CALNE'S Town Mayor Jon Fisher, Deputy Mayor Ian Thorn and Director of Council Services Alison Robinson visited one of our twin towns, Eningen-unter-Achalm last weekend to discuss 'twinning with a purpose'.
Town Mayor Jon Fisher is calling for 'twinning with a purpose' to be the basis for future partnership activities between the towns. It is an opportunity for the towns to learn from each other and see first-hand how some practices and ideas already in motion in Eningen could benefit our town.
This first visit was based on building an understanding of the two town's very differing local government structures, practices, and procedures. Ideas generated from this visit included looking at how Calne Town Council could use systems and processes used by Eningen to enhance their operations and exploring the potential of taking on some of the activities Wiltshire Council is currently doing to make them quicker and more efficient for residents.
Discussions between Calne and Eningen about future twinning opportunities included ideas to twin on youth engagement, music and culture, debates about politics and society. There could also be an opportunity to do an exchange visit with fire-fighters and first responders, and also to twin teachers or nursery staff.
The cost of this weekend's trip was fully funded by Eningen. Gifts taken for the hosts included the Calne flag, a Calne jigsaw and a Calne 2025 calendar produced by Laura Anne Photography.
Calne Town Mayor Jon Fisher said: "The original idea behind town twinning was to rebuild relationships after the war. Arguably this is as important as ever as our world becomes more divided. It helps people from different countries to meet, mix and get along, so it’s a good and important thing in its own right.
"Beyond that though, twinning is a useful tool for towns facing similar issues to learn from each other. This weekend's 'twinning with a purpose' was all about local government, but we plan to work on other topics in the future. I would urge people who want to get involved to come forward. We want to rebuild the twinning committee and support people to visit our twin towns – this is not about Councillors; it has to be for everyone."
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