cities
c/o International Relations Department
City of Sapporo
Nishi 2, Kita 1, Chou-ku, Sapporo 060
Japan
Telephone: +81 11 211 2032
Fax: + 81 11 218 5168
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