Second Round Table

Bonn, 24 to 25 November 2016. In cooperation with the City of Bonn, the Service Agency staged the Second Round Table for German municipalities with partnerships in Mongolia at Bonn Town Hall. Delegates from the municipalities of Bonn, Essen, Baruth Mark and its partner municipality Murun, Schönefeld, the Main-Taunus District, the Mongolian Embassy and the German-Mongolian Society had all accepted their invitations to attend.

Following an official welcome addresses by Stefan Wagner, Director of the Office for International Affairs and Sustainability of the City of Bonn, and Clemens Olbrich of the Service Agency, day one of the meeting focused on providing participants with an opportunity to get to know each other, and compare notes on the current situation of the partnerships with Mongolia.

Working in small groups, the participants identified the key facts about their respective partnerships, and subsequently presented these in plenary. Here it emerged that the partnerships vary widely in terms of their 'lifespan', their level of activity and the themes they address. What they all have in common, however, is the strong commitment of the actors involved in maintaining them. Bonn's partnership with Ulan Bator has existed since 1992, and was initially very active in youth exchange and expert exchange. The time has now come to bring the partnership back to life again. In the summer of 2016 the Main-Taunus District signed a declaration of intent together with the Province of Uvurkhangai, documenting the two sides' intention to enter into a partnership in the future. The City of Essen has maintained a partnership with Ulan Bator since 2012, which focuses on topics such as hospital hygiene, health and the reduction of infectious diseases. It also involves regular exchange of doctors.

Compiling the key data provided all participants with a first overview of the current status quo. Following that, Mayor Peter Ilk of Baruth Mark presented his municipality's projects with the partner municipality of Murun. This partnership has been very active since 2011. Alongside the focus on improving infrastructure and wastewater systems, a new project now involves building a training centre in which young people will be able to receive training units and workshops in various trades.

The afternoon was brought to a close with a concert by a musician from the Egschiglen band, who mesmerised the audience as he played the horsehead fiddle and the swan's head fiddle while delivering a performance of overtone singing. At a joint dinner, participants took the opportunity to deepen their links.

On the second day the moderator Susanne Luithlen presented the stakeholder analysis method. This involved participants identifying stakeholders linked to a specific question or topic, and relating them to each other. The three objectives when conducting the analysis are as follows: Once you have established a precise overview of the stakeholders in your partnership, categorise them, identify their intentions and highlight possible weak points.

The participants went about producing their respective visualisations with great enthusiasm. Prof. Dr. Ines Stolpe of the University of Bonn was invited in an expert capacity. As the participants presented their respective analyses, she made comments and drew to the participants' attention aspects that she considered important for implementing their objectives. For example, she pointed out that when cooperating with state authorities in Mongolia, it is important to remember that officials are often transferred, hence designated contact persons will keep changing. She explained that the German partner municipality will need to learn to deal with this fact, and take account of it when laying down plans. She also emphasised that establishing a broad network was important for continuity, because this made it possible for various actors to shoulder the work.

In the afternoon Ulrich Held, Team Leader at the Service Agency, presented new instruments for financial and human resources support for municipalities. Participants then had an opportunity to put to Mr Held directly the many questions they had. Following a final review and evaluation session, the Service Agency offered to accompany participants on a tour of the city. To conclude the event the participants, Mongolian students holding scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and other interested individuals met at an evening reception in the Wagensaal room in the Old Town Hall. The evening reception also marked the opening of the annual meeting of the German-Mongolian Society, which took place on the Saturday.