Moving on, Healthy and United

ended

San Lawrenz Local Council and the Associazzione del Gemellaggio dell Comune di Colle Umberto are proposing a twinning project between the village of San Lawrenz, Gozo (Malta), and the municipality of Colle Umberto (Italy). The two localities have a long history of partnership– we have been twinned since 2005, and carried out 4 twinning projects together in the past, as well as other collaborative activities. We firmly believe that this partnership must be regenerated through new platforms of dialogue and commitments to understand each other and work together. This is especially so given the unprecedented challenges the world has been through in the past 3 years, from the pandemic that has affected every aspect of our lives, to the war in Ukraine making us realise that European peace is not to be taken for granted. At this point in time, we wish to once again turn to our joint partnership and renew our ties as a way to discuss and face these challenges together. It is important more than ever that our citizens understand and live the value of solidarity, tolerance, and mutual understanding as the basis for peace and prosperity. Our specific objectives are: -To provide our citizens with opportunities to further understand, discuss, and address the challenges caused by Covid on our small rural localities; -To enable a process of democratic dialogue between our citizens, and between participants and relevant policymakers, on the future of the EU and of its role as a peace actor; -For our citizens to experience the spirit of European citizenship and identity through tangible cultural exchange and personal connections between our two communities, particularly through a public socio-cultural activitity; -To revitalise and continue strengthening the relationship between our villages through a twinning event in Colle Umberto involving at least 101 direct international participants, and the signing of 1 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for future collaboration.