Cooperation in sport should be intensified / meetings between entrepreneurs and athletes
More intensive cooperation in sport, encounters between athletes, exchange between companies and an exhibition opening on the civil rights movement of German Sinti and Roma: These topics were the focus of the visit by a Heidelberg delegation led by Mayor Eckart Würzner, members of the local council and representatives of institutions, who are involved in the town twinning, from September 7th to 9th, 2023 in the French twin town of Montpellier.
Participants of the Heidelberg delegation led by Mayor Eckart Würzner (2nd from left) and Caroline Trost (4th from left) from the Baden-Württemberg Rugby Association visiting the stadium.
Heidelberg’s mayor Eckart Würzner said after his visit to the French twin city: “Our twin town relationship between Montpellier and Heidelberg is a very special friendship. Especially in sports, in the areas of judo, para-judo, fencing, football and rugby, we will work even closer together in the future and continue to breathe life into the partnership. The same applies to the economic sector and new collaborations in the area of care and the recruitment of skilled workers. I’m looking forward to it – it’s a lively town partnership.”
Sport: Support innovative ideas across countries
Heidelberg and Montpellier want to work more closely together in the sports sector: clubs from Montpellier and Heidelberg should be more closely networked and supported in order to promote innovative ideas across countries. This new sports alliance is intended to enable a joint exchange of experiences on measures and strategies in the sports sector, to inspire new target groups for sport, to deepen inclusivity, internationality and cultural diversity and to facilitate exchange between the partner cities.
Heidelberg and Montpellier want to work more closely together in sports, for example in fencing.
The partner cities want to achieve these objectives through their association structures. As a pilot project, cooperation between judo and para-judo clubs is to take place. Montpellier will host the European Championships in 2023, Heidelberg will host the World Cup for Para-Judo in 2024. The exchange can also be extended to other sports such as rugby, fencing, football and more. It is intended to enable regular contact between the clubs and facilitate the acceptance of athletes from the twin city.
In addition to representatives of the city’s sports office and the Heidelberg sports district, athletes from the German national parajudo team and the 1st Judo team Heidelberg/Mannheim were guests in Montpellier to compete in an exhibition match with athletes from Montpellier.
There is also a great enthusiasm for rugby in both cities. Both cities want to further strengthen this commonality. The Heidelberg delegation, which also included Caroline Trost from the Baden-Württemberg Rugby Association, visited the rugby school in Montpellier and discussed with club representatives how both cities can benefit even more from each other in this area. The guests from Heidelberg also attended the public training of the Samoa national rugby team, whose training camp is in Montpellier during the current 2023 Rugby World Cup.
During a visit to the fencing hall, the Heidelberg delegation met young fencers from TSG Rohrbach who are currently training there.
Economic exchange
A still young project of the partnership is economic exchange: After the start in 2022, Heidelberg companies once again traveled to southern France for a week. The representatives of the technology company INCTEC and the communications agency Leading Edge met French companies and business representatives. Other Heidelberg companies took part in exchange meetings digitally. The second part of the program will take place from November 20th to 24th, 2023, when companies from Montpellier will visit Heidelberg. The economic development departments of both cities organized individual meetings that were tailored to the needs of the companies – some of which had already taken part in 2022: This shows that business relationships are being built in the partner city. The German-French Economic Network of Languedoc-Roussillon (RAFAL) is a new cooperation partner. Among other things, it was jointly agreed to make the exchange program and the resulting opportunities for companies even better known.
The participants in the economic exchange, which started in 2022.
“Economic exchange opens new horizons,” says Marc Massoth, head of the Office for Economic Development and Science. He also took part in the meeting in Montpellier: “Companies from both cities can benefit significantly from the exchange: they make new contacts and network. The program helps to build a bi-national economic network between Heidelberg and Montpellier. It also offers start-ups the opportunity to explore expansion opportunities in France and Germany. Heidelberg and Montpellier are strong business and scientific locations that are committed to innovation and sustainability. Both cities and local businesses should benefit even more from this.”
Exhibition opening
Also as part of the delegation visit, the opening of the documentation center’s exhibition “Half a century of civil rights work by German Sinti and Roma” took place in the Heidelberg House in Montpellier with greetings from both cities as well as from Dotschy Reinhardt from the Documentation Center of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg. Afterwards, a theater performance by the Chouette Blanche theater troupe, which consisted primarily of Sintezzes, was on the program. The contacts between the southern French partner city and the documentation center and the work on the topic go back to a workshop with a panel discussion in 2021 and are to be expanded further.
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2023-09-14 13:35:36
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