Twin Cities Program
The Twin Cities Program is a joint Polish–German and Czech–German program carried out by the Batory Foundation in partnership with Robert Bosch Foundation in Germany and NGO Information Center in the Czech Republic. The program, initiated and financed by Robert Bosch Foundation, aims to develop and encourage cooperation between twinned cities, towns and municipalities in the neighboring countries through supporting joint projects and activities of local organizations on both sides of the border.
Both Poland and the Czech Republic have several hundred Polish-German and Czech-German twin towns and municipalities. Local authorities sign agreements, and are the key entity in defining the form of partner relations, sometimes indeed involving actual and effective co-operation, albeit sometimes being no more than an artificial paper entry. As part of the Twin Cities Program – implemented simultaneously in Poland and the Czech Republic – we wish to encourage nongovernmental organizations to take action to boost co-operation between twin towns and municipalities. We hope that such action will bring authentic co-operation between citizens of neighboring states, activate local communities, and better co-operation with the local government.
In Poland, the Program targets Polish non-governmental organizations operating in towns and municipalities that have partnership agreements with their German counterparts. Such organizations could apply for grants to support projects implemented in collaboration with German organizations from twin towns and municipalities. Projects may concern various areas of public life, though they should respond to the actual needs of local communities and utilize mutual experiences of the partners.
Grants were awarded on a competitive basis, with an international Jury of Polish, Czech, and German experts supervising the two-tier application assessment procedure. As a result of the competition, in 2002, 18 Polish and 6 Czech initiatives received funding. The awarded Polish projects span a vast array of activities: from care for the disabled, through youth education, activating women and senior citizens, to initiatives for sustainable development and co-operation to overcome national stereotypes and prejudice.
| Krzyżowa Foundation for European Understanding Grodziszcze |
Partnership organization: Gemeindevorstand der Gemeinde Bischofsheim, Bischofsheim
Project: Let Us Not Succumb to Unemployment, Helplessness and Poverty. The project involves a Polish-German seminar on unemployment and its consequences. Seminar participants will go to Bischofsheim to become exposed to the work of German organizations supporting the unemployed. Co-operation will commence to define joint unemployment prevention measures. |
PLN 20 900 |
| Trump Foundation for Promotion of Entrepreneurship Ostróda |
Partnership organization: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Osterode am Harz
Project: School Youth in Volunteer Activities – activating young members of the school community to participate in volunteer work in various areas of local community life. The former primary school will be used as a base for a hostel and Young Red Cross organization, housing a Volunteer Service Center and a Job Center for Volunteers. The Center will join the all-Polish Food Bank collections, a number of campaigns will be organised including Christmas and Easter collections, and a Polish-German fundraising event to organize summer vacations for impoverished children. |
PLN 20 900 |
| Happy Childhood Foundation Lublin |
Partnership organization: Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club, Muenster
Project: Advocacy for Bicycle Transportation in Lublin. The project involves the delineation of bicycle trails passing through locations of cultural and natural interest, promotion campaigns among the youth; establishing an Education Center, and a study tour to Muenster. |
PLN 45 600 |
| Partnership Committee, Gymnasium Otmuchów |
Partnership organization: Partnerschaftskommitee Pont-sur-Yonne, Morbach Geraberg, Bernkastel-Kues
Project: Discovering a Common Europe: Poland, our Neighbour. The project involves an invitation to Poland for a group of German youth, and integration with the young Polish community (sports games, trekking, Common Europe simulation games). |
PLN 17 000 |
| Temperance Konin Society Konin |
Partnership organization: Deutscher Kinderschutzbund, Herne
Project: Exchanging Experience in the Area of Working with Children and Youth. The project involves a series of partner meetings, including a strategic meeting of partner organizations’ boards, study meetings for volunteers, and preparations for a training session to implement the Big Brother, Big Sister program as well as the organization of the Volunteer’s Day with cooperation with the local government and German volunteers. |
PLN 22 800 |
| Baba Association for Women Zielona Góra |
Partnership organization: Lilla Villa Frauenzentrum, Cottbus
Project: What do We Have in Common, and What Divides Us? The project comprises joint strategic meetings, and a series of workshops for women from Zielona Góra and Cottbus (European integration, methods of helplessness prevention, health care, etc.). |
PLN 20 900 |
| Center for Local Government of the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy Olsztyn |
Partnership organization: Landkreis Osnabrueck, Osnabrueck
Project: It Is Easier to Get to Europe Together– a series of study visits to develop concepts for the exchange of information and ideas by non-governmental organizations from the Olsztyn and Osnabrueck municipalities (an e-bridge of mutual information); the plans include joint training sessions with German teachers serving as volunteer interpreters and translators for project purposes |
PLN 45 600 |
| Community Council in Lubienia, Municipal Office Popielów |
Partnership organization: Partnerkommitee Bad Wurznach, Bad Wurznach
Project: Generations Meet – an event to celebrate an anniversary of the founding of Lubienia, a series of actions have been set up to boost contacts between local residents and families who had left for Germany. The project will be crowned with a local celebration with participation of German guests and opening of a jointly established Regional House. |
PLN 6 460 |
| Rzeszów Center for Local Government of the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy Rzeszów |
Partnership organization: Gesellschaftsvertrag der Regionalen Personalentwicklungsgesellschaft (REGE) – Jugendcoaching im Netzwerk gegen Jugendsarbeitslosigkeit, Bielefeld
Project: German Experience, Polish Implications – Program for Eliminating Unemployment Among Young People. The project involves the establishing of a Counselling Office for Graduates; a trip by the future Office management team to attend an internship to Bielefeld, followed by a training for the young people of Rzeszów delivered by German consultants. |
PLN 30 400 |
| Słubice Musical Society Słubice |
Partnership organization: Mediationsstelle Frankfurt/Oder, Frankfurt-upon-Oder
Project: School Mediation – a program to prevent and counter violence in the school community of Słubice implemented in collaboration with a mediation counseling center in Frankfurt upon Oder. The purpose of this one year project is to provide young people with new conflict-resolution methods, and develop long-term co-operation with new mediator groups. The project will end with a conference of young mediators and their adult supervisors. |
PLN 38 000 |
| Together Charitable Association Zelów |
Partnership organization: Deutsch-Polnische Gesellschaft der Graftschaft Bentheim, Neuenhaus
Project: Residents of the Zelów Municipality Meet People from Neuenhaus – a series of visits and workshops to discuss problems of the elderly; the aim of the project is to integrate the senior community in both twin towns, and to graft good examples and German experience in working with the elderly and the disabled onto Polish soil. |
PLN 19 000 |
| Association for the Development of Brody Community Brody Żarskie |
Partnership organization: Museumsverein der Stadt Forst, Forst
Project: Brody – Forst: Partnership without Borders – a series of actions to benefit local communities of Brody (Poland) and Forst (Germany) organized interchangeably on both sides of the border, and targeting different age groups: kindergarten tots (joint games, sightseeing trips, sports events), disabled children (education and art meetings), junior high students (sports events to be played by mixed Polish- German teams, learning the region’s history), and adults (including a conference on the Bruehl family heritage, and “old boy’s” sports events). |
PLN 19 000 |
| Milicz Partnership Association Milicz |
Partnership organization: Partnerschaftsverein Lohr am Main, Lohr-upon-Maine
Project: Milicz-Lohr Environmental Conference, in the course of which German partners will present German and European Union standards enabling a blend of industrial development and environmental protection. |
PLN 15 367,47 |
| Association of Partnership Between Starogard Gdański and Diepholtz Starogard Gdański |
Partnership organization: Assoziation Starogard e V.
Project: Starogard Gdański – Diepholtz: Understanding and Acceptance for Ethnic and Cultural Differences during which two conferences were to take place: Where Do We Come From, What Are We? – conference to debate the history, geography, and cultural heritage of Lower Saxony (Germany) and Kociew (an ethnic region south of Kaszuby with its capital in Starogard Gdański); and Myths and Stereotypes, Prospects for the Common Future –conference on fears and hopes concerning European Union enlargement. [Organizers withdrew from the project; the grant was returned in 2003.] |
PLN 38 000 |
| Green Pomerania Local Government Association Koszalin |
Partnership organization: Gemeinde Schmanzin – Melkenschule, Schlatkow
Project: Cross-Border Cultural and Community Development in the Valleys of Rivers Radwia (Poland) and Piana (Germany). The project involves an international open-air art workshop (The Country Roads of Pomerania along Rivers Piana and Radwia), a conference (The Poles and Germans in United Europe), a presentation of Polish folklore and Advent traditions in the German twin municipality, a study visit to Ziethen to participate in the on-site workshops, participation in the Days of Europe in Schlatkow, and an invitation for German guests to attend the 3rd International Folklore Picnic in Wyszewo. |
PLN 22 800 |
| Third Age University Association Gorzów Wielkopolski |
Project: Interpersonal Relations in the Process of European Integration – a series of meetings for senior citizens from Poland and Germany comprising lectures on the European Union, art and music workshops, and German language classes. The project will be supported by lecturers and experts from the Viadrina University in Frankfurt-upon-Oder, and the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice. |
PLN 15 000 |
| Opinion Association Stara Bystrzyca |
Partnership organization: Erasmus Gimnasium, Amberg, and Clovek a Krkonose, Vrhlabi
Project: The Sudeten Mountains - Return to the Future – a series of interviews to be held by school children from Bystrzyca Kłodzka (Poland), Amberg (Germany) and Vrhlabi (Czech Republic) with local residents in their immediate neighborhood; the objective of the project is to convince Polish, Czech, and German young people that a common European future is possible, dramatic events of the past notwithstanding. |
PLN 38 000 |
| Rehabilitation Wielkopolska Association for the Ill, Disabled and Their Families Wągrowiec |
Partnership organization: Integrationsgruppe Du und Ich, Adendorf
Project: Integration Meetings for Disabled Children and Young People from Wągrowiec and Adendorf Municipalities. The project aims to develop new direct relations between young disabled residents of Poland and Germany. The event – spanning several days – will involve drafting of a map of architectonic barriers, lectures on how to overcome them, as well as competitions and exhibitions. The ultimate purpose is to bring barriers down, and integrate the disabled in their own community, and with their German fellows. |
PLN 3 600 |
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| Grants: |
PLN 439 327,47 |
| Meetings and committee sessions: |
PLN 21 505,88 |
| Operational costs: |
PLN 74 011,46 |
| TOTAL: |
PLN 534 844,81 |
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