An Invitation to the 12thWWCAM Mayors Conference

In Changchun, China

Changchun, China, site of the twelfth biennial WWCAM Mayors Conference, January 15 to 18, 2006.

Idyllic winter scenery in Changchun.

“Grow in Winter” is the theme ofthe twelfth biennial conference ofthe World Winter Cities Associationfor Mayors (WWCAM), which willbe held from January 15 to 18, 2006in Changchun, China.

The conference will compriseexchanges of ideas and opinions onenvironmental issues and civic lifein winter among winter city may-ors. Topics of discussion will in-clude winter energy measures; thegreening of cities in winter; mainte-nance of public facilities; the stor-age, transportation, and preserva-tion of food during winter; and thereasonable distribution of humanresources in winter.

The conference is also open tonon-WWCAM members as observ-ers. For application details, pleasesee page two.

Winter Expo and ForumIn addition to the Mayors Confer-ence, winter-related goods andequipment will be on display and

technology and business exchangeswill take place at the Winter Expo.Academic researchers and special-ists on civic life and urban develop-ment in winter cities will exchangeideas and opinions during the Win-ter Cities Forum. The Winter Expoand Winter Cities Forum will beheld concurrently with the MayorsConference.

Eleventh Mayors Conference and the Winter Expo (inset) in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2004.

Date Time Programs

15 Jan. Sunday Afternoon Opening Ceremony;Board of Directors Meeting

16 Jan. Monday Morning General Assembly;Presentations by candidate citiesbidding to host 2010 conference;

Afternoon Subcommittee Reports(Subcommittee for SustainableWinter Cities Planning, Subcommitteefor Measures against Terrorism inNorthern Cities)

17 Jan. Tuesday All Day Mayors Conference Session

18 Jan. Wednesday Morning Mayors Conference Plenary Sessionand Wrap-up Roundtable;Closing Ceremony; Press Conference

Afternoon Observation Tour

Changchun Mayors Conference Schedule

Winter Expo Winter CitiesForum

Registration FeesMayors Conference: 450USD (non-member city representatives); Mayors Conference participant’s accompanying

guest: 250USD; Winter Cities Forum: 450USD; Winter Expo: 250USD. All lunches and one dinner included.

For registration details, please refer to the city of Changchun’s homepage: <http://www.ccfao.com.cn/wwcam/

index014.html>.

Members of theWWCAM displayedthe charms of theirwinter cities at theJATA World TravelFair in Tokyo fromSeptember 22 to 24.The WWCAM boothat the fair was a col-laborative effort byassociation membersto promote tourismto fair visitors, whohave specific inter-ests in internationaltravel. Participatingat the fair wereWWCAM member citiesChangchun, China; Taebaek, Korea;Tromsø, Norway; Anchorage, USA;and Aomori and Sapporo, Japan.

With more than a hundred thou-sand visitors to the World Travel Fairthis year, the WWCAM boothshummed with activity: video moni-tors displayed city highlights andbooth staff distributed tourism bro-chures and demonstrated cultures

of member cities. When a chance toplay a traditional Korean game wasoffered at the booth for the beauti-ful alpine city of Taebaek, in theblink of an eye, a long line formedand game prizes quickly ran out. Atthe Aomori booth, a performanceon the Tsugaru shamisen, a tradi-tional three-stringed Japanese in-strument, attracted crowds of visi-tors, who listened with fascination

to the exotic music.The sight of fairvisitors enthusiasti-cally seeking touristinformation from allthe participatingWWCAM cities wasgratifying.

Beautiful WinterThe Aurora Borealisof the winter sky,beautiful sculpturesof ice and snow,festivals celebratingthe joy of winter,cool and refreshing

summers, the light of the midnightsun—there truly is no end to thecharm of winter cities. Visitors tothe fair from the Tokyo area, wherewinter is short and almost snowless,were impressed with the displays ofthe beauty of winter and winterleisure, and a great number of thoseattending the fair expressed interestin the tourism information on mem-ber cities.

WWCAM PromotesTourism in Member Cities

Musicians entertained World Travel Fair visitors. Taebaek and Aomori booths.

WWCAM display at the World Travel Fair in Tokyo.

City Officials ConferWWCAM Working-Level Meeting in Taebaek

While life in a winter city doespresent challenges, at the same timeit also offers a wealth of resources.To many travelers, the beautifulscene of a blanket of snow is a trulyfascinating thing. Members of theWorld Winter Cities Association for

The WWCAM held itsworking-level meeting inTaebaek, South Korea, July13 to 15, 2005. Following awelcoming address byHong Soon Il, mayor ofTaebaek, thirty-nine cityofficials, mainly administra-tive representatives frommember cities, reviewedprogram plans for thetwelfth Mayors Conferencein 2006 as well as projectsof the World Winter City Associationfor Mayors for the next fiscal year.

Plans for the 12th MayorsConferenceThe twelfth biennialMayors Conference isplanned for January15 through 18, 2006in Changchun, China,and officials fromChangchun discussedthe overall theme ofthe conference,“Grow in Winter,” inaddition to othertopics. The followinghave been identifiedas topics for discus-sion at the upcomingconference in Janu-ary.

Environmental Issues in Winter� Environmental and transportationissues related to the use of automo-biles in winter;

will participate in the Beijing Inter-national Tourism Expo in China,where the association expects topromote winter cities to a greatnumber of travelers in Beijing,home to over 12 million people andremarkable economic development.

The Mayors Conference in Changchun was discussed at the meeting.

� Measures regardingurban greenery;� Participation of nongov-ernment organizations inthe maintenance and man-agement of public facili-ties.

Solutions to IssuesRelated to Civic Life inWinter� Storage, transportation,and maintenance of fresh-

ness of food in winter;� Construction of open spaces inwinter;

� Economic develop-ment of winter citiesthrough the utiliza-tion of winter tour-ism resources.

• • •At the WWCAMworking-level offi-cials meeting, repre-sentatives fromChangchun also dis-cussed requirementsfor participation inthe Winter Expo andthe Winter CitiesForum, which will beheld in conjunctionwith the Mayors Con-ference.

Mayors will continue to work to-gether to promote the tourism at-tractions and the precious assets oftheir cities.

WWCAM cities participated inthe JATA World Travel Fair in 2004as well, and in 2006, the association

Working-Level Officials meet in Taebaek, South Korea.

InternationalTourism ExpoIn addition to topicsrelated to the May-ors Conference inChangchun, it wasdecided at the work-ing-level meetingthat WWCAM mem-ber cities will par-ticipate in the 2006International Tour-ism Expo in Beijing,China as a collabora-tive project to pro-mote tourism inmember cities.

Taebaek, KoreaTaebaek, the venueof the meeting, islocated in the east-ern part of the Ko-rean Peninsula and iswell known for win-ter sports and winterleisure activities.

Cities repre-sented at the work-ing-level meetingwere Changchun,Qiqihar, and Shen-yang, China; Nuuk,Greenland; Aomoriand Sapporo, Japan;

Events in WWCAM Member CitiesChangchun, ChinaVasaloppet International Cross Country SkiCompetition—Early December 2005 to mid-February 2006.

Kaunas, Lithuania:Kaunas Jazz 2005 Concert of the Year:—December 3 2005.

Shenyang, China:2006 China Shenyang InternationalHorticultural Exposition—May to October 2006.

Changchun, China:Changchun Folk Handiwork Fair—August 2006.

City officials from Mongolia, Japan, China, Korea, Russia, Norway, Greenland,and the United States pose in Taebaek, Korea.

A discussion on winter cities planning in Taebaek: one of many presentationsat the Working-Level Officials Meeting.

Taebaek andChuncheon, Korea;Kaunas, Lithuania;Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;Tromsø, Norway; andAnchorage, USA.

The face-to-facediscussions amongWWCAM membercities at the working-level meeting facili-tated communication,contributing to astrong sense of pur-pose and supportwith the approach ofthe 2006 MayorsConference in Chang-chun.

2006 Working-LevelOfficials MeetingIt was decided tohold the 2006 Work-ing-Level OfficialsMeeting in Nuuk, thecapital of Greenland,which is noted for itsfjørds and beautifulgreen landscape. Atthe 2006 MayorsConference in Chang-chun, Nuuk represen-tatives will introducetheir city.

New WWCAM MembersKaunas and Novosibirsk

Kaunas, Lithuania

Open-air concert in Kaunas.

Located in the center of Lithuaniain Eastern Europe, the city ofKaunas is situated at the con-fluence of the Nemunas and NerisRivers and is the second largest cityin Lithuania.

It is often said that one cannotsee Lithuania without visitingKaunas, a city with a history of oversix hundred years.

With over thirtymuseums and galleries,a variety of stylish barsand restaurants, and anelegant ambiance,Kaunas is often called

“little Paris.”Among the many museums, the

most popular is the State Art Mu-seum named after M. K. Ciurlionis,the famous Lithuanian painter andcomposer. The museum boasts alarge collection of Lithuanian, Rus-sian, and Western European paint-ings, alongside works by M. K.Ciurlionis. In addition, there is a JazzFestival in the spring, and variousconcerts and theater performancesare held at the Pazaislis Monasterythroughout the summer.

The city of Kaunas is easily acces-sible by train, plane, boat, car, orbus. In this city blessed with thesincere hospitality of the Lithuanianpeople, visitors can experience thesuperior service offered in Kaunashotels ranging from the magnificentto the comfortable.

Kaunas FactsArea: 156 km2

Population: 414,000Location: 54° N. Lati-tude, 23° E. Longitude

Where the cultures ofpast and present meet

Street scene in Kaunas.

Novosibirsk, Russia

Anna Savinykh

Popular plaza in Novosibirsk.

Novosibirsk FactsArea: 477 km2

Population: 1,400,000Location: 55° N. Lati-tude, 83° E. Longitude

Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre.

The city of Sapporo, WWCAMSecretariat, has enjoyed a sister-city affiliation with Novosibirsk,Russia since 1990, and in Janu-ary 2005, Novosibirsk became amember of the World Winter Cit-ies Association for Mayors, pro-viding opportunities for evencloser cooperation between thetwo cities.

Novosibirsk native AnnaSavinykh, Sapporo’s Coordinatorfor International Relations forNovosibirsk, Russia since August2005, talks about her home town.

Secretariat: Please tell us aboutNovosibirsk.Anna: Since Novosibirsk was onlyestablished a little over 120 yearsago, it is still a relatively young city.Although it suffered from a reces-sion and economic problems dur-ing the 1990s, conditions have im-proved in recent years and the at-

mosphere of the city has becomebrighter.

One aspect of winter in my cityis that, much like the Snow Festivalthat Sapporo has every year,Novosibirsk holds the SiberianSnow Festival. There is also the

Yolka Festival, when families en-circle pine trees decorated withlights in celebration of the RussianNew Year, and the Ice Playgroundfestival, when slides are made fromice. Novosibirsk is a lively city evenin winter.

Winter sports are very popularin Novosibirsk. Students do cross-country skiing in gym classes, andthere are ice skating and ice hockeyrinks all over the city. The biathlonis also popular. In fact, the WorldBiathlon Championship is held in

Novosibirsk.Snow starts to fall on the city

by the end of October, and usu-ally the snow begins to meltsometime in April. Winter lasts foralmost half the year, and tempera-tures can drop to minus forty de-grees celsius in midwinter. How-ever, since most buildings areequipped with central heatingthat utilizes waste heat producedfrom thermal power generation,

the insides of houses are warm andcomfortable even in the middle ofwinter.

Although the amount of snowfallin Novosibirsk is not too great,snow removal and traffic conges-tion are major issues. For that rea-son, I think the city, through itsinvolvement in the WWCAM, wouldlike to learn from other cities’ ap-proaches to snow removal and traf-fic issues. While it is not a winter-related issue as such, trash sorting

in Novosibirsk is far from perfect,and environmental pollution hasbecome a big problem. So, I think itwould be good if we could ex-change information about trashsorting systems with otherWWCAM member cities.

ODORISAPPORO

JAPONTAXE PERÇOE

BUREAU DE POSTE

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FromWorld Winter CitiesAssociation for MayorsSecretariatc/o City of Sapporo060-8611 JAPAN

ToPrinted Matter

This important survey from the WWCAM can get you a prize! Ten lucky participantswill be chosen by lottery to receive 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

souvenir goods with Norky’s picture. Please complete the questionnaire and getyour hands on some cool Norky stuff!

Fill out this form and fax it to +81-11-218-5168, or complete the questionnaire on-line at <http://www.city.sapporo.jp/somu/kokusai/wwcam/>. The deadline forsubmission is December 31 2005.

� Had you heard of the World Winter Cities Association for Mayors before reading this newsletter? Yes No

� The World Winter Cities Association for Mayors is an organization of winter cities that work together toresolve issues related to winter life. What is your opinion regarding this kind of organization?

Very interested, would like more information. Slightly interested. Not particularly interested.

� Please indicate which articles you found particularly interesting or informative in this issue of the WWCAMnewsletter.

Information on the twelfth WWCAM Mayors Conference in Changchun, China 2005 Working-Level Officials Meeting 2005 WWCAM Collaborative Project New Member City Introduction Nothing in particular

� What are the most important winter issues in your city? Number the top three issues, in order of importance. Traffic/Transportation Winter Tourism Promotion Winter Sports Promotion Snow Removal

and Disposal Energy Consumption in Winter Economic Promotion in Winter

Interested in winning Norky goods? Be sure to supply contact information.Name: ____________________________Company/Organization: ________________Address: ___________________________________________________________E-mail: _________________________________

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