Hauptnavigation

Fourth round table of German-Palestinian municipal partnerships

Changing perspectives enrich municipal partnership work

Who doesn’t know this situation? You are stuck in the routines of your partnership work and only concentrate on what is next on your to-do-list. The participants of the fourth round table of German-Palestinian municipal partnerships took a break from their daily routines and experienced how enriching it is to change perspectives for a moment and to visualise the goals of the partnerships.

Six participants stand together in front of a poster and look at the collected results.
Participants exchanging ideas at the topic table 'Municipal Partnership - Everyone is on Board'. Photo: Dirk Rose

Bonn, 12 to 13 September 2022. The round table was themed ‘Changing Perspectives’ and the 17 participants from German municipalities, local politics and civil society organisations noted how many challenges the German and Palestinian municipalities share. They are all confronted with the challenges of the energy transition, have to rethink mobility, make their municipal services more sustainable and strengthen social cohesion. Despite all the differences between Germany and the Palestinian Territories, there is much to learn from each other, the participants agreed.

Creativity in a role play

For a short time, the participants changed their perspectives completely and slipped into a different role. They became the mayor of the fictitious Palestinian municipality ‘Al Salam” or the chairperson of the partnership association of ‘Amselfeld”. They played a typical situation of work: The Palestinian municipality wants to quickly implement a renewable energy project. The German municipality, on the other hand, struggles with staff shortages, remembers the difficult implementation of the last partnership project and curbs expectations.

Two participants of the 4th Round Table sit at a table and talk. The mood is relaxed; both are laughing.
Exchange in a relaxed atmosphere at the fourth round table. Photo: Dirk Rose

After the role-play, many participants said that they now had a better understanding of the other stakeholders involved in the partnership. One participant remarked: ‘It was a little frustrating because the German side didn't address our concerns as we had hoped.’ Another added with regard to designing future meetings: ‘It was good to summarise the outcome of the conversation at the end. That way, everyone had the same understanding of what we had agreed on and we eliminated misunderstandings about how to proceed.’

Visions for the partnership work – and ways to get there

In the second part of the event, the participants developed visions of what a perfect municipal partnership with the Palestinian Territories could look like:

  • They envisioned a cooperation between the municipality and civil society with little bureaucracy, great mutual appreciation, equal division of labour and with civil society organisations also being active in the Palestinian Territories.
  • Under the motto ‘All on board’ many different actors within the municipality would be involved in the partnerships and young people in particular would be engaged. Travel to the partner community would keep those involved motivated in the long term.
  • Respect, appreciation, transparency and openness would be the basis for working at eye level and in an ideal world, all participants share responsibility in planning, implementing and following up on projects.

To ensure that these visions do not remain utopian dreams, the participants developed strategies for translating their ideas into practice. For example, they proposed potential analyses to find out in which areas the partners could learn from each other on equal footing. In addition, job shadowing should promote joint learning. In order to involve more people in the partnerships, they came up with the idea of a Palestine Day in the municipalities, where the population could get to know the Palestinian territories culturally and culinarily, without a political focus on the unresolved Middle East conflict.

Outlook for the coming years

Finally, the participants addressed the near future together with the project team. The project is expected to enter a new phase in 2024, which will also open up new perspectives on and for the municipal partnerships. It is planned to place the partnerships on a broader actor basis, to create more synergies with other projects, and to further promote local encounters as boosters for the partnership work. In 2023 the sixth partnership conference of the German-Palestinian municipal partnerships is going to take place in the Palestinian Territories. The team has already started to plan this event and invited the municipalities to contribute their ideas for the programme design.

Importance of municipal cooperation

Speaking from Berlin, Anne Bolling from the department ‘Countries and Municipalities” at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) emphasized the central role of municipalities in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. She stressed that numerous partnership projects with German partners have been able to achieve concrete improvements on the ground in recent years. The municipal level is of particular importance in the Palestinian Territories. German-Palestinian municipal cooperation also makes an important contribution to understanding in the region.

Impressions of the Round Table

The participants of the 4th Round Table are standing together outside for a group photo, in the background there is the Rhine and parts of the Siebengebirge. All participants look very cheerful and a pleasant mood is noticeable.
The participants are sitting in a horseshoe shape in a large conference hall and focussing on the screen on which a video about the round table in the Palestinian territories is shown.
Three participants of the fourth round table are standing at a bar table and talking. One participant is looking very concentrated and listening attentively. The other two participants are seen from behind.
Four participants sit in a circle and listen attentively to a participant; one laughs. The atmosphere is relaxed.
Seven participants sit at a table. Of these, five participants are involved in a conversation, two participants are observing from a distance. All are listening intently to one participant.
Three participants sit at a table and discuss the results. One participant is taking notes and another is presenting the results. She looks focused and concentrated.
Participants in a group label a poster with the caption: "Away with bureaucracy" and collect ideas for improving cooperation between civil societies and municipalities.
Six participants sit at a table and exchange ideas they have collected. One participant explains an idea in more detail, the rest of the participants listen with attention and interest.
Six participants stand together in front of a poster and have a look at the collected results.
The participants of the 4th Round Table are standing together outside for a group photo, in the background there is the Rhine and parts of the Siebengebirge. All participants look very cheerful and a pleasant mood is noticeable.

Group photo of the participants of the Round Table in front of the picturesque scenery of the Siebengebirge in Bonn. All Photos: Dirk Rose

The participants are sitting in a horseshoe shape in a large conference hall and focussing on the screen on which a video about the round table in the Palestinian territories is shown.

Video impressions of the round table in the Palestinian territories.

Three participants of the fourth round table are standing at a bar table and talking. One participant is looking very concentrated and listening attentively. The other two participants are seen from behind.

The coffee breaks were also used for active exchanges.

Four participants sit in a circle and listen attentively to a participant; one laughs. The atmosphere is relaxed.

Before the role-play, the "Palestinians" and the "Germans" received background information in order to empathize the situation.

Seven participants sit at a table. Of these, five participants are involved in a conversation, two participants are observing from a distance. All are listening intently to one participant.

The meeting between the fictional communities of "Amselfeld" and "Al Salam" required a delicate touch.

Three participants sit at a table and discuss the results. One participant is taking notes and another is presenting the results. She looks focused and concentrated.

During the evaluation of the role-play, the different perspectives once again came to the fore.

Participants in a group label a poster with the caption: "Away with bureaucracy" and collect ideas for improving cooperation between civil societies and municipalities.

Less bureaucracy and more open communication could bring municipalities and civil society closer together, according to a conclusion from the "Municipality and Civil Society - Hand in Hand" topic table.

Six participants sit at a table and exchange ideas they have collected. One participant explains an idea in more detail, the rest of the participants listen with attention and interest.

Civil society and municipal representatives shared ideas for improving collaboration in the spirit of partnership.

Six participants stand together in front of a poster and have a look at the collected results.

At the "Municipal Partnership - Everyone's on Board" theme table, valuable ways of integrating citizens of all ages, local politicians and different departments in the administration were collected and further developed.

Back