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Editor:
Presscouncil City of Chemnitz
Pressrelease: 598

Chemnitz once again honoured in the national "Capital of Fair Trade 2013" competition

Chemnitz has successfully participated in the national competition "Capital of Fair Trade 2013" and will once again be honoured with an award. Engagement Global gGmbH, under whose umbrella the nationwide competition is organised, announced this in a letter to the Chemnitz Environmental Centre at the City of Chemnitz Planning Office.

The festive award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 18 September at 12 noon in Bremen's historic town hall. Gabriele Finke, AG Stadtkaffee/Faire Beschaffung Agenda 21 in Chemnitz, and Manfred Hastedt, Head of the Chemnitz Environmental Centre, will accept the award on behalf of the City of Chemnitz. The awards, which also come with prize money, will be presented by Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The winners were selected from 70 applications and 843 projects by a jury chaired by Dieter Overath, Managing Director of Transfair. This year's winning municipality will be honoured and four other cities will be awarded the main prizes. The five main prizes have a total value of 100,000 euros. A further five special prizes, each worth 1,000 euros, will be awarded for outstanding individual projects.
(Please note: The specific awards given to the invited municipalities will remain secret until tomorrow's event in Bremen; however, the organiser will also publish them immediately on its website www.engagement-global.de).

The Chemnitz team had applied with a package of twelve realised or practised fair trade projects:
Exchange of experience on fair procurement with partner cities; market launch and support for the products Chemnitz-Kaffee and Chemnitz-Schokolade; establishment of a FairGabe working group in the city; participation in a transnational EU project to mobilise citizens and municipalities for socially responsible purchasing; offers as part of the nationwide Fair Trade Week; further training for procurers and exchange of experience; Organisation of the Chemnitz educational markets for sustainability; modification of the resolution to renounce exploitative child labour; public relations work on fair trade; participation in the Citizens' Film Prize; Support for climate partnerships between the twin cities of Chemnitz and Timbuktu; development policy forest walks and the development of alternative city tours.

Chemnitz's commitment to fair trade was recognised in 2009 with third prize in the "Capital of Fair Trade" competition. Last year, the Chemnitz Environmental Centre and Agenda 21 Initiative were among the 2012 Zeitzeiche(N) award winners (information on this can also be found online at www.chemnitz.de under News).

Contact: The contact person for the "Capital of Fair Trade 2013" competition is Michael Marwede, call 0228 20717-332. The contact person at the City of Chemnitz is Manfred Hastedt, Head of the Environmental Centre, call 0371/488-6177, e-mail: umweltzentrum(at)stadt-chemnitz.de