Cross-Border Cooperation Academy

The project was a joint initiative of the City of Lublin and 6 partners - local governments from Olomouc (Czechia), Debrecen (Hungary), Chisinau (Moldova), Lviv (Ukraine), Košice (Slovakia) and Tbilisi (Georgia). It was is aimed at intensifying the cooperation of entities from the Eastern Partnership and the Visegrad Group countries. The Cross-border Academy, within 11th edition of the Cross-Border Cooperation Congress, hosted the meetings and discussions in Lublin.

Source of funding: International Visegrad Fund/ Visegrad + Grants

Total amount of funding: 14 750 EUR

Implementation period: 01/06/2022 - 30/11/2022

The Cross-Border Cooperation Academy in 2022

- a week-long program dedicated to young people aged 18-35 from the V4 and EaP countries, aimed at developing practical leadership and managerial skills in the field of international cooperation. For a week, 21 people participated in workshops combined with study visits to Lublin institutions and organizations implementing international youth cooperation. The participants of the Academy raised the level of knowledge and strengthened managerial and leadership competencies, as well as exchanged experiences with partners from V4 and EaP which, in the long term increased the intensification of cooperation between entities from V4 and EaP.

The Cross-Border Cooperation Congress

The project also co-financed the Cross-Border Cooperation Congress - experts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary took part in discussion panels in the area of ​​culture, business and youth cooperation. Participation in the Congress of experts from the V4 countries aimed to familiarize participants from the Eastern Partnership countries with the experiences of the Visegrad Group and to stimulate cooperation on the EaP-V4 line. The above-mentioned activities were be dominated by youth issues, thus inaugurating the celebration of the European Year of Youth (2022) and the European Youth Capital 2023 title for the City of Lublin.

Partners

Municipality of Olomouc (Czech Republic)

Olomouc is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on the Morava River, the city is the ecclesiastical metropolis and was a historical capital city of Moravia, before having been sacked by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War. Today, it is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and the sixth largest city in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as urban monument reservation. The Holy Trinity Column was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 for its quintessential Baroque style and symbolic value.
Olomouc and Lublin along with other European cities participated in the "EHL@N - European Heritage Label Network" project, aiming at networking of towns, places and sites awarded the European Heritage Label. Thanks to this partnership, Lublin and Olomouc exchanged experiences through educational activities in art, culture and history. In September 2021, Olomouc Mayor's initiative entitled "Meeting of partner cities and communes of the V4" was held. Representatives of Lublin have also been invited. Use of funds from the Visegrad Fund was one of the subjects covered at the conference. Both cities expressed interest in joint projects.

Municipality of Debrecen (Hungary)

Debrecen is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights. It was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and it is one of the Hungarian people's most important cultural centres. Debrecen was also the capital city of Hungary during the revolution in 1848–1849. During the revolution, the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty was declared in the Reformed Great Church. The city also served as the capital of Hungary by the end of World War II in 1944–1945.It is home of the University of Debrecen.

Debrecen has been twinned with Lublin since 1995. Similar to Lublin, it is one of the largest cities and cultural centers in the eastern part of the country. The city is famous for many cultural events in which representatives of the city of Lublin have taken part many times, incl. the Flower Festival. Long standing and excellent relations between cities resulted in many joint projects such as “My city in our Europe.International meeting of youth city councils in Lublin”. The project was focused on the exchange of experiences between the youth city councils as well as acquainting young people with examples of cooperation between the local government and young people in other EU countries. Debrecen, similar to Lublin does not have a partner city in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, did not participate in the Visegrad Fund program, so cooperation within this project would be valuable.

City Hall of Chisinau Municipality  (Moldova)

Chișinău is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bâc, a tributary of the Dniester. According to the results of the 2014 census, the city proper had a population of 532,513, while the population of the Municipality of Chișinău (which includes the city itself and other nearby communities) was 700,000. Chișinău is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova and its largest transportation hub. Nearly a third of Moldova's population lives in the metro area.

So far, Lublin and Chisinau have cooperated through study visits, meetings or best practice exchanges in economic policy, education or culture. From 2021, Chisinau and Lublin have been implementing a project in the field of transport policy "MOVE IT LIKE LUBLIN" – co-financed by the EU. Lublin and Chisinau are preparing a large thematic block related to innovative solutions in public transport for this year's Cross-Border Cooperation Congress in Lublin. Tbilisi is the twin city of Chisinau (Tbilisi also twinned with Lublin). Chisinau and Tbilisi do not have any partner cities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and they declared their interest in cooperation with those countries, especially in the field of urban transport. In 2022, Chisinau and Lublin are planning a study visit to Prague to exchange experiences in this area.

Lviv City Council (Ukraine)

Lviv is the largest city in Western Ukraine and the sixth-largest city in Ukraine overall, with a population of 717,510 (2021 est.) Lviv is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine.
Lviv serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion and had the status of city of oblast significance before that designation was abolished in 2020. It has the administration of Lviv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
The city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as Lviv University and Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also the home of many cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet.[8] The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Lviv has been twinned with Lublin since 2004. It is one of Lublin's most important partners in Ukraine. Lviv is an active member of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, and participates in the work of the Bug Euroregion Cross-Border Association. Lublin and Lviv have jointly implemented 6 large projects financed by the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), including infrastructural ones. Lviv, like Lublin and Chisinau, is twinned with Tbilisi. Together we have been developing joint projects and initiatives, most often cultural ones, for several years. Lviv is interested in Lublin's experience in the European Youth Capital contest, as Lviv has twice participated in the bid, unfortunately unsuccessfully. Academy and the Congress of Cross-Border Cooperation might be a useful platform for the exchange of experiences and broadening knowledge also in this area.

Leisure Centre Košice (Slovakia)

Kosice is the second largest city in Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 240,000, Košice is the second-largest city in Slovakia, after the capital Bratislava.
So far, the cooperation has been implemented by Lublin cultural institutions. Especially at a time when Lublin was applying for European Capital of Culture. In the project, the City of Košice will be represented by the Free Time Center (Centrum voľného času). The Center has experience in international cooperation, V4 countries included. Czech-Polish-Slovak youth exchange is an example of the project that The Center has implemented in this area. The Center works mainly with experts in the field of the Erasmus+ program, psychologists, and leaders of youth organizations. The above experience will be instrumental to organize the Academy of Cross-Border Cooperation. The advantage of cooperation with Košice is also the fact that Košice is twinned with cities in Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Tbilisi Youth Centres Union (Georgia)

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million people. Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century AD by Vakhtang I of Iberia, and since then has served as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Between 1801 and 1917, then part of the Russian Empire, Tiflis was the seat of the Caucasus Viceroyalty, governing both the northern and the southern parts of the Caucasus.

Tbilisi has been twinned with Lublin since 2014. So far, the main area of cooperation with Lublin has been culture. Tbilisi Youth Union Center will be a partner in this project. It is the only municipal entity working with youth exclusively. The main goal of the organization is to undertake initiatives supporting the development of youngsters. Tbilisi does not have partner cities from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, and is interested in developing cooperation with countries from the Visegrad Group.