Sedbergh Town Twinning – Economic Development

Town twinning →Economic Development

Economic Development Aspects of Sedbergh’s Town Twinning Initiative

 

No community, be it a place or a company, ever develops by looking inwards. It needs to look abroad; be ready to take on new ideas; to understand what others of similar type are doing and how they are doing it. If it does not do that then it puts itself at risk of being left behind, or at the very least of not knowing whether it is being left behind or not.

By looking outwards, contacts are made, ideas are assimilated, mistakes and shortcomings identified, and as a result, in a way that is often surprising, you find yourself getting bigger; this applies to a community as much as it does to a business.

There is nothing scientifically advanced about this – it’s what successful organisations have always done. Looking outwards stimulates growth.

It is not the job of a town-twinning arrangement to open up new markets for a local product overseas direct, that should be the job of the individual businesses or local trade organisation; more that initiatives raise awareness of what an overseas community of similar type and problems produces and by planning events the local community can, among other things, help boost the occupancy figures of the guesthouses and B&Bs. The twinning partnership is there to help the community gain a wider view.

The economic development success is indirect. Look outwards. Learn about the ways of others. (see Look Outwards. Learn Others’ Ways.).