Zaporizhzhia shared its experience of inter-municipal cooperation with German cities

A video conference, held on April 6, united representatives of Ukrainian and German cities to discuss the results and prospects of inter-municipal cooperation. The event was organized by the “Municipal Partnerships with Ukraine” project provided by Service Agency Communities in One World/SKEW, Engagement Global.

Viktoriia Agientaieva, director of the City Development Institute of Zaporizhzhia, joined the meeting as a speaker to present the experience of inter-municipal cooperation with Oberhausen and Magdeburg. Both are twin cities of Zaporizhzhia, with partnership agreements concluded in 1986 and 2008, respectively. Before the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Zaporizhzhia had closely cooperated with Oberhausen and Magdeburg in cultural, educational and economic fields. Now, the twin cities contribute to the resilience of our frontline city, providing technical assistance and humanitarian aid for the civilian population.

In addition to humanitarian cooperation, German partners support Ukrainian art and culture projects. In November, an exhibition of wartime posters created by Nataliia Lobach, a designer from Zaporizhzhia, was held in Magdeburg to demonstrate how indomitable Ukrainian cities resist Russian aggression. And this February, another exhibition was opened in Oberhausen’s gallery Unterhaus. Named the Records of Resistance, it showed a selection of works by participants of the BIRUCHIY Art residency (Zaporizhzhia region).

Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) supports German-Ukrainian partnerships and enables them to exchange expertise, gain qualifications and attract additional resources to implement collaborative projects.