Moldovan leaders examine regional sustainable devlopment
The Congressional Office for International Leadership (formerly known as the Open World Leadership Center), an agency of the U.S. Congress, will send a delegation of Moldovan rural community leaders to Toledo, Ohio, Nov. 4-12. The delegation consists of five professionals who will be accompanied by a bicultural/lingual facilitator and an interpreter. While in northwest Ohio, the Open World program participants will be hosted by Great Lakes Community Action Partnership/Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development (GLCAP/GLC).
Prior to their arrival in Toledo the participants completed an orientation in Washington, D.C. While in Ohio, delegates will collaborate on best practices for regional sustainable economic development. Delegates will meet staff of Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (Ohio 9th district) and local community leaders and partners in northwest Ohio. The professional activities in Toledo include meetings at Regional Growth Partnership, Women of Toledo, Toledo-Lucas County Main Library, Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center, Common Space of Lake Erie West, and more.
Delegates will also have site visits in downtown Fremont; in Fulton County with Fulton County Visitors Bureau, in Ottawa County they will visit Marblehead and Rocky Point winery and Red Fern Inn. In Wood County they will visit and have meetings at Perrysburg High School, and Bowling Green State University, where they will have community outreach to share experience with Perrysburg teachers and university students. Site visits in Bowling Green also include Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen, BIG FabLab, and Grounds for Thought.
The delegation will stay in the homes of local residents who serve as hospitality hosts.
A welcoming luncheon will take place Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. at the Hungarian Club of Toledo.
More than 30,000 current and future leaders from post-Soviet era countries have participated in the Open World program. Open World offers one of the most effective U.S. exchange programs to promote mutually beneficial options for depolarized engagement between future national leaders. It is a unique but no less powerful tool for Congress to engage legislatures in critical regions of the world.