Orebro

Örebro is one of the oldest Swedish cities, which was an important trade center yet in the 13th century. Around the castle, which was built in the thirteenth century on one of the islands on the river, seven bridges were built that gave rise to the new city. Due to its geographical location, the city had good development prospects - a small river Svartån flows through the city, which flows into Lake Hjälmaren, which in the Middle Ages was an ideal trade route.

The city was of great importance in the history of Sweden, because E. Engelbrektsson, the leader of the anti-Danish uprising of 1434 resided here. What's more, during the sessions of the Swedish Parliament, which took place here several times, it was adopted, among others the rule of inheritance of the Swedish throne (1540) and Jean Bernardotte, later reigning as Charles XIV John (1810), was elected as the successor to the Swedish throne.

Örebro is a city of commerce, although it remained small until the second half of the 19th century, when its importance increased due to the National Footwear Industry.

Today, the city is a center of the machinery, metal, chemical, electrotechnical, footwear, leather, as well as clothing and paper industries. It is also an important academic and scientific center. Thanks to its central location, it is an important road and rail junction connecting east with west and north with south.

Örebro captivates with its atmosphere created by modern buildings, harmonizing with monuments, numerous parks and crowded streets, stylish cafes and bars. The most popular and impressive monuments in Örebro are:

• Örebro Castle from the 13th century with a built-in clock tower to defend the bridge from the Svartån River. The castle has been thoroughly restored. It is located in the city center.
• The old part of the city - Wadköping - is located on the banks of the Svartån River. In Wadköping there are many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, in which museums and galleries are located.
• The water tower in Örebro, called Svampen ("mushroom"), is a popular viewing spot. It was designed by architect Sune Lindström and opened in May 1958, and in 2005 entered into the register of monuments.

Just a few kilometers from the city center lies Lake Hjälmaren. On the banks of the river Svartån flowing into it, there are picturesque nature reserves, Naturens Hus and Kilsbergen with marked hiking trails, bicycle paths and charming cafes where you can relax after an active day. The Gustavsvik holiday complex ("Lost City") is also an interesting place to spend time actively with family and friends. It is an amusement park with many attractions for big and small.

Örebro is one of the most dynamically developing academic centers in Sweden. The local university educates about 16 thousand. students and employs approximately 1,200 employees. Within the university there are faculties of Hotel Management, Culinary Arts and Nutrition; Health and Medical Sciences; Humanities, Pedagogy and Social Sciences; Law, Psychology and Social Work; Theater and Art Music; Science and Technology and the Swedish Business School. Studies are also conducted in English.

Website of the University of Örebro: https://www.oru.se/english/

Our city hosted representatives of Łódź's twin cities at the Partner Cities Forum. Mayors and officials of friendly cities met at conferences devoted to the management and promotion of cities.

The following guests were present at the 1st Partner Cities Forum: Russia (mayor of Ivanovo - Wieczesław Swerczkow), Germany (mayor of Stuttgart Martin Schairer), Belarus (delegation of the Association of Entrepreneurs-Scientists ABC from Minsk), Ukraine (representatives of Lviv and the first deputy of the mayor of Odessa, Sergey Chernenko), France (delegations from Lyon and Lille), the Swedish city of Orebro (Lars Molina, chairman of the Orebro City Council), but also from distant Georgia (Zakaria Darchiashvili, mayor Rustawi) and Chinese Tianjin (Wang Zhiming, vice-general secretary of Tianjin City Council).

In addition to mayors and their deputies, Łódź was also visited by officials responsible for foreign relations, promotion, education, municipal investments, sport and culture. The main point of the congress was the conference on city management and its promotion. The purpose of the meeting was to create a platform for the exchange of information and experience in these fields, and to Promotion of their activities. Representatives of the partner cities also took part in workshops within the framework of the project 'Europe for Citizens'.

A special presentation of Łódź in 3D technology was prepared exclusively for this meeting, and the Office of Promotion, Tourism and International Cooperation presented the project "Łódź - City of Creative Industries". During the workshop the presentation "Large infrastructure projects as the driving force of the economy" was also presented. It shows, among others Łódź projects for the construction of EC1 and the New Center of Łódź, which are to revive the economic and social area of 90 hectares of the city center and ART-Incubator, bringing creative industries into practice. During the visit of the partner cities of Łódź, foreign guests did not lack the opportunity to take part in the most important event of our city in that period, namely the gala "ReAct" opening the autumn Fashion Week Fashion Philosophy Poland in 2011 and at the first Łódź show by the famous designer Custo Barcelona.

Video coverage from the Forum: https://youtu.be/_STaMzgcPg4

As part of the partnership and thanks to the hospitality of the City of Łódź Office, the Łódź Bicycle Group "betterrowerem.pl" visited Örebro. The visit took place as part of the "Tour the Balic Sea 2010" expedition around the Baltic Sea Basin.

The "Tour the Balic Sea 2010" expedition covered 7 European Union countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Cyclists covered a distance of 4700 km within 45 days. The purpose of the expedition, in addition to representing the Homeland and promoting the hometown of Łódź, was discovering the countries of the Baltic Sea basin, promoting an active lifestyle and cycling tourism.

Elianor Ljungkvist from Örebro was a guest of the 3rd International Dance Festival organized by the IGO-ART Impression Agency and the City of Łódź Office. The dancer won first place in the Golden Boat competition in the solo category and received a check for PLN 1,000 founded by the Mayor of the City of Łódź. The artist also participated in dance workshops with the participation of Michał Pirog, Natalia Madejczyk, Michał Guga-Seth. Elianor Ljungkvist had the opportunity to visit Łódź and exchange experiences with peers from Poland and 11 other partner cities of Łódź.