events in 2008

Next year Gdynia will be visited for the fourth time by the most beautiful sailing ships which will take part in the Baltic edition of The Tall Ships’ Races 2009, originating from The Cutty Sark Tall Ships’ Races. From 2nd to 5th of July 2009, being the first port in the race, Gdynia will host competing ships and their young crews that will then sail to Sankt Petersburg (Russia), Turku (Finland) and Klaipeda (Lithuania).  

As a 2009 host port, Gdynia closely cooperates with the event organisers, namely Sail Training International (STI). Consequently, on 22-24 January 2008 Gdynia was inspected by the representatives of STI management. The visit aimed at the evaluation of our city’s preparation for the next year’s races. All the organisational matters were discussed thoroughly during several meetings, and the Sail Training International representatives highly assessed the city’s preparation for this sailing event.

OFFICIAL VISIT OF KOTKA REPRESENTATIVES TO GDYNIA

On 21-23 April 2008 Gdynia was visited by the official delegation from Kotka (Finland), with the Deputy Mayor of Kotka being the head of the delegation. The visit coincided with the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the twinning link between Gdynia and Kotka. During their stay the Finnish guests met with the Gdynia authorities and signed a joint cooperation programme for the years 2008-2010, including, among others, initiatives in the field of education, culture, sport, disability policy, tourism, economy and environmental protection. Moreover, during their visit to Gdynia the Finnish guests learnt about the economic and tourist potential of our city, as well as participated in study visits to the Gdynia City Museum, Pomeranian Science and Technology Park, Science Centre "Experyment" as well as the Port of Gdynia and Gdynia Aquarium.

16th GDYNIA TWIN CITIES SPORTING COMPETITION

On 7-10 May 2008 the Twin Cities Sporting Competition were organised in our city for the 16th time. This year’s edition, apart from Gdynia’s team, was attended by young sportsmen form Karlskrona (Sweden), Kaliningrad (Russia), Kiel (Germany), Klaipeda (Lithuania), Liepaja (Latvia) and  Syndicat Mixte de la Côte d' Opale (France) who competed against each other in the following sports: football (boys), handball (girls), judo (boys and girls) and swimming (boys and girls). All the participants took part in the European Race held on the last day of the Sporting Competition. Gdynia won in the general classification of this event.

OPENING OF GDYNIA TWIN CITIES INFORMATION POINT

The Gdynia Twin Cities Information Point (located at the Gdynia City Library, 17 Bpa. Dominica Street) was officially opened on 8 May 2008. Opened every day, apart from Wednesday, the Point offers informative literature about Gdynia’s twin cities as well as countries the cities are located in. All the materials were collected thanks to the support of twin cities and relevant embassies in Poland. Moreover, the Point is equipped with computers which allow for the use of Internet resources. Additionally, the Point is located within the WI-FI area.

KALININGRAD JOURNALISTS VISITING GDYNIA

On 4-5th June 2008 Gdynia hosted a group of journalists from Kaliningrad – our twin city in Russia. They were the representatives of Russian Radio Majak, Kaliningrad newspaper Prawda and Kaskad television. The guests were accompanied by the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Kaliningrad.

The programme of the visit was divided into two parts – one concerning the City’s tourist offer, the other – its economy and innovation. The invited journalists attended study visits to the Baltic Tourist Information Point as well as they personally visited the most interesting sights of the City – Gdynia City Museum, Dar Pomorza, Gdynia Marina. Gdynia Aquarium with its manifold tropical specimen made the biggest impression on them. The guests highlighted didactical functions of the facility as well as its tourist value.

On the second day of the visit Deputy Mayor Mr Bogusław Stasiak and Heads of Gdynia City Hall departments presented City’s economic potential and the influence of European funds on the development of transport and infrastructure in Gdynia. The journalists also took part in the ceremonial opening of Janek Wiśniewski Street.

The guests were impressed with study visits to the Pomeranian Science & Technology Park and Science Centre ‘Experyment’. They appreciated the City’s values, such as large forestation, recreational areas and friendly, ecological transport – including the water tram.

THE VISIT OF KRISTIANSAND REPRESENTATIVES

On 12-13th June 2008 Gdynia hosted a delegation from its Norwegian twin city - Kristiansand. The visit aimed at exchanging experience concerning social welfare matters. During Norwegians’ stay in Poland, workshops were organised in Gdynia Municipal Social Welfare Centre. Matters discussed concerned the rules of functioning, aims and action plan of the Commission on Health and Social Affairs of the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC). A Kristiansand representative has recently become the new leader of the Commission, while Gdynia co-chairs it. The next Commission’s meeting, which is also to take place in Gdynia, has been scheduled for autumn this year.

KLAIPEDA REPRESENTATIVES VISITNG GDYNIA

On 15-18th June 2008 a delegation from the twin city of Klaipeda visited Gdynia. The delegation consisted of representatives from the following departments: economy and strategy, investments and economic policy as well as foreign relations and tourism of Klaipeda City Hall. The guests were mainly interested in Gdynia’s projects co-financed from European funds, as well as our City’s preparation to ‘The Tall Ships’ Races 2009’. Klaipeda, similarly to Gdynia, is one of the host ports of the next year’s edition of this event.

During their stay in Gdynia, the guests met with employees from the Department of Foreign Relations, European Integration, as well as Economic Policy and Real Estate. Apart from that, they met representatives of the City Tourist Information, as well as the Coordinator of the Organisational Committee of  ‘The Tall Ships’ Races 2009’. The delegation took part in study visits to the Pomeranian Science & Technology Park, Science Centre “Experyment”, Baltic Tourist Information Point, Naval Academy, the Gdynia City Museum, Gdynia marina and a sports arena (still under construction).

KIELER WOCHE 2008

Like every year, Gdynia took part in ‘Kieler Woche’ (Kiel Week), an international outdoor event joining sailing races with manifold cultural and sport events. This year’s, 126th ‘Kieler Woche’, took place on 20-29th June 2008, and was opened by Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany.

The ‘31st International Market’ was organised as a part of this event. Various countries from all over the world presented their cuisine, art craft, as well as promotional materials on their stands. Gdynia’s stand presented promotional and informational materials from our City and Pomorskie Voivodeship, as well as amberwork. Apart form Gdynia’s stand, Poland was represented by the Polish Tourist Organisation and Polish catering stands. In the artistic area our country was represented by a dancing group ‘Caro Dance’.

‘Kieler Woche’ was accompanied by ‘International City Forum’ which this year was devoted to climate changes. The official Gdynia delegation took part in the Forum. Also during ‘Kieler Woche’ the Kiel German-Polish Association organised a meeting attended by the Association’s members, Kiel representatives, guests from Gdynia, as well as other invited people. This year’s meeting was held onboard a Polish tallship ‘Fryderyk Chopin’.

COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN GDYNIA AND KUNDA

The ceremony of signing the following cooperation agreement between Gdynia and Kunda (Estonia) was held on 12th July 2008. The first agreement was signed in 2001, which concluded the process of forming, the so-called, Baltic Ring of Gdynia Twin Cities which is a network of cities cooperating with Gdynia. It consists of one city from each country from the Baltic Sea area. The importance and role of the Ring in developing city’s foreign relations were appreciated by i.e  the Council of Europe and were taken into account while granting Gdynia the Europe Prize.

Stanisław Szwabski, the Chairman of Gdynia City Council, signed the agreement on behalf of Gdynia, while the Estonian part was represented by Kunda Mayor – Allar Aron. The celebration was held in Kunda and coincided with ‘Friendship Fair’, an event commemorating 700-year tradition of trading exchange between the citizens of Estonian coast and Finish islands. It is at the same time a very important cultural event, attended by twin cities from Finland, Poland, Sweden and Hungary.

Apart from Gdynia’s official delegation, the festival was attended by the Early Music Ensemble ‘Euterpe’ from the Youth Club in Gdynia whose performance strongly appealed to the audience.

OFFICIAL VISIT OF THE SAILING SHIP “CAPITAN MIRANDA” TO GDYNIA

On 20-24 August 2008 the tall ship of the Uruguayan Navy „Capitan Miranda” visited Gdynia. The tall ship was a guest of the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of establishing the Polish Navy. The stay of “Capitan Miranda” in Gdynia announced the next year’s “Tall Ship’s Races” (formerly known as the “Cutty Sark Tall Ships’ Races”) that will be organized in our city on 2-5 July 2009.

The name of the Uruguayan tall ship, launched in 1930 in Spain, commemorates a famous hydrographer, captain Francisco Miranda (1868-1925), who served as a professor of the Naval Academy in Montevideo. At the beginning “Capitan Miranda” was a hydrographic ship, but in 1978 she got schooner rigging and became a training ship. For many years the ship has been a friend to its Polish counterpart – Ship of the Polish Republic “Iskra”. Crews of both ships know each other very well. They took part in manifold sailing events together, among others in “The Tall Ships’ Races”.

The crew consisting of 91 people has embarked on a long, seven-month voyage that started already on 2 April and will end on 12 November. In Gdynia the ship was moored at the Pomerania Wharf. It was welcomed by the Naval Band Of Honour. During the stay of the tall ship in Gdynia the crew had an opportunity to get to know the tourist values of our city and the neighborhood. The representatives of the Command paid an official visit to Gdynia authorities. The crew visited the Command of the Navy as well as the Naval Academy and met the sailors of the Third Flotilla of Ships in Gdynia. Apart from that the representatives of Polish and Uruguayan sailors played a fascinating football match that ended in a draw.

The tall ship “Capitan Miranda” was available to visiting Gdynia citizens and tourists for three days.


VISIT OF POLICE DELEGATION FROM SEATTLE TO GDYNIA

On 12th September 2008 a delegation of police officers from Seattle (USA), the sister city of Gdynia, paid a visit to our city. The police officers visited the Police Headquarters in Gdynia where they learned about the functioning of Gdynia police. Furthermore, during the visit to the Headquarters, the scale of crime in Gdynia and its types were presented as well as the methods for countering it. It turned out that the situation in Seattle and in Gdynia looks similar with both cities being quite safe and having similar methods for combating crime. The guests were really impresses by the police city monitoring system already in operation in the city as well as with the plans for its development.

VISIT OF OFFICIAL KARLSKRONA DELEGATION

On 29th September 2008 an official delegation from Karlskrona, consisting of 4 delegates and headed by the Mayor of the City visited Gdynia. The visit was aimed at discussing the programme of cooperation between sister cities of Gdynia and Karlskrona for the coming years. During their stay in Gdynia the representatives of Karlskrona met with the city authorities. They also participated in study visits to Fabas Polska publishing company, being a daughter company of Förlags AB Albinsson&Sjöberg, the biggest automotive publisher in Scandinavia with its seat in Karlskrona, as well as to the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park. The guests also visited the Museum of the City of Gdynia.

UKRAINIAN DELEGATIONS IN GDYNIA

In 2008, just as last year, Gdynia welcomed delegations from Ukraine as a part of the project „Expert support for the preparation of legal and social background for administrative and territorial reform in Ukraine” organized jointly with the Association East European Democratic Center from Warsaw. Our city was visited by three groups, in September, October and November. They consisted of representatives of province, district and city governments, employees of the Agency of Regional Development, representatives of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, as well as research workers. They represented the following provinces: Kharkiv, Kiev, Luhansk, Odessa, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Volyn and Zhytomyr.

The aim of their visits was to get to know the functioning rules of units of territorial self- government in Poland as well as to get acquainted with the experiences in entrepreneurship support and carrying out investments co-financed by the European Union. The guests were also interested in initiatives concerning the support for elderly and disabled people as well as job seekers. The information concerning this subject was given during numerous meetings in Gdynia City Hall, including Gdynia NGO Center. The guests had an opportunity to take part in City Council Session. They participated in study visits to Gdynia institutions as well - Economic Foundation, Senior Activity Center, Gdynia Innovation Center, Integration Center and Gdynia City Museum.