Partner cities: digital networking opens up many new possibilities
RHEINE. The city of Rheine is breaking new ground in digital networking with its twin cities of Bernburg, Borne, Leiria and Trakai. On the Internet page www.friendsineurope.com, people in the five cities have the opportunity since today to learn more about each other currently. Translation services help to ensure that language need not be an obstacle. Mayor Dr. Peter Lüttmann and the mayors of the twin cities released the website to the general public in a video conference on Wednesday, January 26 – and toasted the success of this ambitious project from afar with a glass of champagne.
Friendsineurope.com is virtually a result of the restrictions that have been in place for two years because of the Corona pandemic. Because almost all meetings had to be canceled, the board of the Rhein twinning association came up with the idea of publishing information on a digital platform about important developments in the twin towns and thus not only make information about what is happening easily accessible to everyone, but also to perpetuate mutual interest. “If we weren’t allowed to see each other and had to stop youth exchanges altogether, for example, we at least wanted to make sure that every citizen could find out about important things in the twin towns,” explained Reiner Wellmann, chairman of the Rhein Town Twinning Association. After the presentation, the project also met with enthusiastic approval in the twin towns because of the many new possibilities. And so it will be in the future that the page is constantly updated with information directly from all five twin towns again and again.
The mayors of the participating cities expressed their enthusiasm on Wednesday about the new communication platform. “The project is of great importance for the better acquaintance between Bernburg, Borne, Trakai, Leiria and Rheine. It will serve to make our citizenries know more about each other, creating new opportunities for future projects,” said Leiria Mayor Goncalo Lopes. Trakai Mayor Andrius Satevicius was also enthusiastic: “I hope that this project will further improve communication between all of us and contribute to the dissemination of information. You already know that Trakai is celebrating its 700th anniversary this year. I think that this website and this project is a great birthday present for us!” Bernburg’s future mayor, Dr. Silvia Ristow, spoke of a “new quality of town twinning work.” She wished the project great success. She added that the city of Bernburg would be promoting the new website in the city in the coming days and weeks. “I congratulate all of us,” said Borne Mayor Jan Pierik. He thanked the town twinning association Rheine for the intensive work on the website. In Borne, people are now looking forward to looking at the site every day.
The technical implementation was made possible thanks to generous support from the Stadtwerke für Rheine, the Stadtsparkasse Rheine and the NRW Ministry of Europe. “We are very grateful to our town twinning association for this initiative and the intensive work in its implementation” said Mayor Peter Lüttmann. If successful, “friendsineurope.com” could also develop into a model project for many other municipalities and districts. With large interest also North-Rhine/Westphalia European Minister Dr. Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner pursues the Rheiner model project, which he wished much success.
Local pieces of news are the core of friendsineurope.com. In addition, there is a lot of general information about the twin cities, but also current appointment notices, as well as documentation of student exchange projects over the years. “And when youth ambassadors visit the twin cities in the future, they will probably report on their experiences in a video diary on friendsineurope.com,” Lüttmann and Wellmann explained the new and contemporary possibilities.
In a further expansion stage, it is planned that the young people at the schools can use the new website to do comparative work on historical, economic or social topics. And so the Rheiner model project www.friendsineurope.com will also make it possible in the future, for example, for young people from two or three twin towns to work across borders on topics, specialized papers or projects. The town twinning association sees considerable potential here. It will accompany this process constructively and with suggestions.
One is proud in the town twinning association on the logo of the new side, which was developed by the communication agency expect more, which accompanied the association also with the further conversion. “This wonderful logo describes in a very sympathetic way what we do, what we work for – and what we are convinced is our opportunity in the complex world order: cooperation in a united Europe,” Wellmann emphasizes in conclusion.