Lviv and the Swedish city of Uppsala have officially signed a partnership agreement, marking another important step in the development of international cooperation among Ukrainian communities. For Lviv, Uppsala has become its 32nd sister city.
The signing took place during a visit by a Lviv delegation to Sweden, where the Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, together with the Chair of Uppsala’s Municipal Council, Erik Pelling, formally confirmed the long-term cooperation between the two cities.
“This initiative is an important step in engaging Uppsala in international cooperation and supporting Ukraine’s recovery. By sharing knowledge and resources, we hope to contribute to positive development and strengthen ties between our communities,” emphasised Erik Pelling, Chair of Uppsala’s Municipal Council.
The search for meaningful and effective cooperation between Uppsala and a Ukrainian city began back in 2022 in Stockholm – during the annual event of the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Authorities (SALAR), dedicated to current EU and international cooperation issues affecting local and regional governance. It was there, during the presentation of the Cities4Cities initiative, that Uppsala Municipality expressed its interest in establishing a partnership with a Ukrainian community.
In 2024, active consultations between representatives of Lviv and Uppsala continued, resulting in the identification of five key areas of cooperation:
• education, science, culture and the arts – with a particular focus on the role of culture in rehabilitation, recovery and social cohesion;
• healthcare and rehabilitation;
• environment and climate transition;
• crisis preparedness and resilience;
• local self-government development.
“In times of war, such partnerships carry special significance. They are about trust, solidarity, and a shared future,” the Mayor of Lviv highlighted after signing the agreement.
As part of the visit, the Mayor of Lviv visited the offices of SALAR and SALAR International. SALAR International is one of the co-founders of the Cities4Cities initiative, which from the outset has supported the development of international partnerships and strengthened the capacities of Ukrainian communities on their path to European integration. Since 2024, SALAR International has been implementing the WM4U programme “Strengthening Municipal Waste Management in Ukraine” and the Polaris programme “Support to Multilevel Governance in Ukraine”, of which Cities4Cities is a part.
Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine – partner initiatives that joined forces in September 2022 – bring together European and Ukrainian municipalities. Cities4Cities was launched by the German city of Sindelfingen under the patronage of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. United4Ukraine was initiated by SALAR International and the city of Lviv with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Since 2024, Cities4Cities | United4Ukraine has been part of Sweden’s flagship programme for Ukraine – Polaris: Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine.
Source: https://cities4cities.eu
