Sister Cities

The objective of the Prairie Village Sister City Committee is to develop relationships with a city in other nations that promote friendship and understanding. We have recently formed a sister city relationship with Dolyna, Ukraine. Our Mayors have asked us to focus on exchanges, especially in the areas of education, cluture, city government, and commerce.

Sister City Visit -- Reflection

The Prairie Village Sister City Committee welcomed a delegation of visitors from our sister city, Dolyna, Ukraine, during the first week of June. The visit was arranged through the Open World Program of the Library of Congress and hosted by the International Visitors Council of Greater Kansas City. Find out more by clicking here. See pictures of trip.

Why have a sister city? 

A. Civic Pride:  There are many reasons for developing a sister city.  From our perspective, one of the most important is the pride we have in Prairie Village.  We believe our city is a model community. We have a powerful combination of livable space and nearby shopping, the parks, statuary, fountains, churches, and schools.  We also have a vibrant democracy. Our government is a combination of both elected officials and citizen volunteers (e.g. our committee).   We want to show that to the world.  At the same time we want to see what new ideas we may glean from other societies. 

B.  Education for both our citizens and theirs is a key objective.   Located in the Heartland of the U.S. we can become insular.  For hundreds of miles in any direction, there is only the U.S.  Yet, as we see every day, events in the rest of the world can impact our lives.  We and our children need to know more about the world. 

Who is on the committee?

The committee consists of community volunteers and one representative from the City Council.   Every Prairie Village citizen is welcome to attend our meetings.  Our committee has openings for student representatives at this time.

When and Where does the committee meet? 

The committee meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at City Hall.  For the next few months our scheduled meetings are: March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13 and August 10.

Don’t we have a sister city in Belgium?

We established a sister city relationship with a city in Belgium.  However, political changes in the Belgian City caused their government to lose interest in being sister cities with us. 

What have you been doing?

We host an annual reception for the exchange students at Shawnee Mission East. 

We have formed a sister city relationship with Dolyna, Ukraine.  We have hosted two visiting groups from Dolyna and are expecting a visit from a third group in May.  We hope to send a group of visitors in August.

What can we do to help?

Citizens are welcome to attend our meetings.  Try to learn about Ukraine and especially our sister city.

Hosting groups and sending delegations takes a lot of money.  We have sponsored fund raising activities to try to raise money for the visits.  Please support these activities.  You can also send donations to the sister city fund of the Prairie Village Community Foundation.

Would you be willing to travel at your own expense to visit Dolyna and “show off” Prairie Village.  Let us know about that.

If you would like to host a visitor from Dolyna in your home, let us know about that.