Baltimore Sister Cities

Food Resilience in Maryland

Empty plate with fork and knife. Event title, date, and logos of the participating organizations.

Did you miss our recent webinar about Food Resilience in Maryland? Watch the recording here: youtu.be/_-WyWs2O6Dk

Featuring these speakers:

About this event

Food insecurity is rampant in Baltimore, with nearly a quarter of the city’s residents struggling to acquire healthy, affordable food. While local urban farmers, religious leaders, and advocates are fighting for food justice in the city, accessibility and availability to food remains a concern to many residents. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to exacerbate the problem by increasing the number of people in need.

In this webinar the problem of food insecurity is discussed. What is food insecurity/resilience? Whom does food insecurity primarily impact in Baltimore? What is Baltimore currently doing to move from food insecurity to food resilience? How has COVID-19 impacted food insecurity/resilience? How do we build resilient food systems in Baltimore?

And we encourage you to support the great work these organizations are doing to bring healthy food to our community:
Donate to Maryland Food Bank
Donate to Black Yield Institute

May 6 | Food Resilience in Maryland

Empty plate with fork and knife. Event title, date, and logos of the participating organizations.

Why are people hungry?

Food insecurity is rampant in Baltimore, with nearly a quarter of the city’s residents struggling to acquire healthy, affordable food. While local urban farmers, religious leaders, and advocates are fighting for food justice in the city, accessibility and availability to food remains a concern to many residents. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to exacerbate the problem by increasing the number of people in need.

In this webinar the problem of food insecurity will be discussed. What is food insecurity/resilience? Whom does food insecurity primarily impact in Baltimore? What is Baltimore currently doing to move from food insecurity to food resilience? How has COVID-19 impacted food insecurity/resilience? How do we build resilient food systems in Baltimore?

Speakers

More information

Video recording of the event: youtu.be/_-WyWs2O6Dk

Event page: foodresilience.eventbrite.com

And we encourage you to support the great work these organizations are doing to bring healthy food to our community:
Donate to Maryland Food Bank
Donate to Black Yield Institute

Architecture & Urban Design Webinars

Baltimore and Rotterdam waterfronts

This lecture series features speakers from the U.S.A. about Baltimore’s cityscape and urban design, and speakers from the Netherlands about innovative construction materials and circular design systems such as reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling in the built environment. Lectures are 1 hr followed by 20 min discussion with Q&A. Open to the public. Admission is free. Advance registration required.

SCHEDULE

(subject to change)

FEBRUARY 8 | Reinventing the Industrial Legacy City: Baltimore

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA, ArchPlan (Baltimore)

This event is past. Video recording: youtu.be/nTBox73wil8

MARCH 8 | A vessel for change: Floating Office Rotterdam

Albert Richters, Powerhouse Company (the Netherlands)

This event is past. Video recording: youtu.be/GDgFNEn_W7s

MARCH 17 | Applying circular economy principles to the built environment

Nico Schouten & Andrew McCue, Metabolic (the Netherlands)

This event is past. Video recording: youtu.be/pm_IRDtKs1I

APRIL 7 | Write it down instead of writing it off: Materials passports for the built environment

Marijn Emanuel, Madaster (the Netherlands)

Originally scheduled for March 15, this event has been MOVED to April 7.

This event is past. Video recording: youtu.be/PzDrvGZpJfQ

APRIL 15 | An Ecology of Equity

April De Simone, Co-Founder, Designing the WE (producers of the Undesign the Redline interactive exhibit, workshop series and curriculum) (USA)

This event is past. Video recording: youtu.be/esT5QCtMYdg

WEBINAR SERIES SPONSORS

Thank you to our bronze-level sponsor: Brennan + Company

RELATED WEBINAR SERIES

2023 webinar series

2022 webinar series

Lecture series organized by Cristina Murphy, Assistant Professor at Morgan State University School of Architecture + Planning (MSU SA+P) with assistance from Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC).

Morgan State University School of Architecture logo; Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee logo

Jan-Feb | Building a climate-resilient Maryland together

Building a Climate-Resilient Maryland Together (knowledge-exchange symposium). Photos of cities, towns, and coastal regions in Maryland and Netherlands. List of sessions. Logos of the partner organizations.

A knowledge exchange symposium with experts from Maryland and the Netherlands on urban, rural, and coastal resilience, followed by 1on1 resilience chats in the month of February

Maryland and the Netherlands are working together to proactively implement adaptation strategies, exchange lessons learned and best practices, and look for more opportunities to collaborate on climate resilience. There are 2 activities in January – February:

1) January 26 — Symposium

This event with Dutch and USA experts provided an opportunity to learn about innovative adaptation strategies, exchange your ideas on climate-resilience, and participate in lively group discussions with experts who have helped implement world-renowned and transformational resilience projects.

Features presentations on strategies for Coastal Adaptation, Resilient Cities, and Small Communities and breakout sessions on Nature-Based Solutions, Public-Private Partnerships for Resilience Projects, Citizen Engagement in Hazard Mitigation, Resilience Adaptation Manual for Small Communities, Engineering with Nature, and Port Resilience, led by both Dutch and US experts in the private and public sectors.

This event is designed for: product and service companies involved with environmental and water management technologies; architecture/engineering firms; planners; government agencies, economic development professionals and climate/environmental organizations.

Presentation slides and recordings: www.netherlandswaterpartnership.com/events/building-climate-resilient-maryland-together (Scroll to bottom of page to see videos of some of the slides
Event program: www.netherlandswaterpartnership.com/events/building-climate-resilient-maryland-together

2) February — Matchmaking for Maryland & Netherlands flood resilience experts

Ran out of time during the January 26 symposium to set up meetings with experts from Maryland & Netherlands, or did you miss it? Our matchmaking platform lets professionals arrange 1on1 chats with resilience experts throughout the month of February, providing an opportunity for US and Dutch resilience planners and environmental technology firms to network with each other. You do not need to have attended the Jan 26 symposium to participate in the 1on1 chats.

Register here: resilient-maryland-netherlands.b2match.io

This event is organized by the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) in partnership with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC). It is supported by the Partners for Water Programme.

S.O.S – Save Our Sister

— May 29, 2020 —

B.S.C. logo, map of world, Baltimore city seal. Sister cities: Alexandria, Luxor, Changwon, Gbarnga, Kawasaki, Piraeus, Rotterdam, Xiamen

Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. (BSC) is excited and honored to announce that its member organization, the Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC) has arranged for the shipment of 50,000 surgical masks from Xiamen, China, to the City of Baltimore. BXSCC continues a long tradition of Chinese immigrants coming to the aid of the United States, from those who were critical to the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century to those who served in America’s wars and to those now helping Baltimore see the other side of this pandemic.

When BXSCC Chair Xin (Cindy) Wang began receiving requests for PPE (personal protective equipment) within Baltimore and from the State of Maryland, she reached out to the Xiamen Foreign Affairs Office as well as possible PPE providers in Xiamen.

With confirmation from Xiamen that the City could indeed provide masks, Wang began working with Hosea Chew, Director of Administration for the Office of Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, and the Chinese Embassy. Other Xiamen Sister Cities began receiving smaller PPE shipments and Wang began fielding daily calls about shipment logistics to Baltimore with freight forwarders, lawyers, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and customs officials.

The City of Xiamen is covering the cost of the masks themselves as well as shipment to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The City of Baltimore is clearing the masks through customs and shipping them from New York to Baltimore. Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc, as the importer of record and a 501c3 nonprofit organization, is exempt from import duties and will be donating the masks to the City of Baltimore.

Twenty-five boxes of surgical masks—551 pounds—arrived in Baltimore on May 28. They will be stored at Baltimore’s Emergency Operation Center and distributed based on requests from hospitals or other institutions in need.

Contact

Tharwat Abouraya, President
Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc.

For more information about Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC), visit their site at bxscc.org.

Photo from the press conference at Baltimore City Hall on May 29, 2020. Left: BXSCC Chair Xin (Cindy) Wang; Ben England from Benjamin L. England & Associates, LLC | FDAImports.com; right: Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young. Photo by Ziling (Jay) Guo.

Other press releases

Baltimore Mayor’s Office press release

Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee press release (PDF)

Video message from Xin (Cindy) Wang, Chair, Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee

Multilingual coronavirus information for Baltimore

MIMA, the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, has prepared translations of information on the coronavirus in an effort to increase awareness in Baltimore’s immigrant communities and limit the spread of COVID-19. The translations are available at:

mima.baltimorecity.gov/coronavirus

The state of Maryland also has information on the coronavirus in multple languages:

goci.maryland.gov/covid19-translations

Please pass this information along to your neighbors, and thank you for sharing and for keeping our communities healthy.

2019 Year in Review: Baltimore Sister Cities

At the turn of each year, we take stock of our accomplishments in the past year and make plans for the coming year. Our slideshow gives you a taste of what our 100+ volunteers achieved in 2019.

Annual Report & Plan

Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Accomplishments Report for 2019 (PDF, 3mb)

Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Plan for 2020 (PDF, 1.4mb)

2019 Photo Slideshow

Check out our slideshow with highlights from Baltimore Sister Cities activities and events in 2019!

Slideshow includes:

  1. Joint activities across the sister city committees (00:00)
  2. Changwon, South Korea (00:58)
  3. Gbarnga, Liberia (01:41)
  4. Kawasaki, Japan (02:13)
  5. Luxor & Alexandria, Egypt (03:14)
  6. Odessa, Ukraine (04:03)
  7. Piraeus, Greece (04:28)
  8. Rotterdam, Netherlands (04:58)
  9. Xiamen, China (05:54)
  10. “In Appreciation” section (06:47)

2019 APAHM Video

Highlights from our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration on May 31, 2019, held at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

New sister city agreement in 2019

Changwon, South Korea is our newest sister city! In 2019, a mayoral delegation from Changwon traveled to Baltimore to sign the official sister city agreement with Baltimore.

More info & video

40th year anniversary: Kawasaki and Baltimore Sister Cities

In 2019, Baltimore and Kawasaki celebrated the 40th year anniversary of their sister city relationship. A mayoral-level delegation from Kawasaki visited Baltimore to commemorate the anniversary and renew the sister city agreement. To mark the anniversary, the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee created an anniversay “Legacy Video” with stories from its emeritus members about the history of Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister Cities.

View the anniversary video

Dec 3 / EU Delegation visits Maryland

On December 3, 2019, European Union Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis leads a delegation of over 20 EU Member State Ambassadors for a day of engagement with Maryland state and local officials, students, educators, environmental and trade organizations.

Public events include:

Events are free but advance registration is required.

Organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee is helping promote the events.

Contact Baltimore Sister Cities


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Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. No goods or services were provided for this gift. Please consult your tax advisor regarding specific questions about your deductions.

 

Web site copyright © 2023 Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc.

logo-baltimoreBaltimore sister city committees operate under the auspices of the City of Baltimore’s Office of the Mayor.

 

Brandon M. Scott, Mayor

 

Previous mayor’s Dec 2015 press release about Baltimore Sister Cities.

 

Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. is a 501c3 organization incorporated in the State of Maryland.
Member of  Sister Cities International, Maryland Nonprofits, World Trade Center Institute, Visit Baltimore, & affiliate of Maryland International Education Consortium.
Recipient of 2016 Innovation Award from Sister Cities International.