Town twinning
The original idea behind town twinning was to help the people of Europe to know and understand each other better. A twinning link is normally defined as a friendship agreement involving co-operation between two communities in different countries. Twinning provides the opportunity to find out more about the daily lives of citizens in other European countries, to talk to them and exchange experiences, and to develop joint projects on issues of common interest, such as local integration, the environment, economic development, and cultural differences. The Town twinning movement has developed after the Second World War, in parallel to the progress made by the European integration process. One of the major developments was the establishment of new town twinning links between EU Member States and countries from Central or Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, anticipating and preparing their integration in the European Union. First, town twinning relies upon the vol