4-ACES TWINNING PROGRAM

Active in revitalization for over 25 years, the Rues principales Foundation, in collaboration with the Vermont Downtown Program–an agency dedicated to the revitalization of downtown areas in Vermont–established a twinning program between municipalities of Québec and Vermont as a platform for sharing rewarding experiences in the socio-economic revitalization of downtown areas and to foster cultural and linguistic exchanges between municipalities having similar realities. A municipality that receives the “4-Aces of Concerted and Sustainable Development” certification from the Rues principales Foundation can become a candidate for twinning with a Vermont municipality. The twinned municipalities together establish the type and frequency of their exchanges. The twinning program focuses on direct exchanges, network building and cooperation between the twinned municipalities.

Municipalities are twinned on the basis of:

• similar geographic situations;
• comparable populations;
• shared interests with respect to the types of challenges being confronted, for which it would be very beneficial to the share their experiences and knowledge;
• common search for tangible solutions to similar problems;
• a mutual desire to establish multicultural projects that respectfully enhance both languages.

In 2011, four municipalities (two in Québec, and two in Vermont) agreed to adhere to the twinning program. The Rues principales Foundation, in collaboration with the Vermont Downtown Program, awarded certificates to Burlington (Vermont) and Drummondville (Québec) and to Newport (Vermont) and Coaticook (Québec) that attest to the municipalities’ commitment to the program designed to promote direct exchanges, cooperation and network building.

At the Rues principales Foundation Conference on September 28, 2011, François Varin, Director General of the Foundation, presented certificates to Francine Ruest-Jutras, Mayor of Drummondville, Québec, accompanied by representatives of the Commissariat au Commerce de Drummondville, and to Ron Redmond, Executive Director of Church Street MarketPlace in Burlington, Vermont, that attest to the municipalities’ commitment to the twinning program.

At the Rues principales Foundation Conference on September 28, 2011, François Varin, Director General of the Rues principales Foundation, presented certificates to Bertrand Lamoureux, Mayor of Coaticook, Québec, accompanied by Julie Favreau, Rues principales Coaticook project coordinator, and to Patricia Sears, Executive Director of Newport City Renaissance Corporation, Newport, Vermont, that attest to their commitment to the twinning program.