| English | |||
 |
Leveraging
Best Practices on Immigration for Economic Development A Public/Private Partnerships Workshop |
||
A Program of CIFAL Atlanta • Co-hosted and supported by the University of Georgia's Office
of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the College of
Family and Consumer Sciences, the Fanning Institute and the Carl Vinson
Institute of Government • Workshop Agendas Attention Participants! Click on the self-assessment survey
button below to complete your registration for this workshop. CIFAL Atlanta and the University of Georgia will be hosting the "Leveraging Best Practices on Immigration for Economic Development" workshop in Atlanta, Georgia on August 16 and in Athens, Georgia on August 17. Workshop is also being supported by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, the Georgia Municipal Association, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP and Neslon Mullins. Program Background Immigration is a worldwide phenomenon that is generated from an innate desire to seek a better life for oneself and family. The reasons for immigration are numerous, but most often stem from either wishing to improve economic or environmental conditions or to escape from war or political turmoil. International organizations have placed the number of people living outside of their native countries at 175 million, which is about 3% of the overall global population. Immigration statistics vary widely from country-to-country; for example, Australia has an immigration population of 23.6% while Denmark has an immigration population of only 6%. In Georgia, new immigrants have totaled approximately 577,273 or 7% of the population. And according to the last Census in 2000; of the entire United States population, at least 11.1% of residents or 31 million are foreign-born. As the population size of the United States continues to grow, immigration has been at the forefront for most in how to effectively deal with such a dynamic and ever changing population. In 2005, the Georgia General Assembly passed the Georgia Immigration and Security Compliance Act, a bill that looks to reduce the number of immigrants entering the State illegally. And regardless of whether it is legal or illegal, immigration can pose great challenges as well as great opportunities. Local governments are faced with how to properly assimilate these people into their new communities. The most common issues faced by communities includes ESL training, employment, transportation, housing and health care. Most have viewed it as a threat to the status quo; however, immigration can offer significant economic benefits to growing communities. By providing an increase supply in available labor thereby lowering the prices of goods and services, immigrants in the U.S. are responsible for $10 billion in annual income. First generation immigrants produce an average of $80,000 more in taxes than he or she receives from state benefits over the course of a lifetime. By understanding the economics associated with this dynamic change in demographics, communities can leverage the effects of immigration to work towards a more beneficial and prosperous state system. Participant Profile Participants will be mayors and city officials representing Georgia and the Southeastern United States. To better foster knowledge and best practice sharing, group size will be limited to only 50 participants. The University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education will provide continuing education units (CEUs) and certificates for participants attending both the Atlanta and Athens sessions. Program Format The forum will build on the methodology and knowledge management tool used by United Nations agencies to foster effective best practice sharing among high level city officials and international experts. The registration process will include an online self-assessment survey that participants will be requested to complete in order to assess their capacity to deal with the challenges they face in relation to the changing population due to immigration. This survey will assist in identifying the areas where each participant wishes to expand his or her knowledge as well as strengths and expertise that could benefit other cities. The purpose of using a common tool is to enable the sharing of best practices with local governments around the world in a participatory manner, according to a common framework and language. We expect the results and concrete examples to be useful beyond each participant city. In an effort to support the changing dynamics of cities with their diverse needs and growing population challenges, two separate day-long workshops are being offered. One will be held in Athens and will target municipal governments representing rural areas while the other will be held in Atlanta and will target municipal governments representing larger urban areas. Expertise is being drawn from many local and international organizations. Keynote speakers include: • Carlo Dade, Senior Advisor, Canadian Foundation for the
Americas Best Practices Areas Participants are expected to obtain the following benefits: • Receive an overview of national and international best
practices on immigration matters Venues • August 16, 2006, Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia
Tech Global Learning & Conference Center For
more information, please contact: Sharon Joseph |
|||
