Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
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Town twinning

Town twinning - 02.03.2007

Rhodes 2007: Three days for today's and tomorrow's twinning!
How to develop new types of twinning? How to benefit from financial support? How can twinning contribute to social inclusion? These are but a few questions that will be addressed at the "Twinning for tomorrow's world" conference that the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) will be organising in Rhodes, on 10-12 May 2007.
 
Over 500 participants from all over Europe are expected; it will coincide with the launch of the new European Commission programme "Europe for citizens", an important part of which is about funding twinning.
 
The Rhodes conference is aimed at anyone involved in local government in Europe and in the world, says CEMR secretary general Jeremy Smith. First, the simultaneous launch of the "Europe for citizens" programme in Brussels and Rhodes will enable delegates to hear the European Commission explain the new programme, including its priorities and the funding aspects; they will also be able to ask their questions directly to representatives of the Commission.
 
Also, there will be a meeting area in which delegates will be able to present their municipalities as well as to meet their counterparts from other countries to discuss twinning. In other words, municipalities seeking twinning partners will save time and money since these partners will be there in Rhodes. A form is already available to those interested in participating in this "twinning market".
 
The programme of the conference also includes examples of best practices in the field of twinning, and debates on issues such as twinning and social inclusion, twinning and youth, twinning and cultural heritage, twinning and peace around the Mediterranean...
 
CEMR will present the twinning tools that it will use in this field, and the delegates will adopt a declaration on the future of twinning.
 
Invited speakers include Michael Häupl, CEMR president and mayor and governor of Vienna; Anders Knape, chair of CEMR's working group on twinning and deputy mayor of Karlstadt; Hatzis Hatziefthimiou, mayor of Rhodes; Paris Koukoulopoulos, president of the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE); Omar El Jazouli, mayor of Marrakech; Members of the European Parliament Nicole Fontaine, Pierre Shapira, Oldrich Vlasak and Richard Corbett; Louis Le Pensec, senator and president of the French association of CEMR; director general of the European Commission's DG Education and Culture, Odile Quintin; United Cities and Local Government's secretary general, Elisabeth Gâteau...
 
The conference is organised at the invitation of the Rhodes municipality and the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE), with the support of the DG Education and culture of the European Commission.
 
There will be interpretation in English, French, German, Greek, Italian and Portuguese.
 
Twinning for tomorrow's world:
 
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