Special to The Mississippi Link
The International Visitors Center at Jackson State University recently hosted a contingent of urban planners, engineers and architects from Azerbaijan as part of an international professional development program.
“They were assigned here as a result of a proposal submitted by the Mississippi Consortium for International Development,” said Shirley Harrison, executive director of the International Visitors Center with JSU’s Division of International Studies. “They stayed in local homes to make sure they got the full flavor of the South.”
The International Visitors Center arranges professional programs in Mississippi for visitors sponsored by the United States Department of State International Leadership Program Agency.
During their weeklong visit to Mississippi, the Azerbaijani professionals met with faculty and staff from Jackson State’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning to learn about JSU’s urban planning program and how it prepares graduates to be effective in addressing city planning and development issues.
Azerbaijan, which located on the Caspian Sea south of Russia and north of Iran, is mostly known as an oil-producing country. But in recent years the country has seen large growth in its construction and real estate sectors.
While in Mississippi, the international visitors attended professional meetings at the city and county levels, learned about revitalization efforts in downtown Jackson and visited state agencies including the Mississippi Region-al Housing Authority and the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
The visitors also took a trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where they met with government officials in Biloxi to learn about how the city has been rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.
The itinerary included a stop at the homebuilding organization Habitat for Humanity and a volunteer stint at Stewpot Community Services in Jackson.
“We gave them the complete scope of Mississippi,” Harrison said.
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