International Newsletter No 1 | 2013 Photo: Bernt Hjørnevik, Øygarden kommune The “West Norway Offi ce in Brussels” celebrated ten years of speaking on behalf of Western Norway in the “EU capital” Brussels, this June. Here is current director of the offi ce, Merete Mikkelsen with, from left, former director Gunnar Selvik, chair of the board and Chief Commissioner of Bergen, Monica Mæland and board member since the start and director of the Munch Museum, Stein Olav Henrichsen Welcome to the international newsletter from Hordaland County Council, giving you a short introduction to the county’s international activities over the last 6 months. Although the list is not extensive, we nevertheless hope to give you an idea of the breadth of activities that takes place within our region. The next newsletter will be sent out before Christmas 2013. This spring has again been an active one with many international projects, both big and small. We are very happy to see that so many schools, municipalities, political committees, administrative personnel and others have used the opportunity to go abroad for new knowl- edge and inspiration. 2013 has also turned out to be the year of anniversaries; We celebrate 30 years of coopera- tion with the Orkney Islands, 20 years with Kaunas, Cardiff and Lithuania and our Brussels offi ce is 10 years. Hordaland County Council | International Section | P.O. Box 7900, 5020 Bergen, Norway Editor: Charlotte Lillefjære-Tertnæs | [email protected] International newsletter | No 1/2013 1 11 Our Partner regions Basse-Normandie, France Visit to Hordaland in May to further strengthen Continued cooperation between the schools the cooperation on education Bilateral links have been established between sev- The educational cooperation is one of the strong eral schools in Hordaland and Basse-Normandie. fields in the cooperation between Hordaland and Below are examples of the activities this spring: Basse-Normandie. It includes both the “Hordaland class in Normandie” and bilateral links between Voss gymnas had a visit from two schools in schools where the latter involves both the ex- Basse-Normandie, Lycée Alain Chartier and change of apprentices and groups within the gen- Collège Lycée Expérimental. 35 French pupils and eral studies visiting each other. four teachers spent a week in Norwegian host fami- lies, and besides experiencing family life they at- This March a visit was made to Hordaland with the tended school classes, visited Voss, Bergen and aim of further strengthening this cooperation. Rep- the fjords, and even tried skiing. The program for resentatives came from both the regional admin- this week in April was busy, and our guests really istration and the Academie de Caen as these two enjoyed their stay, especially thanks to the host institutions share the responsibility for the upper families’ great hospitality. More secondary education in Basse-Normandie. The timing of the visit was set to match the “Young En- trepreneurs” fair – and contest for Hordaland, that took place in Grieghallen on Monday the 18th of March. In addition to see how this event was orga- nized, the aim of the trip was to discuss how the cooperation, especially on vocational training, could be expanded. There was also a special meeting at Voss concerning the “Hordaland class” The last person to participate in this visit was the director of the Lycée Professionnel Maritime et Aquacole in Cherbourg who wanted to explore the Students from Bayeux try out cross country skiing at possibilities for cooperation with maritime schools Voss (photo: Sverre Herre) in Hordaland Olsvikåsen videregående has cooperated with Lycée Salvador Allende in Herouville St. Clair since spring 2011 and this march it was 24 French pupils and 2 teachers that spent a week in Bergen. They participated in several classes and had excursions to places of interest (such as the science centre VilVite) before the week was ended with a Farewell Party that included entertainment, good food and dancing! The group meets with apprentices from Knarvik vidaregåande at FRAMO Flatøy International newsletter | No 1/2013 4 Sandsli videregående skole cooperates with Ly- An exchange year in Basse-Normandie cée Hotelier Rabelais in Herouville-St. Clair and By Jorid Skiple, coordinator, “Voss gymnas they use the European Leonardo da Vinci pro- This has been a great second year for Voss gym- gramme for regular exchanges. The exchange is nas and Hordaland County Council: The new ex- focused on food preparation and apprentices from change program where pupils spend a whole year both schools are placed in restaurants or hotel in France, in the region of Basse-Normandie is kitchens. This spring, two apprentices from Sandsli expanding! This year nine pupils have had the op- spent 3 weeks in Bayeux, working, one in restau- portunity to live in France, and with great success! rant Le Pommier and one in Hôtel Lion d’Or. The pupils are hosted in dormitories during the week and in host families in the weekends, a com- bination that allows them to experience both French school and family life. The French hospitali- ty has made our pupils feel very welcome. The schools are focused on the academic success and wellbeing of our pupils, and the host families have really opened their homes, so the pupils have been well integrated. This is a great opportunity to learn the French language, to get to know a new culture and getting your school year validated in your di- ploma. More Bjørgvin videregående has a collaboration with Lycée Sivard de Beaulieu in Carentan. In January, 18 pupils and 2 teachers from Bjørgvin spent one week in Carentan and this May it was time to return the hospitality. The French pupils and teachers visited Bergen and Bjørgvin from May 24th to 31st. The pupils were staying with each other and at- tended each other’s classes – all to enhance the cultural exchange. During the week in Bergen it was time to see many of the sights in beautiful May weather. More Students from Bjørgvin in front of the landmark Mont St. Michel in Normandie International newsletter | No 1/2013 5 20th anniversary marked with signing of new agreement In 1993, Hordaland County Council and the region- visited Hordaland in the period between 20th and al council of Basse-Normandie signed an Agree- 24th of May. The programme started off with a full- ment of Cooperation. This was based on the day visit to the Hardanger region and the village of shared history and the common features of the two Ulvik on Tuesday, where the focus, among other regions, but set out to create common projects things, was on the production of apple products, an within education, culture and economic develop- area where Normandy has long traditions). The ment. 20 years down the line, many exciting pro- official anniversary dinner was held on Tuesday jects have seen the light of day. evening. Wednesday was very much influenced by the official festival opening outdoors with the open- “Flagship projects” within both education and ing show being the modern opera “Marco Polo” in culture the evening. The Thursday was dedicated to paral- The partnership between our two regions is cur- lel, thematic programs within culture, education and rently seeing some important projects within the innovation respectively. fields of culture and education. Within culture the joint exhibition project “Meeting Point wood” is currently largest activity. In this pro- ject museums in both regions have come together to display the traditional and contemporary use of wood. The exhibition opened in Caen in November 2011 and will open in Hordaland within the next year. The other big project is the Nordic culture festival “Les Boréales” which takes place in Normandy every November and where several artists from Horda- land have taken part under the label “Made in Horda- land”. Within Education, the “Hordaland class in Norman- die” is the single biggest project. The number of pupils studying for one academic year in Normandy Annie Anne with Nils Lekve, owner of Hardanger Juice and has grown from four pupils at two schools in the Cider factory in Ulvik first year to 12 pupils at four schools in the third year, starting this fall. In addition to this there are New agreement signed almost ten schools engaged in bilateral projects, On Wednesday the 22nd of May, a new Agreement and this number is increasing every year. of Cooperation was signed by Vice President for International relations Annie Anne and County Effort to bring other partners in the regions Mayor Tom-Christer Nilsen, in the presence of the together French Ambassador to Norway, Jean-Marc Rives. In addition to the projects that the regions initiate This agreement envisions an active cooperation themselves, part of the effort is also to create new within the fields of a) economic development, re- links between different institutions and organisa- search and innovation, b)education and vocational tions in the two regions. This can be museums, training and c)culture and cultural heritage. Marine festivals and other cultural institutions. It can be and maritime questions will be a cross cutting incubators, innovation structures or private compa- theme. An action plan outlining the activities for nies. Or it can be schools, universities or research 2013-15 was signed already in November 2012. institutions. The regions’ role in this is to create the opportunities for similar actors to meet and to ex- plore possible collaborations. 20 years of collaboration celebrated Although the original agreement was signed in November 1993 the 20th anniversary celebrations were scheduled for May 2013 in order to coincide with the always spectacular opening of the Bergen International Festival. A delegation from Basse- Normandie, headed by Vice President for Interna- tional relations Annie Anne and Vice President for Culture and Cultural heritage Pascale Cauchy, International newsletter | No 1/2013 6 excellent programs in line with the themes specified Cardiff, in our application.