TWINNING – PARTNERSCHAFT

     PINZOLO – MURG

Carola Ferrari
Councillor for Education and Training, Culture,
Cultural Associations and Youth Programs for the City of Pinzolo

The ability to understand and communicate in more than one language is a desirable objective for all European citizens: it stimulates us to open ourselves to different cultures and points of view and improves our cognitive abilities and skills in our native language. It also allows us to take advantage of our right to work or study in another member state. So, incentives need to be provided for intercultural exchanges between young people in the schools, where sister city projects promote multilingualism. In 2006, the Education Office of the City of Pinzolo arranged the twinning of Pinzolo's elementary school with the Grundschule of Murg, a town in Germany's Black Forest. This school program was implemented with the collaboration of many persons who supported the project and contributed to its creation (the teaching staff and Principal of the Val Rendena school, the PAT, the Principal of the Murg school, Armin Brütsche, and the teaching staff). For the children, this initiative is a great opportunity to make new friends and the real life experience of getting to know a European country that is different from their own while putting into practice what they have learned. The families of the fourth-grade students, who will spend a week in Murg every year, have enthusiastically supported the initiative, contributing to the development of contacts, friendships and fraternity with Pinzolo's German sister city.

Knowledge of languages allows us to communicate, understand and learn about the many things that surround us but we also must provide an example and create opportunities for the children and other persons. Our shared joy is seeing the initiative grow and the will to continue on the path of friendship and peace in a Europe that increasingly needs positive examples like ours.