Sister Cities program connects Nashville with the world

• Sister Cities of Nashville's mission is to connect the people of Nashville with people of the world.
• Nashville has sister city partners in Ireland, France, Canada, Japan, Germany, Argentina, China and Australia.
• Sister Cities of Nashville's work nicely complements the world-class city that Nashville has become.

Nashville is fast becoming a city with an international dimension. As the city’s growth accelerates, it’s hard not to notice the cultural and international growth taking place here as a result. This cultural evolution has come as a welcome addition to the leaders and founding members of Sister Cities of Nashville, who have been working to exchange ideas and cultures with citizens of the world since 1991.

Sister Cities of Nashville is a nonprofit organization operating under a simple mission: to connect the people of Nashville with people of the world, promoting peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation. Sister Cities believes that the friendships we make through meeting each other and working together can last a lifetime and can ensure that residents of our countries are seen as human beings whom we like and respect and with whom we share this small world. It is citizen diplomacy at its best.

Sister Cities of Nashville has eight international sister city partners: Belfast, Northern Ireland; Caen, France; Edmonton, Canada; Kamakura, Japan; Magdeburg, Germany; Mendoza, Argentina; Taiyuan, China; and Tamworth, Australia. All of these partnerships have flourished through the hard work of volunteers and through the support of Nashville’s mayors and our Metropolitan Council, which has authorized these relationships.

Along with celebrating its 25th anniversary year, Sister Cities of Nashville is marking the 25th anniversary of its sister city treaty signing with Caen, France. Twenty delegates from Caen visited Nashville at the end of April, among them the Caen deputy mayor of international relations and the president of the Caen Bar which, along with the Nashville Bar Association, has been a longtime supporter of the Sister Cities program.

Our French visitors love Nashville and Middle Tennessee. They’ve seen our city grow and thrive in a way that is best observed by visitors who see it with fresh eyes. Over the years, they have spent time visiting our historical sites and cultural attractions, as well as attending seminars that promote best practices and information exchanges between the cities. Regular spots on our itinerary include the Jack Daniel’s Distillery and downtown honky tonks. If you ask them what they love most, it’s the time-tested relationships they’ve been able to forge with friends and host families they’ve been able to meet through the exchange.

This summer, we’ll be sending Nashville-area high school students to Caen, and to four other sister cities, to learn about their cultures, practice the languages and contribute to the creation of profound friendships that will last for years. Next year, a delegation from Nashville will journey to Normandy for the 32nd annual trip to or from Nashville. And in the past year alone, our organization has implemented nine outbound exchanges to our sister cities while welcoming more than 300 visiting delegates from all eight of our international sister city partners.

In closing, the work that Sister Cities of Nashville does is richly rewarding and nicely complements the world-class city that Nashville has become. I would encourage any resident of Nashville who might be interested in making cross-cultural connections and forming meaningful relationships with our sister city partners to join Sister Cities of Nashville. We’re looking forward to the next 25 years.

​Steve Cobb is an attorney and the first president of Sister Cities of Nashville.​ For more information about Sister Cities of Nashville and its cultural mission, please visit www.scnashville.org.