European-Ukrainian local partnerships under the spotlights with a Special Prize
“We will have to help Ukrainian municipalities after the war. We will have to engage seriously on the ground,” announced Emmanuel Carroz, Deputy Mayor of Grenoble (France) in charge of International Cooperation and Europe, last week at the PLATFORMAwards ceremony when he announced the 2022 Special Prize of the Jury, awarded to all European and Ukrainian municipalities which cooperate with each other through partnerships.
Emmanuel Carroz, member of the jury of the PLATFORMAwards 2022 and co-chair of the ceremony organised in his city, the European Green Capital 2002, said: after the war, “everyone will have to bring its own competencies on the whole territory of Ukraine.” He underlined: “This is why at the EU level, structures, associations such as CEMR will be important, to ensure aid provided by local governments is effectively delivered.”
He mentioned that two projects involving municipalities in Ukraine applied to the 3rd edition of the PLATFORMAwards: Šiauliai (Lithuania)-Dolyna (Ukraine) and Preili (Latvia)-Nizhyn (Ukraine). But many more local and regional governments are already acting on the ground, welcoming refugees in European municipalities, providing help and goods, organizing summer schools… “To showcase this engagement of European municipalities with Ukraine, the jury has unanimously decided to reward with a special prize all European and Ukrainian municipalities which cooperate with each other through partnerships, Carroz said.
This Special Prize consists in a short video broadcasted on social media which presents different aspects that cooperation between cities and regions can take in war time.
“The message that the jury wants to share today is this one: we don’t forget territories affected by conflicts, especially this year in Ukraine; and we are ready to actively take part in the physical, physiological and human reconstruction of these territories”, Carroz concluded.
“This Special Prize truly highlights the benefits of decentralised cooperation,” added Fabrizio Rossi, CEMR Secretary General and chair of the jury. “Ukrainian local elected officials and mayors ask us three things: to help them putting an end to this war; to help them on a daily basis to cope with this crisis; to get ready to help in the reconstruction phase,” he also stressed.
- Watch and share the video of the Special Prize of the Jury
- Discover the laureates of the PLATFORMAwards 2022
