VISIT OF A BULGARIAN DELEGATIONOn 8-10.01.2012 Gdynia was visited by a Bulgarian delegation.The visit aimed at presenting solutions considering public transport in our city. Study visit was a part of the project which involves 7 biggest Bulgarian cities - Pleven, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Varna, Burgas, Sofia and its goal is to develop integrated urban transport. Among other objectives are raising efficiency of public transport, development of transportation system along with restricting the energy consumption, implementing environment friendly vehicles, popularization of this way of travelling among citizens and implementing automated system of traffic control and management. The group of visitors consisted of deputy mayors of the cities as well as specialists, coordinators and managers of projects concerning integrated public transport in municipalities. During the visit guests took part in the meeting with the Deputy Mayor of Gdynia Mr Marek Stępa and got acquainted with Gdynia's main investments and projects such as TRISTAR, CIVITAS DYN@MO, SEGMENT and TROLLEY. Moreover, the delegation participated in study visits and meetings in the Public Transport Authority, Bus Transport Company, Trolleybus Transport Company and Public Transport Company. They also learnt about the history of the city during a guided tour in Gdynia City Museum.21st TWIN CITIES SPORT COMPETITION21st Twin Cities Sport Competition was held between 9 and 11 May 2013. It was participated by youth from the following partner cities of Gdynia: Kaliningrad (Russian Federation), Karlskrona (Sweden), Kiel (Germany), Klaipeda (Lithuania), Liepaja (Latvia) and their peers from Gdynia. Over 300 sportsmen took part in the competition organised in 2013. There were tournaments in football for boys, basketball for girls, table tennis for boys and girls, as well as swimming for boys and girls. The competition took place in the facilities of Gdynia Sports Centre (GOSiR) and also at the swimming-pool of school complex No. 7 in Gdynia. The winner of the general classification was Gdynia, other cities were ranked in the following order: Liepaja, Karlskrona, Klaipeda, Kaliningrad and Kiel.RESULTS OF THE COMPETITION UNDER THE NAME "FINLAND - THE LAND OF THOUSAND LAKES"The results of the competition under the name "Finland - the land of thousand lakes", organised by the Mayor of the City of Gdynia, were announced on 14 May 2013 in the Gdynia City Council room. The competition was sponsored by the Embassy of Finland in Warsaw. The Embassy founded the main prizes for winners and consolation prizes for all participants. The Ambassador of Finland was represented by Ms. Hanna-Leena Lampi, First Secretary of the Embassy. The winner of the art contest for Gdynia primary schools students from fourth-sixth grade was Daria Symonowicz from primary school No. 34. As part of the prize, Daria bore a title of a "Small Ambassador" during one-day visit to the Embassy of Finland in Warsaw. The girl met the Finnish Ambassador Jari Vilen. Moreover, she also had a chance to visit the Polish Sejm and Senate, the Copernicus Science Centre and the Warsaw Zoo. Book prizes in the art contest were granted to: Krzysztof Skocki from primary school No. 21 (2nd place winner) and Kinga Czapla from primary school No. 46 (3rd place winner). The winner of the contest of knowledge about Finland, addressed to students of lower secondary schools, age 14¬-16, was Alicja Szkolnik from lower secondary school No. 23. First place prize is a 3-day trip to Finland. Book prizes in the knowledge contest were awarded to: Magdalena Engler from lower secondary school No.12 (2nd place winner) and Adam Rytel from lower secondary school No. 24 (3rd place winner).KIELER WOCHE 2013During the Kiel Week - Kieler Woche, held between 21 and 30 June 2013 in Kiel, the city of Gdynia presented its offer. "Kieler Woche" is an event combining great international regattas with social and cultural events. It is one of the biggest summer festivals in Northern Europe, gathering about 3.5 million tourists every year. Part of "Kieler Woche" is the International Market giving an opportunity for international presentations from all over the world. Gdynia has participated in this event since 1997. In June 2013, our city displayed its stand on the International Market with promotion and tourism materials regarding Gdynia and the Pomeranian Voivodeship as well as products made of amber.As usual, "Kieler Woche" event was accompanied by the "International Cities Forum". The discussion held during the Forum regarded the subject of "The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implementation in Kiel and Twin Cities". Official delegation from Gdynia attended the Forum. The German-Polish Society in Kiel traditionally organised an integration meeting for Polish guests taking part in "Kieler Woche". Gdynia's representative participated also in the Polish Sailing Evening organised by Polish Association Polskie Stowarzyszenie Szkolne SAWA T.z.TURKISH MILITARY ORCHESTRA "MEHTERAN" PARADETurkish orchestra "Mehteran" performed in Gdynia on 4 September 2013. The Orchestra represents the oldest type of military marching orchestras in the world. The concert was organised within the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland. Residents of Gdynia had a chance to become familiar with Turkish music tradition. Members of the orchestra, wearing colourful clothes, started the music parade from President's Quay, marching through Borchardta Street and Armii Krajowej Street. The march ended at Grunwaldzki Square where the orchestra gave a unique and very spectacular concert. Owing to the instruments used, such as kettledrums, a bass drum, cymbals, an oboe, a trumpet and a cevgen (a kind of stick bearing small concealed bells), the orchestra sounded great.On 10 October 2013, Mexican opera singers performed a concert in tribute to Giuseppe Verdi at the Concert Hall of the Port of Gdynia Authority S.A. The concert was organised by the City Hall of Gdynia in cooperation with the Embassy of Mexico in Warsaw. The stage was taken by José Luis Ordóñez, tenor, Encarnación Vázquez, mezzo-soprano and Carlos Sánchez, baritone, to the accompaniment of a pianist Józef Olechowski. The artists enjoy a well-deserved international reputation, they perform on stages in their country as well as around the world. Gdynia concert repertoire included works by Giuseppe Verdi - arias from Trubadur and Don Carlo operas and works of Mexican composers, among others, Over the waves (Juventino Rosas), Mexico lindo y querido (Jesus Monge), Cielito lindo (Quirino Mendoza) and Dime que si (Alfonso Esparza Oteo). Countless spectators appreciated especially works such as: Granada (Agustín Lara) and the famous Besame mucho (Consuelo Velazquez) performed by Carlos SánchezINTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "ACCESSIBLE CITIES" IN GDYNIABetween 21 and 22 May 2013, the "Accessible Cities" conference was held in Gdynia. It was participated by representatives of European cities selected by the European Commission under the Access City Award 2013 competition - European award for cities accessible to people with disabilities and older people. The following persons made presentations on accessibility standards applied in their cities: Barbara Berninger and Gerd Grenner from Berlin, Catherine Choquet and Valérie Alassauniere from Nantes, Stéphane Gemmani from Grenoble, Riitta-Leena Karlsson and Catarina Nilsson from Stockholm, Mireia Curto and Ferran Urgell from Barcelona, Carme Labòria and Antoni Serra Monté from Terrassa, Tanja Hodnik and Alenka Zagar from Ljubljana and also Jaana Solasvuo and Heikki Haulisto from Turku. It is worth mentioning that Gdynia was the only representative of Central Eastern Europe countries, distinguished in that edition of the Access City Award. Special guest of the conference was a representative of the European Commission, Johan Geuzendam (Head of Unit, Rights of Persons with Disabilities, DG JUST), who announced it was already possible to apply for the next edition of the competition. Applications sent by cities of at least 50,000 residents will be accepted until 10 September 2013.OFFICIALDELEGATION OF HAIKOU IN GDYNIAOn 10 June 2013, representatives of Gdynia and Chinese Haikou signed a sister cities cooperation agreement for an unspecified period of time. It is a next step towards the development of relations between the two cities. In 2006, Gdynia and Haikou signed friendship cities cooperation agreement for a specified period of time. Today's agreement will contribute to tightening relations within the area of economy, science, technology, culture, education, tourism, spatial planning, environmental protection and sport. Haikou is a political, economic and cultural centre of Hainan island and at the same time the capital city of province under the same name. Located on the Southern coast of Qiongzhou Strait, the city is currently inhabited by over 2 million people. The basic branches of economy cover maritime, electronic, food and textile industry. Haikou is also a vibrant tourism centre.VISIT OF JAPANESE MILITARY VESSELSBetween 7 and 10 August 2013, Gdynia was visited by three Japanese military vessels: "Kashima", "Shirayuki" and "Isoyuki". It was the first visit of Japanese navy to the Polish port. Altogether the three vessels brought 700 seamen to Gdynia. Young officers undergo seagoing service in different water regions. During the voyage, the vessels are to visit ports of 18 countries in the world, covering a distance of 30 thousand nautical miles.The biggest attraction of the stay of Japanese guests in Gdynia was undoubtedly the possibility of visiting "Shirayuki" vessel. The visitors were greeted with Polish "dzień dobry" spoken by the captain accompanied by the crew members. One could take a photo wearing a Japanese Navy hat, together with a seaman and a Japanese flag. On Thursday, the audience gathered at Pomorskie Quay had a unique opportunity to listen to one-hour concert performed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force orchestra. MEXICAN TALL SHIP CUAUHTEMOC IN GDYNIAOn 17 August 2013, one of the most recognisable units of the type in the world - Cuauhtemoc - moored at Pomorskie Quay in Gdynia. The total length of the ship is 90.5 m, and its numerous crew members - 260 persons - are known for spectacular yard parades when entering and leaving a port. Cuauhtemoc, whose last visit to Gdynia took place 10 years ago, stayed in the city for 5 days. During that time the ship was visited by almost 19 thousand people, which proves great popularity of the unit and its crew among the residents of Gdynia as well as tourists staying at that time in the city. Many spectators gathered also to see a friendly basketball match played on 21 August opposite Gdynia Aquarium between the team of Mexican seamen and representatives of the city of Gdynia headed by Wojciech Szczurek.GDYNIA BUSINESS WEEK 2013The fifth edition of summer workshops on entrepreneurship, known as Gdynia Business Week, took place between 18 and 23 August. Students of Gdynia secondary schools could again participate in a 6-day course conducted by instructors from the United States, owing to which they had an opportunity to broaden their knowledge within the fields of economy and marketing, and - what is equally important - improve their command of English. Since 2012, the programme has been addressed also to the alumni from previous editions of the programme, within a dedicated advance course.Gdynia Business Week programme is organised by the City Hall of Gdynia and the organiser of Business Week programmes in the United States - Foundation for Private Enterprise Education. Moreover, the project is supported by international corporations such as: Boeing, Microsoft and Thomson Reuters. Opublikowano: 22.01.2013 00:00 Autor: Monika Pawlińska (monika.pawlinska@gdynia.pl)