Hamburg and Shanghai have been twin cities since 1986 and have been cooperating closely in a range of different areas ever since. As well as expanding the economic relationships between the two cities, exchanges in the academic and scientific sectors play a key role in the twinning partnership, with technicians and engineers, for example, undergoing initial and further training in the other twin city and school students being given the opportunity to take part in exchange programs.
School twinning program Hamburg - Shanghai at the EXPO 2010
Twin cities
School twinning program
On September 7, the partnership between the two cities became even closer. The local school in Niendorf, Hamburg, and the Jing'an Foreign Language School in Shanghai signed a school twinning partnership with a focus on environmental protection at a special event held on the grounds of EXPO 2010. According to the twinning agreement signed by the two school principals: "The schools pledge that they will, to the best of their ability, promote and expand both their cooperation and their teacher and student exchange programs, particularly in the field of environmental protection".
Eight students and two teachers from the Hamburg school spent several days in Shanghai. On September 6, they visited the Jing'an Foreign Language School and carried out a joint environmental project there.
Learning from each other
The visit to their partner school has made a lasting impression on the Hamburg students and their teachers. Lisa (14) found the school uniforms and school building particularly interesting: "Lessons in a high-rise" was her comment on the school building, which has several more floors than the average German school. Sören (17) was particularly taken with how disciplined the Chinese students were, and is looking forward to a return visit by the partner school soon. Physics teacher Hans-Jürgen Benecke also eagerly anticipates future exchanges with the Shanghai school and hopes that the two schools can learn from each other in other areas as well as environmental conservation.
German Pavilion and Hamburg House
A joint visit to the EXPO 2010 world exhibition was scheduled for the day after the partnership between the schools was officially sealed. The group of international students was given a guided tour of the German Pavilion followed by a visit to the Hamburg House and a reception there. Tim (16) on his day at EXPO 2010: "For me the best thing was being a VIP, there were no queues and the food and drink were good!" Anna (16) summarized the two days a little differently: "I particularly liked the direct contact with the Chinese students. It helped me to learn a lot about their culture."
International exchange
The teachers and students from Hamburg were accompanied by representatives of the Allianz Environmental Foundation. The Munich-based foundation was the driving force behind the school twinning partnership and will continue to offer its support in the years to come. Dieter Stolte, Head of the Board of Trustees of the Allianz Environmental Foundation, gave some background information about the international exchange. "By initiating this school twinning partnership, we aimed to foster a better understanding of other countries and cultures, as well as to promote global environmental protection," he said. And Foundation CEO Lutz Spandau added that "Both schools demonstrate outstanding commitment to environmental issues. The school twinning partnership will allow them to exchange their knowledge and learn from each other as a result."
Niendorf local school
The local neighborhood school in Niendorf has been committed to environmental issues for many years, focusing on waste separation, saving energy and saving water. The school has regularly been awarded the title of "European environmental school" since 1995. In 2010, the school was a prizewinner in the Allianz Environmental Foundation's German Climate Prize competition, securing 2,000 euros in prize money for its "Building a solar-powered catamaran" project.
Jing'an Foreign Language School
The Jing'an Foreign Language School was founded as an environmental school eight years ago and has received numerous awards for its environmental protection activities since then. Four hours of environmental protection lessons a week are on the curriculum, the focus being on reducing paper consumption. The students learn how paper, wood, forests, the climate and environmental protection are interrelated, and the teachers themselves also attend extra lessons on how to save paper.
The school was awarded the Allianz Environmental Foundation 2010 Environmental Award for its environmental activities.
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