Conference of Chemnitz twin towns comes to an end

The first conference of the twin cities came to an end this afternoon in Chemnitz Town Hall. Over the past two days, delegations from Chemnitz's twin cities Düsseldorf, Ljubljana, Lodz, Manchester, Mulhouse, Tampere, Timbuktu, Usti nad Labem and Volgograd were guests under the title "Town twinning in challenging times". The twin city conference focussed on urban development, culture, civic participation and the Capital of Culture bid.

At lunchtime today, the participants summed up the two days of discussions in panels and various workshops. Mayor Sven Schulze: "Our aim was to learn from each other and network with each other, and I think we succeeded! I would be delighted if we could continue what we started in Chemnitz soon: in joint ideas and projects - we will come up with a lot of ideas to make this more lively."

The participation of a city's citizens in the change processes was the central theme of the conference - "Cities about people". "Change only works with people," summarised the participants. "Our livelihoods should be at the centre of our actions. And we need to become even more aware of the qualities of our cities," emphasised Building Mayor Michael Stötzer.

The heads of delegation from the twin towns signed the city's Golden Book this afternoon.

Topics at the conference included culture as a strategy for integrated, sustainable urban development. The focus was also on rethinking and redesigning public spaces as well as citizen participation and the resulting new collaborations between administration and citizens. The design of river courses in the city, for example, is not only an issue in Chemnitz, but also in Düsseldorf, Ljubljana, Volgograd and Muhlhouse.

The participating cities have also agreed to engage in regular dialogue on these issues in the future. They see themselves as ambassadors across national borders, building bridges between countries, cultures and, above all, people.

Mayor Sven Schulze, who opened the conference yesterday, also emphasised the importance of the proverbial thinking outside the box: "Mutual interest and friendships are good for us. The fact that so many of the twin cities accepted our invitation shows that the partnership is just as important to them as it is to Chemnitz. In times when debates seem to be irreconcilable, cohesion is important." He had also invited people to get their own impression of the city during the two days in Chemnitz. This included a tour of the city with the Mayor of Construction, Michael Stötzer.

In the keynote speech at the conference on Wednesday, Dr Martin Böhringer, co-founder of the Chemnitz-based internet company Staffbase, passionately promoted Chemnitz as a location and internationality: His answer to the often-heard question "Why only Chemnitz?" was: "We have space for ideas, living space and short distances here." In addition, internationality has long been the norm at his company, where employees from 18 nations work: "It makes us richer in every respect," the entrepreneur continued.

The Chemnitz partner cities exchanged ideas about successful projects and strategies in panels and workshops on culture and urban development and learnt from each other in the process. Urban culture and citizen-orientated solutions build bridges to the liveable city of the future, according to one of the findings.

Yesterday evening, the participants had the opportunity to get to know the guests of the Eurocities Cultural Forum, which was taking place at the same time in Chemnitz, at a welcome reception in the Wandelhalle of the town hall. The evening's celebrity guest was Katarina Witt, Olympic figure skating champion and honorary citizen of Chemnitz.

The three cities, which are currently bidding to become European Capitals of Culture, have agreed on joint projects and exchanges on the way to the title. Ljubljana and Chemnitz are bidding for the title in 2025, and Tampere in Finland the following year.

The city of Chemnitz has agreed with its German twin city Düsseldorf to organise regular trainee exchanges. This tradition already existed in the early 1990s. The current conference was an opportunity to revive it.

The guest who travelled the furthest was Abdoulaye Kalil Ascofaré from the Malian twin city of Timbuktu. Today, he reported on the still difficult conditions in the war-torn city. Crime is high and the most basic necessities of life, such as schools and healthcare, need to be rebuilt. Support is needed here. This is another reason why he is glad that Chemnitz is a twin city and has Timbuktu in its heart.

The conference was the first meeting of its kind between Chemnitz's twin cities. In addition, the city has traditionally maintained regular contact with its sister municipalities abroad, including in the areas of sport, music, school exchanges and meetings of the cities' fire brigades.

Further impressions of the conference of the twin cities can be found at www.chemnitz.de and on the city's social media channels.