At their meeting in Milan on 17 September 2020, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Italian President Sergio Mattarella announced their intention to award a prize in recognition of the municipal partnership between Germany and Italy. The application documents have recently become available.

Applications are open to German and Italian municipalities that, at the time of application, are linked by a municipal or German-Italian partnership in the sense of a pre-existing cooperative partnership, preferably one that has been in place for a number of years. Awards will be presented to projects in the categories of culture, youth and civic engagement, as well as innovation and social cohesion. A total of four prizes will be awarded, two of which to small and medium-sized municipalities (up to 40,000 inhabitants) and two to larger municipalities (40,000 inhabitants or more). The prize is endowed with a total of 200,000 euro and is funded equally by the Italian and German Governments.

More than 400 municipal partnerships currently form the core of bilateral cooperation between Germany and Italy and are an indispensable component of a living Europe of civil societies.

Application deadline is 31.05.2021

More information about the exact application conditions: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen/italien-node/prize-municipal-partnership/2448050