EU office: Newsletter - February 2023

A number of interesting events and innovations on the topic of Europe are on the agenda in the first half of 2023.

The Chemnitz Chamber of Commerce and Industry is hosting a range of activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the single market. One example is a consultation on European markets, which will take place at Strasse der Nationen 25 on 14 March. On 8 May, the Chemnitz regional chamber will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the single market with an information event and a formal dinner.

The event formerly known as Europe Week has now become Europe Weeks and will be held from 30 April to 31 May. For a whole month, the focus will be on the spirit and values of Europe. During this time, the city of Chemnitz is planning joint events with INTERLACE, R-EU-FTOP and other partners, and will once again be hosting a spring festival on the theme ‘Europe meets Asia’.

The INTERLACE project partners will come together for their annual meeting in Chemnitz from 8 to 10 May. Organised under the title ‘Cities Talk Nature Europe: Unlocking the potential of unused urban areas’, the first part of the engagement event will kick off on 11 May with an international conference. This will be followed on 12 May by an excursion to urban green spaces in Chemnitz to present various initiatives.

Are you planning your own events or activities as part of the Europe Weeks? We would be happy to include them in the programme. We also plan to design and display a postcard to promote the event.

Also in May, Neighbours' Day will be celebrated in the traditional format. While the neighbourhood festivals have had to be held in a somewhat different way for the last few years for hygiene reasons, this year, the neighbourhood foundation nebenan.de is once again calling for activities to connect neighbourhoods across Europe on 26 May.

An exhibition on the topic ‘Between avant-garde and repression, Czech Photography 1948–1968’ has been on display at the Chemnitz Art Collections since 20 November 2022. This exhibition has been supported with funds from the European Union. The exhibition features photographs by five Czech artists: Josef Sudek, Vilém Reichmann, Emila Medková, Jan Svoboda and Josef Koudelka. The pictures come from a time when Europe was divided in two, and the artistic style has its roots in the surrealism of the interwar period. But the exhibits also show how the Czech art scene suffered significant repressive measures at the beginning of the socialist regime in 1948. As such, they are a reflection of society at the time. This repression culminated in the violent suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968. That year has also been chosen as the end of the time period selected for the exhibition. The exhibition can be visited at Chemnitz Art Collections on Theaterplatz until 26 February. To accompany the exhibition, the Metropol cinema is also showing four documentaries on this topic on 19 February.

The Chemnitz Waldorf School has been planning to expand its buildings and classrooms for several years. The project is estimated to cost around six million euros, a good half of which is to be financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), one of the most important funding instruments of the European Union. Its task is to compensate for the varying levels of development in individual regions of Europe and thus ensure better living conditions. Innovation and climate friendliness are given special attention when it comes to determining the eligibility of projects.

As a result, the Chemnitz Waldorf School is now also benefiting from this funding measure. Since this school concept is becoming more and more popular and the number of pupils has grown steadily in recent years, it was expected that the school would need to be expanded. The structural expansion of the Waldorf School is being carried out in two parts. One of these parts consists of obtaining more space for classrooms and offices as well as for a media workshop. In the other part of the project, the school is having a former industrial warehouse renovated to improve its energy efficiency. New workshops and studios are to be built here, as well as a copper workshop and a forge. The conversion is placing particular emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability. The ERDF funding was granted on the basis of solar panels on the roofs and energy storage for the heating system under the new buildings.

‘Smart Ways to Net Zero’ was the headline for the EUROCITIES Mobility Forum. Representing Chemnitz City Council, Susann Mäder from the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group met local politicians, EU officials and transport experts in the Belgian city to discuss visions, problems and solutions relating to the promotion of sustainable mobility. The meeting at the forum brought more than 150 participants together in Antwerp to exchange pioneering approaches to urban mobility.

A political meeting opened the event on the first day of the forum. Political representatives from thirteen European municipalities met with Charlotte Nørlund Matthiessen, Policy Advisor in the cabinet of Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport and Mobility.

After the official welcome by Mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever, the programme opened on Wednesday with a policy debate on smart mobility and innovation. Urban mobility has a key role to play in achieving climate neutrality. The green and digital transformation are important drivers for innovation across all modes of transport. City administrations play an essential part in accelerating this much-needed transformation by initiating policies that reduce car ownership and use, investing in cycling infrastructure and pedestrian zones, improving public transport, increasing road safety and facilitating multimodality.

During the second part of the panel discussion, political representatives from the cities of Varna, Turku, Bologna and The Hague presented examples of measures to highlight the role of local governments in implementing the European Green Deal and achieving the EU's target of climate neutrality by 2050.

When searching on the Internet for European Union laws, the first point of reference is usually the EUR-Lex online portal. In addition to this site, another portal called EU Law in Force has now been launched. This gives you as a user direct access to the latest – and therefore valid – version of the laws of the European Union. In addition, you receive a summary of the content of the respective law as well as all amendments and corrections. Another helpful aspect is that documents can be filtered by EU treaties, EU legislation, international conventions and European Court of Justice rulings. You can also narrow down your search by subject area and author.

19 February 2023, 11 a.m., Metropol Cinema

Four short documentaries from 1968/69 – event

Until 26 February 2023, Art Collections on Theaterplatz

Between avant-garde and Repression – Czech Photography 1948–68 – exhibition

10 March 2023, 2 p.m.–4:15 p.m., Volkshochschule Chemnitz (Chemnitz Adult Education Centre)

Capital of Culture 2025: Building Culture Walking Tour – event

25 March 2023, Volkshochschule Chemnitz (Chemnitz Adult Education Centre)

Day trip to Theresienstadt – excursion

11 April 2023, 6 p.m.–7:30 pm, Volkshochschule (Adult Education Centre)

Northeastern Poland: more than just Masuria – event