Burlington Mundialization Committee

• What is Mundialization?
• Who are we?
• What we do
• Terms of Reference
• Committee Members
• Meeting Information
• Upcoming events

What is Mundialization?

The definition of "mundialization" is the act of a city or local authority declaring itself a "world citizen" and being aware of global issues with a sense of shared rights and responsibility. The word itself stems from the Latin word "mundus" which means "world". The concept involves the twinning of cities from around the world, in the belief that peaceful cooperation depends on mutual trust and appreciation among peoples of different nations, races, cultures and systems. Mundialization encourages citizen connections as a way of fostering world peace and global understanding.

Who are we?

The Burlington Mundialization Committee is a committee reporting to Council through the Enviroment, Infrastructure & Community Services Committee.

In 1984, a Mundialization Committee of volunteer citizens was formed in Burlington to pursue twinning with another country.  A by-law was passed in 1985 to declare Burlington a "World Community" dedicated to international co-operation (mundialization) and that the City of Burlington, as part of its Mundialization program, proceed: (a) to undertake a twinning program with a municipality in another country, and (b) to fly the United Nations flag with the Canadian flag from City Hall at all times.

On May 12, 1989, Mayor Bird signed a twinning agreement with Mayor Kurihara of Itabashi, Japan.

On May 6, 2005, Mayor MacIsaac signed a twinning agreement with Mayor de Graaf of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.

• Read about our Twin Cities: Apeldoorn, The Netherlands and Itabashi.
• Want to find out about our up coming events
• Read the latest United Nations news and activities.

What we do

Our mandate is to promote the City of Burlington as "A World Community" dedicated to the United Nations philosophy of peaceful co-operation among the peoples of the world and encourage community understanding of different cultures global issues by:

• Maintaining our twin city relationships in accordance with the agreements
• Promoting activities that celebrate our similarities and respect our differences
• Organizing a celebration of the United Nations Day each year around Oct. 24
• Providing advice and assistance on twin city relationships to Burlington City Council
• Developing achievable annual action plans with assistance of City Staff
• presenting an annual report to Council with assistance of City Staff

Each year on or around Oct. 24, Mundialization Committee members organize an event to celebrate the importance and achievements of the United Nations and its mandate to promote peace, understanding and tolerance among people of all cultures and backgrounds.

View the Terms of Reference for this committee [PDF]

Meeting Information