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City twinning – an effort to build a peaceful world
The twinning movement’s aims of solidarity, support and reconciliation remain as valuable as ever, says TONY CONWAY
A view of The Motherland Calls, at dusk the centre of the monument-ensemble 'Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad' on Mamayev Kurgan, in Volgograd, in 2018 (left). Rising From Adversity, an installation of 100 trees with musical composition set in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, part of Coventry UK City of Culture's signature event on Saturday June 5, 2021 (right).

THE City Twinning Movement was really started after the second world war. Other cities had twinned before, but the movement was galvanised by the demand for peace made by ordinary citizens that the horrors of the war never happened again. 

This of course hasn’t happened. There have since been major wars, and it is reported that there are around 40 ongoing wars and conflicts at the moment. 

Despite these conflicts, the twinning movement has stood strong. Coventry, my home city for the last 40 years, is now twinned with 26 other towns and cities, and this number has grown since the last world war. 

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