Slideshow: Panelists tout value of 'citizen diplomacy'

Chancellor Thomas Harden welcomed Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton (second from left, above) to UW-Green Bay on Dec. 6 for an open forum on the “Role of States in Citizen Diplomacy.”

Lawton has long been an advocate of Americans taking an interest in world affairs, traveling and interacting with citizens of other nations. She recently chaired a session at the national citizen-diplomacy summit in Washington, D.C. She urges a more systematic role for states in coordinating international opportunities.

Panelists at Monday’s session in the UW-Green Bay University Union included Profs. Timothy Dale of UW-Green Bay and B.S. Sridhar of UW Oshkosh, former Manitowoc mayor and sister-cities advocate Kevin Crawford, and policy research assistant Debbie Sharnak of Madison.

Lt. Gov. Lawton demonstrated a template — still in development — that will network state citizen diplomacy activities online. UW World is a project sponsored by UW System in collaboration with a technical team from UW-Milwaukee.  It will provide a calendar and catalog of Wisconsin school, government and group/agency interactions with international partners.

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