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A quick overview

There is no single agreed name for or definition of international links between cities and local authorities from "the North" (Europe) and "the South". Other names include international twinning, city to city co-operation, local partnerships for development, decentralised co-operation, or municipal international co-operation.

These links may be based on long-term twinning relationships, in which the partners maintain a programme of actions and exchanges which continue over many years.

In other cases, the partnership may be developed from an initial one-off project. The partners may agree to work together intensively for a defined period, say 3 or 5 years, on a series of agreed activities.

The links may include exchanges of citizens, schoolchildren, community-based organisations, local NGOs etc. Or they may mainly involve local government staff who are working together and learning from each other.

To make things easier to follow, in this website we simply refer to all these kinds of link – whether "lifelong" or for a shorter period - as "twinnings and partnerships for development". What matters is what people do together in practice – how they really make a difference to people's lives on the ground.

Many local government twinning partnerships cover issues of basic infrastructure and services – schools, drinking water, waste disposal etc.- whilst others aim to help with local economic development, protection of the environment, or with new forms of democratic participation.

In other cases, the main focus can be on developing capacity within the local administration. Some of the most important partnerships have been with towns that have suffered natural or man-made disasters (e.g. major floods or post-conflict recovery).

Although the main priorities are driven by the southern partner, there is much evidence that taking part in international partnerships for development benefits everyone involved, teaching them new skills and a broader perspective.