Svenljunga has two interesting sister cities. Sister cities were founded after the war as a peace movement to create an understanding between countries and their people. This has contributed to increasing the contacts between the citizens of the European Union, membership and candidate states, an even abroad. The cooperation between the sister cities are today a major platform in the municipal internationalization process and consist of a broad variety of areas, often in a project form. Sister City Agreement The three municipals are Svenljunga, Tamsalu and Rehna which signed a trinity in 2003 about cooperation and exchange of experiences. The trinities aim for these three municipals is to create a joint project to facilitate growth and development. This agreement is valid from June 6th 2003 to June 6th 2008. The goal is to: . Create friendships between the municipals and their inhabitants to create a long lasting relationship. . Bring about contact between the citizens, the municipals, different organizations and companies with similar goals and interests. . Stimulate exchange of knowledge and experiences, and at the same time spread expert knowledge about the municipals and their structures. . Collaborate within the scope of the local authorities and exchange information about their organizations and administrations. . Spread knowledge, democracy and equality. Within the Collaboration is the following priority field: . Democracy questions, companies and employment, social welfare, education, tourism, culture, sports, environment, infrastructure and the youth. Tamsalu in Estonia The Tamsalu Municipal is situated in the county of Lääne-Virumaa in the north of Estonia about 100 km from Tallin. The city of Tamsalu has 2,800 inhabitants and in the surrounding agricultural area lives 2,300. Tamsalu received city privileges in 1996 which makes them one of the youngest municipals in Estonia. The municipal has an area on 4 km2. Tamsalu was founded 1876 when the railroad between Tallin and Tartu was built. At the end of the 19th century the first factory was built. During 1920 and 1940 Tamsalu was a little village with only a railroad station and two lime stone factories. The industrial development began after the Second World War. During that time an agriculture machine station, a grain factory, a factory which produced building materials, a transportation company and a company which built roads were founded. All of these companies at that time were owned by the state. Today the industries are privately owned such as Tamsalu EPT Ltd. (which provides metal and machine work), Tamsalu TERKO Ltd. (which produces animal food), E-Betoonelement Tamsalu Ltd. (which produces building materials) and a bakery. There are municipal owned companies which provide water, sewer, heating and housing. Tamsalu has a first and secondary school system (grades 1 through 12) with 600 students, a nursery day-care center with 130 children, a day-care center where the handicapped and elderly are cared for together, a sport center with a public swimming pool, ski run, football fields and a cultural center. Tamsalu in Estonia has been a sister city with Svenljunga since the latter part of October 1999. The municipals wrote a sister city agreement that was valid from October 1999 through December 2002. In the agreement between the municipals it was concluded that a humane relationship shall be created, knowledge shall be shared, equality questions and democracy will be supported, environmental questions will be discussed along with social welfare and that education should be improved. First and foremost, shall the contact between the people be a priority. Rehna in Germany Rehna is situated about 25 km south of the Baltic Sea coast in the county of North West Mecklenburg in one of Germany´s federal states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Rehna is inhabited with 2,755 inhabitants. The Hanseatic city of Lübeck is situated approximately 30 km north west of Rehna. The city of Rehna is the administration district for the region of Rehna with 9,700 inhabitants. The region consists of 17 other municipals. Major parts of the Rehna region are situated within the biosphere natural park of Schaalsee, which are of national importance when it comes to environment and natural resources. The city of Rehna was founded about 900 years ago. The development is characterized by the Benedictine monastery that was founded in the year 1236. In 1791 Rehna acquired its city rights. Even today the monastery makes its imprint on the city. In the close vicinity of the monastery is the Old City with its triangular market place, the church and the square of liberty. The magnificent brick houses are typical for Rehna which were built with a frame work technology. In the middle of the 20th century there where more than 100 shoe makers in the city and it was called the Shoe Maker Town. Even though the railroad was built all the way into the town center the industrial development failed and was restricted to a grain mill and a fabric factory. After the Second World War textile and tannery businesses were founded. In cooperation with businesses and the city, Rehna should today, become again a center for production, trade and service companies. Today in the town center are crafts businesses, whole sales and several service businesses. Several producing companies are established in a company park just outside the city center. All companies that are considered an environmental hazard are located there. In this area 150 people are working, among them 100 women. A lot of people are commuting to the bigger city regions such as Hamburg and Lübeck. Unemployment in Rehna is just under the average in the county. The region and especially Rehna today are profiled as an ecological orientated development area. Rehna does all their planning from an ecological view. Reconstruction and building sanitation are also ecologically performed. All landscaping and natural habitats are made from an ecological view point, in collaboration with schools and organizations of special interest. The schools are educating their pupils to be environmentally conscious. Parents are bringing up their children with the environment in mind. Rehna has a large variety of cultural life and an active venture in environmental and cultural tourism. Since 2002, Rehna has been a sister city to Svenljunga. In the fall of that year an agreement was signed that was the starting point of a long term cooperation that will enhance both cities. The goal is to get to know and inform each other, to get groups of the same interests together to exchange experiences and promote meetings, to establish a good relationship between businesses and collaborate in different areas of the same interest.
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ContactsDevelopment manager
Jonas Widerström
+46 325-18 307 Development officer
Fredrik Dahl
+46 325-18 406
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