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Home / Living in Heidelberg / The City / Sister cities / Montpellier / Main focus of cooperation

Don't hesitate to contact us:

Christian Scholl
Office of the Mayor, International Affairs
City Hall, Marktplatz 10
69117 Heidelberg

Don't hesitate to contact us:

Anna Seitz
Office of the Mayor, International Affairs
City Hall, Marktplatz 10
69117 Heidelberg

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Don't hesitate to contact us:

Lisa Güthermann
Office of the Mayor, International Affairs
City Hall, Marktplatz 10
69117 Heidelberg

Main focus of cooperation

There is regular exchange with Montpellier in the following areas, for example:

  • Tourism
  • Economic development
  • Environmental and climate protection
  • Science and urban development
  • Compatibility of work + family
  • Environmental and climate protection and biodiversity

Multilateral projects involving Montpellier, Cambridge, Bautzen and Heidelberg:

  • Transportation (EU project “From EGO-mobility to ECO-mobility”, 1993)
  • Women’s equality (International Women’s Day 1998) 
  • Accessibility (European Year of People with Disabilities 2003)

Youth exchange:

  • Student exchange involving various high schools
  • Musicians’ exchange involving young people from Heidelberg, Cambridge and Montpellier
  • Annual international youth exchange at Pentecost in Heidelberg or Montpellier involving Heidelberg’s association of youth organizations since 1980
  • Reciprocal arrangement of internships in Heidelberg and Montpellier by Montpellier House and Heidelberg House since 1991
  • Annual participation by Montpellier in the International Summer Science School Heidelberg (ISH), an annual exchange program organized by the City of Heidelberg to encourage young scientists in the twin cities since 1999

Exchange between citizens, associations and institutions:

  • Twinning of Heidelberg und Montpellier’s societies of the deaf since 1963
  • Twinning of sports clubs
  • Cooperation between Heidelberg Technology Park and Technopole Montpellier since 1999
  • International sports symposium with Heidelberg’s twin cities organized by Sportkreis Heidelberg and the City of Heidelberg since 1999

Cultural exchange:

  • Culture weeks in Heidelberg and in Montpellier (Heidelberg Week in Montpellier in 1961, Languedoc-Roussillon Week in Heidelberg in 1983, German Culture Week in Montpellier) organized annually by Heidelberg House
  • Concerts and reciprocal guest performances in Heidelberg and Montpellier
  • Annual meetings of young musicians organized by Heidelberg’s association of youth organizations involving young people from Montpellier, Cambridge and Heidelberg since 1962
  • Exhibitions in Heidelberg and Montpellier
  • Annual Mediterranean film festival in January, organized by Montpellier House

Relations between the universities of Heidelberg and Montpellier:

  • Regular exchange between the medical faculties (since 1957), the German departments (since 1957), the law faculties (since 1969) and the Romance studies departments (since 1982)
  • Twinning of Heidelberg und Montpellier’s students’ associations since 1981
  • Occasional activities, such as the study week or the scientific and cultural partnership week involving professors and student
  • Exchange of professors