A partnership between the city of Albany and a Russian city is awarding its remaining funding to support youth programming in the Capital Region.
Anton Konev, a board member of the Albany-Tula Alliance, said the more than $36,000 being awarded to the International Center of the Capital Region will support citizen diplomacy, even as the partnership winds down.
“It’s unfortunate that today, we can't continue diplomacy, very specifically directed at [the] Russian Federation. However, this doesn't mean that the idea of Citizen Diplomacy dies,” Konev said.
Konev, a St. Petersburg native, is a former Albany Common Councilor. He spoke Tuesday at Hudson Valley Community College while war in Ukraine continues.
The sister city relationship was suspended in 2022, according to David Galin, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s chief of staff, but not broken off. Additionally, Albany added Bucha, Ukraine to its sister city relationships earlier this year.
Konev says the war makes citizen diplomacy even more important:
“We need to turn the world around. And this is what this is about. This is about turning the world around with developing future leaders who won't make the same decisions, but unfortunately, as some of the current leaders are making,” Konev said.
International Center of the Capital Region Executive Director Holly McKenna says, despite the Alliance shutting down, the money will support efforts in the Capital Region:
“We have Academic WorldQuest, which is an international game that the students in the area play where we send them to Washington. This money will help for that. We eventually want to do a Model UN, here in the Capital Region, the first one and we'd like- we want it to be at Hudson Valley, which is our home. And we have many other initiatives as was mentioned by Anton that we want to have young people really as young as kindergarten get involved in. Youth diplomacy camps, but really just get kids interested in international affairs from the very beginning,” McKenna said.
Dr. Jay Deitchmann, HVCC’s Director of Global Initiatives, says the college’s partnership began in 2021 and was only natural:
“The ICCR’s mission of Citizen Diplomacy is directly in line with the college's goal of having a global impact, making a difference globally, making the world a better place using the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals as a framework for our initiatives,” Deitchmann said.
Those goals are: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; reduced inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnerships in those goals.
Konev says the war is the impetus for shuttering the alliance:
“Even being an optimist, we don't see unfortunately, the ability to continue to work with [the] Russian Federation, where it's it, we used to work a lot with schools, we used to work a lot with colleges, it is unfortunate that that work is no longer allowed by [the] Russian government,” Konev said.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the city’s relationship is done forever:
“I'm not saying that there’s not going to be [a] future for Albany and Tula 50 years from now. But current Albany's future is tied with Bucha, Ukraine, and with our places such as [the] Netherlands that have we have had [a] historic relationship with,” Konev said.
McKenna says the Capital Region continues to welcome refugees:
“A woman that was part of one of our programs reached out to us, she needs- wants to get out of Ukraine, she doesn't have a supporter, I was able to connect her with the Ukrainian community here. And hopefully, maybe they can be, someone there can be a sponsor,” McKenna said.
Speaking of connections, Albany has hosted emergency room doctors and renewable energy workers to help support and rebuild Ukraine.
Sheehan’s office says she supports sanctions against Russia as the U.S. works to hold it accountable for the invasion.
