Canada – U.S. Canada City Pair Alumni Conference: Countering Violent Extremism-Strong Cities Global Summit

(3) Mayor Barry Vrbanovic (City of Kitchener) moderates event during the Summit.

Participants attend the Transatlantic Dialogue event.

Participants in the International Steering Committee group photo.

Lisa Holmes (City of Edmonton, Chief of Staff) at the International Steering Committee meeting.

In partnership with the U.S. Embassy Ottawa and Strong Cities Network, Meridian arranged to send a delegation of up to 14 Canadian and American mayors and city officials to attend the 3-day Global Summit Conference on Countering Violent Extremism (hosted by Strong Cities) in New York, New York, USA.

All participants were alumni of previous city pair exchanges between the U.S. and Canada, implemented by Meridian, which aimed to reinforce strategies to address violent extremism through community resilience, counter-messaging, deradicalization, and cooperation between community stakeholders.

The Strong Cities Network 4^th Global Summit was held from September 19-September 21, 2023, in New York Cities, conveniently occurring on the heels of the 78^th UN General Assembly.  The Summit assembled local government officials and mayors from over 70 cities worldwide for this multifaced program.

The Global Summit is intended to showcase and emphasize the distinct contributions that local governments have made and can make proactively and in response to the increasing incidents of extremism and hate-motivated crime impacting cities and towns globally while still observing human rights and protecting the existing local democracies of these communities.