Also
known as the “Tragedy of the Commons,” this concept is applicable anywhere as shared natural resources are depleted by self-interested individuals who are nevertheless aware that such depletions are contrary AR-13324 to the long-term interests of the larger social group to which they belong (Hardin 1968). Overcoming the commons dilemma and maximizing the utility of common resources through sharing require that decision makers see measurable reciprocities that accomplish a shared goal. The goal of our application was to highlight such reciprocities and improve local sustainability across five resource-intensive sectors. Adapting the sister city phenomena This study aims to address some of these local-scale, municipal-level sustainability challenges by repurposing the sister city model of civic cooperation. Such city-to-city connections first emerged in Europe between 1880 and 1900. After undergoing a period of expansion during the interwar years roughly (1920–1935), sister city programs were formally established by the hundreds all across Europe, North America, and the rest of the Selleckchem OSI-906 globe after World War II (WWII) (Ewen and Hebbert 2007). For much of this time, but especially since 1945, sister city partnerships have aimed at fostering LCZ696 cultural and political exchange. The sister
city phenomenon, which is known as “town twinning” in the United Kingdom and Europe, is typically defined by the establishment of social, cultural, and political ties between municipalities in separate nation-states. While a few instances of intranational twinning can be identified in Europe and Canada, the phenomenon has tended to be predominately international in nature (Zelinski 1991). Despite some nineteenth- and early twentieth-century precedents, the current configuration of the sister city phenomenon—and its international orientation—is largely a product of the Cold War era. After World
War II, a number of organizations and communities across Europe and the United States sought to establish closer sociocultural ties as a bulwark against future conflict and wars (Zelinski 1991; Clarke 2010). Within Europe, town twinning selleck kinase inhibitor was generally developed without a universal definition or guideline. Großpietsch argues that the contemporary partnerships tend to evolve on a case-by-case basis as elected officials, and committed citizens from each municipality pursue their respective interests through their own particular interpretation of the partnership’s objectives (Großpietsch 2010). In recent decades, the European Commission has funded town twinning with the dual objective of encouraging links between cities within established EU countries [i.e.