Twinning agreements
The City of Modena strongly believes in building and preserving privileged relations of peace and solidarity with other cities and communities abroad. These relations, besides having a high identity value of a symbolic, cultural and historical character, contribute to facilitate growth, exchange and development for the local communities at international level.
The twinning agreement constitutes a formal and reciprocal attestation of privileged relations between cities of different countries and is aimed at sharing cultural, social, political and economic relations, with constant reference to a common action for peace, solidarity and mutual knowledge between peoples.
The current twinning agreements are:
Novi Sad (Serbia)
Inhabitants: 388.490
Twinned with Modena since 1974
Website: http://www.novisad.rs/eng
The city of Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia. It is located in the north of the country on the banks of the Danube and is the capital of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Southern Bačka district. Novi Sad is an important cultural and industrial centre and in 2022 was the first Serbian city to be named the European Capital of Culture. The symbol of the city is the Petrovaradin Fortress, an ancient city fortification, now the site of the most famous music festival in the Balkans.
The twinning agreement
The twinning with the city of Novi Sad was formally signed at the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the twinning between the city of Novi Sad and the Province of Modena on 19 June 1974. On that occasion, Germano Bulgarelli (Mayor of Modena) and Jovan Dejanovich (Mayor of Novi Sad) signed a friendship pact in which the city of Modena adhered to the twinning pact that already existed between the city of Novi Sad and the Province of Modena.
The contents of the twinning thus tie in with an already existing path of cooperation, and focuses on cultural, social, sports, tourism and economic matters as priorities for consolidating and strengthening ties between the two cities.
The Twinning Agreement, already renewed for the first time in 1983, was confirmed by the Modena City Council on 17 January 2019.
Benxi (Cina)
Inhabitants: 1.567.000 abitanti
Twinned with Modena since 1985
The city of Benxi
Benxi is a city-prefecture located in China's Liaoning Province in the north-eastern part of the country. Founded as a metallurgical centre in 1915, it is an important mining centre known in particular for its coal mines. In its territory lies the longest underground water trail in Asia, the Benxi Water Cave National Park, a tourist attraction visited every year by tourists from all over the world.
Il gemellaggio
The twinning pact between the city of Modena and the city of Benxi was signed on 7 March 1985 by Mario Del Monte (Mayor of Modena) and the mayor of Benxi.
The purpose of the Protocol signed in 1985 was to develop cooperation relations and exchanges between the two cities, to promote mutual understanding and friendship and to establish a friendly long-term cooperation relationship.
Modena and Benxi also undertook to promote and increase economic cooperation and trade relations between the two areas. Finally, they undertook to promote scientific, technological, cultural, educational and sports exchanges in the interests of the two cities.
Almaty (Kazakistan)
Inhabitants: 1.948.800
Twinned with Modena since 1972
Website: www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/almaty
The city of Almaty
Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains near the border with Kyrgyzstan, Almaty is the most populous city in Kazakhstan. It was the state capital until 1997 when it was replaced by the city of Astana.
The city, founded in 1854 as Vernj, is an important railway junction and is home to mechanical, textile, chemical, electronic, food and tobacco industries. It is home to an academy of sciences, whose astronomical and astrophysical observatory is among the most important in the world, and a university, with considerable publishing activity. Finally, it is a well-equipped winter sports centre.
The twinning agreement
The twinning pact was signed on 5 July 1972 by Germano Bulgarelli (Mayor of Modena) and E. Duisenov (President of the Executive Committee of the City Soviet of Workers' Deputies).
The agreement signed in 1972 was intended to create contacts and bonds of friendship between the two cities in order to make a positive contribution to cooperation between the peoples of Italy and the USSR and to foster the strengthening of peace between all peoples. It also provided for the possibility of collaboration in the fields of economy, culture, health and education.
25 years after the twinning pact was signed, on 16 September 1992, an additional agreement 'on economic, scientific, and cultural cooperation between the twin cities of Alma-Ata and Modena' was signed by Pier Camillo Beccaria (Mayor of Modena) and Z. Nurkadilov (Representative of the City of Alma-Ata) with the aim of deepening, expanding, and developing the relations between the two cities.
Saint Paul (USA)
Inhabitants: 307.000
Twinned with Modena since 1989
Website: www.stpaul.gov/
The city of Saint Paul
Saint Paul is a city in the United States, the capital and second largest city in Minnesota. Located on the banks of the Minnesota River, it is the historical and cultural heart of the state and is home to numerous businesses, manufacturing, transportation, educational institutions and non-profit organisations.
Along with Minneapolis, located on the opposite bank of the Mississippi, Saint Paul is known as one of the Twin Cities, but is distinguished by a greater preservation of traditional architecture in place of modern skyscrapers. It is home to the elegant Summit Avenue, the longest preserved Victorian avenue in the country. In addition to housing the governor's residence, Summit Avenue is also home to those of authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis.
The twinning agreement
The Twinning Pact between the cities of Saint Paul and Modena was signed on 27 April 1989 by Alfonsina Rinaldi, Mayor of Modena, and George Latimer, Mayor of Saint Paul.
The pact committed the two administrations to the promotion and development of exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy, business development, citizen participation, social services, urban development, culture, education, science and technology.
In addition, the Pact aimed to promote youth delegation exchanges and active cooperation between the respective universities, colleges and professional institutes.
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Londrina (Brasile)
Inhabitants: 750.000
Twinned with Modena since 1998
Website: www.cml.pr.gov.br/
The City of Londrina
Londrina is a municipality in Brazil in the State of Paraná, part of the Norte Central Paranaense mesoregion and the Londrina microregion. It is the second most populous city in the State. The metropolitan area includes the centres of Cambé, Ibiporã, Sertanópolis, Bela Vista do Paraíso, Jataizinho, Rolândia and Tamarana, reaching 750,000 inhabitants.
The city has many descendants of Italians who emigrated from northern Italy, especially from Veneto and Lombardy. Other peoples that have formed the population of Londrina are the Germans, the Portuguese and the Japanese.
Londrina was officially founded on 10 December 1934. The city owes its prosperity to the coffee trade and its name is a tribute to the English capital, being the first settlement by an English cotton company.
The twinning agreement
In November 1992, during a visit by a delegation from Modena to Londrina, an initial friendship pact was signed, later ratified in Modena in October 1993. This pact committed the two cities to enter into relations on topics of common interest and then, once relations were consolidated, to enter into a twinning agreement.
The twinning was signed in Modena on 3 June 1998 with the signing of the Twinning Pact by the Mayor of Londrina Antonio Casemiro Belinati and the Mayor of Modena Giuliano Barbolini.
Among the commitments underwritten in the twinning pact are: the promotion of joint technological development projects to support the production sector; cooperation for the transfer of the production model of Modenese small and medium-sized enterprises, handicrafts, and services with a focus on sustainable economic development; the development of technology park projects, specialised centres for international exhibitions and fairs; the promotion of contacts between representatives of culture and art, youth associations and sports clubs; and cooperation in the field of vocational training.
Linz (Austria)
Inhabitants: 204.846
Twinned with Modena since 1992
Website: linz.at/english/
The city of Linz
Linz is Austria's third largest city by population and the capital of the federal state of Upper Austria. The city stretches along the banks of the Danube. It is home to steel, mechanical engineering, chemical, textile, food, tobacco, wood, glass and shipbuilding industries. A major road and rail junction, Linz is also an active river port on the Danube.
Linz boasts a lively cultural and arts scene and in 2009, together with the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, was chosen as European Capital of Culture. Just like Modena itself, the city of Linz is also part of the Media Arts cluster of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
The twinning agreement
The Twinning Pact between the cities of Modena and Linz was signed in Linz on 3 June 1992 by Pier Camillo Beccaria, Mayor of Modena, and Franz Dobush, Mayor of Linz, and later ratified on 11 November 1992 in Modena by the same mayors of the two cities.
The mayors undertook to forge relations between the two administrations in order to foster an ongoing exchange of information, documentation and experience on topics of common interest and to promote the comparison of the culture and history of the two countries.
In particular, it stipulated active cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, science, technology, education, sports, health care, urban planning and youth exchanges.
The Twinning Pact was confirmed in November 2017, on the 25th anniversary of relations between the two cities.