History of the Interregional co-operation Deventer (The Netherlands) - Sibiu (Romania)
Our intensive relationship with the City and County of Sibiu started on December 19, 1989. A group of volunteers, municipal institutions, churches, companies, care institutions, educational institutions and the regional media elaborated a “help-project” that focused on the city of Sibiu. In order to facilitate and coordinate all actions, foundations were set up both in Deventer and Sibiu. Activities in the social and cultural field, as well as in the field of (local) government, education and economy contributed to the development of the region and the city of Sibiu.
The cooperation acquired new dimensions and a wider scope when the further enlargement of the European Union with Central and Eastern European countries began. In the Netherlands, the programme “Municipal Collaboration for EU candidates”- conducted by the Union of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – was started. It is focussed on the exchange of knowledge and expertise between local authorities in the Netherlands and in the EU candidate countries. In combination with the exchange of knowledge and expertise pilot projects were set up and implemented, funded from Deventer.
In the cooperation between the region of Deventer and the district of Sibiu are mainly involved citizens, civilian organizations, societal institutions, NGO’s and local- and regional governmental institutions. The cooperation is between equal partners: from citizen to citizen, from institution to institution and from government to government, but also a combination of these.
The wider scale of the activities required a new structure and since 2001 on both the Dutch and the Romanian side cooperation platforms were formed and agreements signed.
Actual programs and activities
Programs within the framework of the interregional cooperation are:
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Sub-program Neighbourhood Management / citizens’ participation in the view of a MATRA application at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Sub-program Care for people with disabilities (Pro Care): training for staff and management of Romanian institutions in the Sibiu county for people with disabilities contributing to the process of decentralisation. |
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Sub-program Rural Development: agro-tourism, sheep breeding, water system |
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Sub-program Strengthening Local Administration (VNG Logo-East) |
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with the Sibiu Municipality: training of councillors and top-management upon setting priorities within their work and policy documents |
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with the Sibiu County Council: training of civil servants upon project and program management and EU fundraising |
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Sub-program Culture and Education: project Sibiu European Cultural Capital 2007, one-to-one (from institution-to-institution) cooperation, networks, festivals and management |
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Sub-program new structure Interregional cooperation Sibiu (Romania) – the Netherlands: preparing the new structure including a Dutch House in Sibiu. First step was made on 7th November 2006, establishing Foundation NetSib on Dutch side |
The connection between Sibiu and Deventer goes beyond concrete material cooperation. It is based on a partnership of equal merits and mutual respect. The civil society, the business community and the local authorities fulfil an indispensable role. But those who really make things possible are the citizens. An article about the partnership between Sibiu and Deventer can be found in the recent book “2000 Years of Inter-European Eastern-Western Relations: case-study “The Romanian-Dutch Relations”, a book supported by the Dutch Embassy, the Romanian National Academy and the UNESCO.
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