Iran (IMNA) - "The Department for Cultural and Social Affairs at the Municipality of Isfahan has pulled out all stops to make Isfahan, dubbed as half of the world, known to other nations. We have developed various media productions and generated content in different languages to introduce Isfahan to its sisters cities and also attract foreign tourists to the city. A good example in this regard is content creation addressing Chinese New Year's greetings. For Koreans and Germans, we have also generated productions that were played out on television channels of those countries," Shahmoradi, the head of Isfahan's Department for Cultural and Social Affairs, said.
An important part of connection between Isfahan’s sisters cities was conducted through Isfahani citizen diplomats residing in target countries, especially those that home the sister cities of Isfahan. An example of such contribution is Isfahanis living in Porto, Portugal, who voluntarily deliver the productions of Isfahan Municipality's Department for Cultural Affairs to the relevant communities in the fields of tourism, art, culture, and history to provide a good ground for economic, scientific, and commercial exchanges that benefits both sides. "
He went on to say that, "the University of Isfahan is one of the leading centers in this relation and has been able to generate rich and ample content for some sister cities of Isfahan. Artists, especially those who are active in handicraft industry, are recognized as bridges conveying cultural exchanges between twin cities. Isfahan Municipality's Department for Cultural Affairs has supported handicrafts activists by facilitating their presence in target sister cities and backing them up in marketing processes. "
"Our country has been involved in extensive media and propaganda attacks for a long time, having media presences and adopting cultural measures have been very effective in confronting Iranophobia. Based on the feedbacks we have received from advisors and ambassadors to different countries, we have realized that promotional activities and content production have had many advantageous effects. The Municipality has also gained good experiences in producing tourism contents. Our approach and priority in preparing content is contingent on the number of tourists who have visited Isfahan. In recent years, tourists from China, Russia, Italy, France, Germany and other countries have travelled more to Isfahan rather than other nations," Shahmoradi emphasized.
Establishing sister cities relationships has been set out to synergize the practices of traditional model of diplomacy. That being said, since official diplomats carry out their role in an administrative capacity, their efforts are stymied at a certain functional level, as virtually everything they say is public and politicized.
Citizen diplomacy acknowledges that citizens have other interests that overstep politics. Building connections with other nations and cultures on a different level than state diplomacy is what sister cities agreements are settled on.
Making sister cities relationships is rested on some simple principles that help people realize that having connection with other communities in various countries will shape their attitudes towards other nations in a positive way.
Citizen diplomacy may not change global issues overnight, but it helps mold people’s attitudes towards other people with diverse backgrounds, and in turn their preferences can influence the actions that governments take when formulating foreign policy.
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