International cooperation

Co-operation with other cities, regions and countries has become an increasingly important feature in the Municipality´s work.

The Municipality is currently involved in co-operation with roughly 60 partners outside the country. The majority of these are other EU states but also include some far off, exotic countries such as Costa Rica  and South Africa are currently involved in co-operation with the Municipality.

International Strategy

An international strategy has been developed and implemented. The aim of this strategy is to indicate direction, aim and priorities. The strategic development areas for international work are:

• Increased power of attraction and sustainable growth
• Increased knowledge of, and participation in, international issues among citizens
• Increased co-ordination with the business sector and social economy in international issues , in example Reves

More information about the International strategy (pdf, 2 MB)

The REVES organisation

REVES (pdf, 13 kB), which translated into English stands for the European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy, is the only European network that brings together local authorities and other social economy bodies. The purpose of the network is to create stable partnerships and common policies for sustainable local development. In addition, REVES is working towards increased involvement from citizens.

The Brussels Office

The counties of Jämtland and Västernorrland run a joint office in Brussels — known as the  "Mid Sveden Office".
Mid Sweden Office is the region´s vehicle for watching over a number of prioritised political issues determined by the region. Within this frame-work, the office works with influencing the process of decision-making in the EU, ensuring that the region´s interests are taken care of.

Twin Towns

The aim of twin town co-operation is essentially to broaden horizons and support international friendship. It´s a matter of learning to understand other countries through acquiring a close contact with a town/district in another country. Hopefully this contact will help to contribute to peace and friendship. A twin town co-operation is a special relationship between two municipalities. It is all about nurturing a strong desire to share experiences, exchange ideas, become friends, visit each other and co-operate through discussing common interests.

Youth Exchange

Programme A Youth Exchange Programme between Sweden and Costa Rica took place during 2007.Östersund was one of the hosting municipalities. In January a group comprising seven Swedish and seven Costa Rican participants, aged from 17 to 23, travelled to a twin town in Costa Rica for a three months visit before coming to Sweden for a similar visit here.

Sundsvall, Östersund och Trondheim

The three cities of Sundsvall , Östersund and Trondheim (in Norway) have been in co-operation since 1999 and have recently presented a joint strategy for future co-operation. They have chosen to focus on 3 areas:

• Development of the infrastructure and sustainable communications
• Development of adventure/experience enterprises
• Development of skills/competence and knowledge

Based on this strategy work is underway to draw up an action plan for what activities are required to achieve the set targets.

South Africa

Östersund Municipality and Alfredo Region NZO in South Africa have received funding from Salaida (SIDA) to initiate co-operation in the following fields:

• Rural tourism
• Infrastructure
• Environmental sustainable development
• Organisations´ and local development issues/methods

The work of drawing up guidelines has commenced. Representatives from Östersund Municipality visited South Africa during 2007 and representatives from South Africa visited Östersund.