INTERNATIONAL
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Bilateral meet with National Association of Regional Councils - NARC (leslie Wollack)

Dear all,

I just spoke to Leslie Wollack, Executive Director of the National Association of Regional Councils - NARC in Washington, DC. They are not totally unlike Metrex in Europe (and they in fact are connected to them), except that some of their members do not only represent Metropolitan, but also rural realities. They do however have organizations for many American metropolitan areas.

As you will see in their website, they define their mission as follows: As a national public interest organization, NARC works with and through its members to:

  • Shape federal policy that recognizes the increased value of local intergovernmental cooperation;
  • Advocate effectively for the role of regional councils in the coordination, planning, and delivery of current and future federal programs;
  • Provide research and analysis of key national issues and developments that impact our members; and
  • Offer high quality learning and networking opportunities for regional organization through events, training, and technical assistance.
Leslie and I spoke about our organizations. They may be a good partner, not necessarily to get US members (who knows?), but to at least connect the debates in the US with some of our work. 
 
 We agreed that we will send Leslie the Save the Date whenever we send it to our partners, and that she may help assemble a small delegation (she was already thinking about people working in San Diego, Washington DC and South Florida metropolitan organizations) to attend our conference in Brussels in June 2023. They will have their yearly event on June 4 to 7 2023 in Detroit.They will also send me the info about theirs, in case someone may attend.
 
Without a clear path to attracting American members, some connection to organizations like NARC may be good to fill in that big gap in our world coverage.
 
Thanks!
 
Jordi