Perm hosts a delegation from its twinned city of Oxford (UK)

The Oxford delegation is visiting Perm as part of the exchange link between the Oxford University and  Perm State National Research University.

The delegation includes Oxford University lecturers as well as representatives of NGOs, for instance,  Carol Richardson, who is the chair of “Russian Art Society”.

The delegation was hosted by the head of Administrative Office at Perm City Administration Elena Anisimova, who informed the visitors of the local authority structure and functions, answered their questions and presented the  welcoming gifts with symbols of Perm City. 

A particular focus  of the meeting was  the fact that the year of 2020 will mark  75 years since the end of World War II and 25 years of establishing  friendship link between Perm and Oxford.  The Oxford visitors shared their impressions of the city and hope for the future successful development of the friendship link.

Looking back, the  first contacts between cities  started with the link  between the universities of Perm and Oxford  in 1989, and starting 1990 it involved other higher educational institutions and NGOs.  On November 13, 1995 the Mayors of two cities signed the Declaration on developing friendship relations between Perm and Oxford. 

In 2015 a number of events to mark 25 years of social ties and 20 years of establishing official links between the cities  were held. Over the years the twinning relations have grown  to cover a variety of projects in different spheres. Oxford has a voluntary organization “Perm Association” which  is active in developing the links. 

Since  2007 perm has been successful in using and developing the practice of community centers, widely used in Oxford/ The community centers in Perm house about 160 NGOs, as well as  the deputies public reception centers and various clubs; the premises are provided free of charge. The twinned cities are active in supporting the academic mobility programmes.  The students and lecturers of Perm educational institutions have wide opportunities for cooperation in various research spheres.