International Links

Coventry takes great pride in its commitment to peace, reconciliation and internationalism. The city has held out the hand of friendship throughout Europe and beyond, building strong links with the global community.

The City of Coventry has had a reputation for peace and reconciliation around the world since the Second World War, when the first twin city links were formed with towns and cities, which had suffered a similar fate to Coventry. This includes the first ever international twinning link in 1944 between Coventry and the city of Volgograd - formerly Stalingrad.

Soon the twinning initiative spread to cities such as Cork in Ireland and Kingston in Jamaica where people had come from to work in Coventry's industries. Other twinning links such as that with Jinan in China were formed principally for economic reasons, but since then links have developed in other areas of activity such as education and culture. Coventry is a city whose past has a remarkable international flavour and thanks to its reputation now has 26 twin towns– though some of the twinning links are more active than others. For some years the City Council has had a policy of not adding to the number of the city’s twin towns.

The International Policy Team:

Support international activities and initiatives (both for the City Council and external organisations) - this includes support for the Mayoralty and other Members as well as advising on the submission of funding applications for international and transnational activities.
Plan and manage international delegations (both to and from the city).
Maintain links with national and international agencies and organisations and respond to enquiries from within the council, the general public, community and voluntary groups, and partner organisations.

The International Policy Team is based in the Chief Executive's Directorate, but international activities are carried out across the Council – examples include inward investment and external funding in City Development, school and teacher exchanges in Education, and environmental projects in City Services.

In this area you can also find information on:

Contact Details

Policy and Performance Team
CH45
Council House
Coventry
CV1 5RR
Telephone: +44 (0)24 7683 1090

Fax: +44 (0)24 7683 1106
e-mail: International@coventry.gov.uk

Get in touch

Also in International links

Studying and working in Europe

Coventry City Council