Twinning

The county council has well-established links of friendship with nine communities across the globe, for the benefit of all residents of the county.

Map of europe showing Twin Towns

Thousands of schoolchildren and many hundreds of residents of County Durham have either visited one or more of our twins, or hosted a visitor from a partner area. Such international education initiatives help to create a better climate of understanding based on knowledge and direct personal contact.

The activities organised and encouraged by this office vary greatly. Here are some examples of the projects we have most recently worked on with our partners.

European Year of Citizenship 2005

@UTOPIA

40 young people from five European countries took part in an international, residential project this February to celebrate the European Year of Citizenship 2005. The young people, from County Durham and four of its areas of friendship, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hungary, Kreis Wesel, Germany, and Cascina, Italy, took part in a Big Brother style project, ‘’@UTOPIA’’ at Ushaw College, Durham. The event was designed as an experimental project, during which the young people spent one week together, learning how to live as part of a harmonious, international community.

The group, including young people from Durham City Centre Youth Project and Durham Children and Young People’s Council, participated in a variety of workshops centralised on the theme of citizenship. These included:

Peer led youth workshops with Durham Constabulary
Singing, dancing and learning with SNUG - Special Needs Unity Group and MFA - Movable Feast Arts
Racial Equality workshops - Darlington and Durham Racial Equality Council
Brazilian music and dance - Capoeira and Samba workshops with Estrela
Sport for all – swimming, volleyball, basketball and table tennis
Citizenships interviews in Durham
Karaoke and Eurovision Contest
Visit to Edinburgh

German Exchange 2005

Team Europe

13 young people from County Durham took part in a variety of fun and challenging, teambuilding activities as part of the County’s 2005 German exchange. The young people from Tuebingen, who visited in April, stayed in host families and spent 10 days familiarising themselves with British culture. Activities included a day orienteering at Hamsterley Forest, intercultural dance workshops, a tour around the Oriental Museum, Durham, a visit to Newcastle’s Baltic and Quayside and an afternoon meeting SNUG (Special Needs Unity Group). They also spent several days taking part in lessons at their partners’ schools. The group from Durham returned to Tuebingen in July, where they went rock climbing, visited Stuttgart, took part in workshops on the theme of communication.

French Exchange 2005

Celebrating Diversity

Young people from County Durham and the Départment de la Somme came together in July this year to look at issues surrounding diversity in the UK and France. The first part of the exchange took place in Durham, where the group participated in workshops with the Racial Equality Council, looking at cultural similarities and differences. Both groups travelled back to France together, where they stayed in host families, took part in climbing activities at Quend, visited Amiens and spent an afternoon at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. Click here to request further information about the county's partner areas.