On 20 November we attended the central New Zealand regional focus group meeting in Wellington held by Sister Cities New Zealand (SCNZ).
Mayors from councils with sister cities in and around wellington, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), the Japanese embassy, the Chinese embassy, the Ministry Foreign Affairs and Trade, etc. attended the meeting.
At the group discussion we talked about a lot of topics on how to make sister-city activities more attractive: effective promotion, proper engagement with young people and community involvement.
CLAIR promoted the local government system in Japan and the JET Program, which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year.
We also suggested that sister-city activities can benefit greatly from collaboration with JET Alumni Associations (JETAA).