The Global Learning Initiative (GLI) is a collaborative program that brings together Charlotte Sister Cities, North Carolina educational institutions and select organizations in Charlotte’s seven Sister Cities to provide a foreign learning experience for students and valuable intercultural learning tools for teachers and citizens. The program was developed and by Former CSC Board Member Diane St. John.

The pilot project in 2006 linked students in a Multimedia Documentary Storytelling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with journalism students at the Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria in Arequipa, Peru. The students worked together via email and during 10 days in which 15 students and 2 UNC faculty members traveled to Arequipa to work side-by-side with UCSM students to gather audio, video and photographs. The 15 stories plus original infographics provide a stunning insight into the diversity of life in and around Arequipa. The website location is http://www.whitecitystories.org/.

In 2007, Diane St. John worked with UNC-Charlotte to develop and teach a course that matched UNCC’s international public relations students with communication students at Hebei University in Baoding, People’s Republic of China. The classes communicated via email and teleconference to plan websites that provide a glimpse of life in Charlotte and Baoding. They also collaborated on translating each other’s sites.

New Project Planning:

If you know teachers in an area school or university who would like to create interesting and educational relationships with teachers in Charlotte's seven sister cities, contact the Charlotte Sister Cities office at 704.333.3399.