Sister Cities Day in Brno

The City of Brno organised the Sister Cities Day for the third time, focusing on culture this year.

The program included not only lectures but also thematic workshops on the topics of the creative economy as well as cultural and branding strategies for cities. Participants came from the sister cities of Bratislava, Debrecen, Kharkiv, Kaunas, Leipzig, Poznan, Rennes, St. Pölten, Stuttgart and Vienna. The aim is to connect the cities with each other. The conference also serves as a communication platform for exchanging ideas on current topics.

"I am delighted to see this event becoming a tradition. It shows that we are all pursuing the same target: To maintain good and intensive relations between our cities and countries, to exchange positive thoughts and good ideas and addressing recent topics together", said Brno's Mayor Markéta Vanková in her opening speech.

Demand for Vienna's perspective

The City of Vienna's Cultural Affairs Department (MA 7) presented Vienna's Culture Strategy 2030, which was published in November 2023. The lecture focused on the strategy's areas of action, which deal with topics such as diversity, the environment and digitalisation.

"Brno was a real highlight with good opportunities for networking and discussion with the other cities in the creative industries. A visit to the KUMST creative centre rounded off the programme perfectly, in addition to interesting contacts, I also have ideas for future cooperation", said a representative of the Vienna Business Agency.

Vienna and Brno have a very close cooperation, which has grown historically and is also geographically given.

Brno and Lviv

At the same time, Brno has gained a new partner city in Lviv. After several years of cooperation in the fields of culture, architecture, the environment and sport, the partnership agreement was signed in Brno on 4 June 2024 during the URBIS Smart City Fair. "In our hearts, we have been partners for a long time, and now we are partners on paper too", said Mayor Markéta Vanková.