The Trinational FAQ [Frequently Asked Questions]
1. What is the Trinational Information Repository about?
The Trinational Information Repository was created with support of the State of New Mexico under a contract to The North American Institute (NAMI). The goal of the project is to develop an electronic technology data base for use by New Mexico and other entities to aid in the strengthening of social, cultural and economic ties with Canada, Mexico and the United States. To that end the site is intended to provide information on critical issues to the three countries as well as explore other issues, questions and solutions of interest to North America. It is anticipated that the data and information in the Repository will continue to grow and develop with continuing input from NAMI, NAMI supporters and public interested in North American affairs.
2. What is The North American Institute?
Established in 1988, The North American Institute (NAMI) was founded on a simple premise: "To promote deeper understanding, greater acceptance and closer cooperation among the peoples and institutions of North America."
We have been faithful to this goal since the beginning when our unique trinational organization was developed by visionaries such as: Maurice Strong, Bruce Babbitt, Jesus Silva Herzog, Jack Austin, Susan Herter and John Wirth. Over the years, NAMI, which is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has operated in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We have received support from a wide variety of foundations and corporate patrons over the years. Some of them are the Ford, MacArthur, Hewlett, McCune and CRB foundations and private sources in all three countries.
In the early 90s, we correctly anticipated the creation of many public policies and participated in public debates before the actual NAFTA negotiations took place. Subsequent to NAFTA's passage, we continued to strongly advocate for NGO participation in the entire NAFTA process. This enabled our leadership to play a key role in shaping the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. We later convened one of the first trinational fora on education and training in an increasingly integrated society and marketplace.
We published one of the very first studies of cultural issues, "Identities in North America: The Search for Community" and one of the first in-depth looks into cross-border environmental management, "Environmental Management on North America's Borders." One of our founders, the distinguished professor, John Wirth, published his, "Smelter Smoke in North America: The politics of Transborder Pollution" inspired by his experiences at NAMI conferences and his service on the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Our organizational model, philosophy and mission
Our founders and cooperators have given form to the ideas and philosophy underpinning our institute. We are a private, not-for-profit organization headed by a nine-member trinational Executive Committee, three from each North American country. The Executive Committee also has three chairs, one from each country. Our Secretariat, which is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is governed by a Board of Directors which oversees its administrative and financial functions.
Our philosophy is also our mission. We believe that by understanding each other's cultural similarities and differences we will achieve a higher level of acceptance which will ultimately lead to a strong trinational partnership, affording our closer cooperation.
Our primary activitie
We have divided our activities into four, distinct parts: 1) the generation and distribution of information; 2) the creation of fora for open and frank discourse; 3) the development of highly-targeted, results-oriented measurable projects, and 4) Networking/Advocacy.
Information and information distribution
We have gone to great lengths to position our institute as the principal source and clearinghouse for articles, monographs, statistical abstracts and position papers on issues facing all three nations of North America. We have recently completely re-designed our website and based this design on two principals: user-friendliness and user-relevance. Every day, we load articles from a variety of news sources onto the site and encourage our readers to tap into this resource. We also maintain an electronic Resource Library, listing hundreds of publications (many written over the years by NAMI's own Board) which is available online to all NAMI members.
For a for open exchange on common issues
It has always been our belief that the most powerful tool for change is that of an open exchange in a friendly forum. We offer several such opportunities, the newest being our electronic forum on the NAMI website. Here, NAMI members are encouraged to comment on any and all articles. Issues are debated among members thousands of miles away, sometimes separated by several time zones, but all connected by a common interest in finding trinational solutions to today's pressing problems.
Conferences, too, are an integral part of NAMI's discussion fora. The most current example is our conference on "Energy Independence for North America: An Alternative Future" which is being held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 29-30, 2007; "Migration in North America" a Symposium was held October 23-24, 2006, and "Making North America Competitive in Today's Global Economy", held in Santa Fe August 26-27, 2005. While it's true that the internet and teleconferencing have taken high-tech communication to a new, higher level, they will never replace the value of personal contact. This "high touch" communication, so vital for constituency-building, is an important element of our discussion program and will continue to figure prominently in NAMI's future planning.
Targeted projects with measurable results
We understand and follow the 'rules of engagement' on project development. Our outreach projects are designed with a few key factors in mind: 1) they must be timely and relevant; 2) they must be professionally administered; 3) they must be affordable; and 4) they must be measurable. NAMI projects (like the recently-concluded 'North American Community Service' or NACS project) paved the way for our newest one, the 'North American Small Business Initiative' or NASBI. With a start date in 2006, NASBI is an ambitious project designed to help uncover the opportunities and impediments to small business creation (and by extension new job creation) in all three countries. By joining forces with three well-respected universities, we continue our tradition of partnering with both the public and private sectors.
Networking/Advocacy
We know that networking is vital to our success as an institute and to the success of our mission. We have devoted countless hours to informing decision-makers in- and outside of governments of the scope of the trinational challenges, issues and opportunities that face us. As the landscape of these issues has changed, we too have changed, and we have used the knowledge gained from these changes to strengthen our position as a leader among North American NGOs. We are constantly widening our circle of contacts and make more 'friends of NAMI' in the process. It is this very core of supporters who help us refine our positions so that we are better able to influence policy-makers in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We will continue to add members and cooperators and strengthen our growing network, advocating for North America.
3. How can I get involved?
Please contact us through the contact form on this website for more information.
4. How do I use this website?
This website was designed as an interactive clearinghouse for Trinational information. We intend to begin sending out updates in newsletter form at a future date. Please use our contact form to suggest articles, papers or other Trinational information you deem important.
The website is laid out to give you the latest information in a simple format.
If you look at our Main Menu, on the left of the website, you will see a selection of buttons. Each of these areas gives access to articles, papers, links and information. On most of these pages, you will see three small icons on the left of the textual information - these represent the ability to save as PDF, print, or email to a friend the contents of the article/paper/news/link.
We have a News section, separate from the short-term "Newsflashes", for longer articles, news that will be archived and available continually. If you see something of note, please let us know through our contact form.
We have a separate section for scholarly Research Papers. If you have a submission, please do contact us through this website's contact form.
We have an exhaustive and handy list of Trinational Links, places to go for definitive information on hundreds of topics. If you have suggestions for other links, please don't hesitate to contact us!
Our Symposia contain immensely valuable information. We have two uploaded here at present,with voluminous amounts of information in video, Powerpoint and other formats. These Symposia represent an immense and invaluable database of Immigration and Energy information, straight from those who know best, the movers and shakers in each discipline. The videos are stored in fast-responding, streaming Google Video, while the Powerpoints are completely downloadable for viewing at your leisure. If you are coming from an educational institution, and have interest in CDs or DVDs of these presentations, please let us know through our contact form on this website.
You may search on any term on this website, and find something of interest. Everything on the site is fully search-enabled. Be sure to enter your desired search term, and then click "Search".
Finally, this website is RSS enabled and fully syndicatable, for your aggregating pleasure.
