The German Marshall Fund is a US foundation set up by the Germans as sort of a repayment for the Marshall Plan help we gave them.  They seem to do a lot of cross-cultural stuff. 

 

They now have an urban policy intiative, the "Cities in Transition" program, which appears to be ia joint venture with two US non-profits, and involving Youngstown and Cleveland.

 

Cities in Transition Initiative

 

"A sustainable network for leaders from Flint, Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh supported by the Surdna Foundation and the Kresge Foundation and organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States"

 

 

...looks like they are going to be offering Leipzig as an example of how to deal with shrinkage.

 

To launch Cities in Transition project in October 2010, GMF will bring together stakeholders and study tour participants for a one-day meeting in Detroit to engage leadership and identify desired outcomes early in the process. The cornerstone of the project will be a study tour to Leipzig and one other successfully shrinking European city in December 2010, during which participants will have an opportunity to meet with key policymakers, examine the “why” and “how” of these cities’ successful approaches and identify the key parallels between these American and European cities.

 

klingt interessant

Ich bin einverstanden. Total interessant :)

 

Leipzig is actually doing a lot of really interesting things around temporary use, conversion of an old cotton mill into an arts campus (see http://www.spinnerei.de/from-cotton-to-culture.html?lang=1), etc., and it's a pretty stunning city. Hopefully, one of these days, I'll get to post my photos from my Bosch Fellowship year.