Credit: Charles Soubry / Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg
The City of Luxembourg has announced that it is taking over the presidency of QuattroPole, a cross-border network of cities in the heart of Europe (Luxembourg, Metz, Saarbrücken and Trier).
Members of the cities of Luxembourg, Metz, Saarbrücken and Trier have elected Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, as president of the QuattroPole network of cities. Uwe Conradt, Mayor of Saarbrücken, was elected Vice-President and the Mayors of Metz and Trier, François Grosdidier and Wolfram Leibe, were also elected to the QuattroPole board.
Given the high number of coronavirus cases in the Greater Region, the members made their decisions for the first time electronically. They also adopted the work programme for 2021, which foresees increased cooperation of the crisis cells of the four cities, as well as a strengthening of the presence of the city network in digital media.
The Luxembourg presidency of QuattroPole plans to deepen the exchange between municipal administrations concerning the current coronavirus pandemic in order to be able to agree and discuss the measures taken in the four member cities.
In addition, the QuattroPole Music Prize project will be renewed and the prize will be awarded in April 2021. Endowed with €10,000, the prize is aimed at artists in the field of innovative musical creation. The application phase is already closed and the jury will choose the winner. The QuattroPole Music Prize is the second pillar of the cross-border cultural cooperation of QuattroPole cities, after the Robert Schuman Art Prize, and is awarded every two years.
The cycling map recently published by QuattroPole, which is aimed at residents and tourists, serves to reinforce the image of Luxembourg, Metz, Saarbrücken and Trier as destinations for cycling tourism, and this precisely in 2021, a year which will probably be marked again by physical restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the joint tourism marketing work of the QuattroPole towns should take a much more digital orientation next year, in order to reach even more young people.
Lydie Polfer, Mayor of Luxembourg City and President of QuattroPole, explained: “More than ever, it is important to give a truly special place to solidarity. Given the health situation, we are determined to further deepen the cooperation and exchange between the cities of QuattroPole. We are convinced that, even in this period of social distancing, the social cohesion of citizens in cities, but also between cities, must be maintained and further strengthened. The dematerialisation of the tourist sector and sustainability in terms of mobility will still be central approaches to this cross-border cooperation and will thus enhance the attractiveness of the QuattroPole cities".
