The ceremonial signing of the document took place on 4 March 2014 at the Acuto municipal office (Italian Republic).Representatives of both Italian municipalities were present at the ceremony, as were Bolesławiec City Council Chairman Józef Pokładek, heads of councillors’ groups: Jarosław Kowalski, Mirosław Sakowski, Piotr Hetel and Deputy Head of the Development and Promotion Department Krzysztof Hewak.
The signatories of the agreement (Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman, Acuto Mayor Augusto Agostini and Vallecorsa Mayor Michele Antoniani) undertook, among other things, to initiate and maintain permanent relations—not only between the administrations, but above all between the communities—in order to ensure better mutual understanding, effective cooperation and mutual support in addressing administrative, economic and social problems.
The Italian municipalities and Bolesławiec are linked by the figure of Saint Maria de Mattias, Bolesławiec’s patron saint. Bolesławiec’s patron saint was born in Vallecorsa and spent the first years of her life there, then moved to Acuto, where she founded the Congregation of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ. The Congregation’s Motherhouse operates in Acuto.
Inspired by the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ, the residents of Bolesławiec participated in large numbers in the canonization celebrations of Saint Maria de Mattias. The delegation was headed by Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman, who had the honour of presenting Maria de Mattias in the presence of John Paul II and crowds of the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square on 18 May 2003.
Five years later, Saint Maria de Mattias was declared the patron saint of Bolesławiec. In August 2010, a cooperation agreement was signed between the city of Bolesławiec and the municipality of Vallecorsa. The successfully developing cooperation between the two cities prompted the authorities of Acuto to propose establishing a trilateral partnership between the cities linked by Saint Maria de Mattias.
The proposal for a trilateral partnership was approved by Bolesławiec councillors and the authorities of Vallecorsa, who expressed the conviction that it would increase the potential for cooperation and make it possible to combine joint efforts to develop contacts between the communities of the three cities.
It is worth noting that several interesting initiatives involving exchanges of residents have already been carried out with the city of Vallecorsa. In May 2010, a 50-person group of Vallecorsa residents visited Bolesławiec, and in August the Bolesławiec Kamerton choir from the State Music School, 1st level, performed in Vallecorsa and Acuto. A year later, young people from Vallecorsa took part in the “A Person with Passion” project, co-financed by EU funds under the “Youth in Action” programme and carried out by Municipal Lower Secondary School No. 3 in Bolesławiec. During the Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival in 2011, the blues group “B-Times” from Vallecorsa performed a concert. In 2013, a group of almost 20 residents of the Vallecorsa municipality took part in the Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival.
The creation of a youth orchestra of the partner cities of Vallecorsa and Bolesławiec is planned, and Acuto may also join it. This project was initiated with a joint concert preceded by a series of joint rehearsals conducted by Aleksandra Samostrokova.
– In 2014, Municipal Lower Secondary School No. 3 in Bolesławiec plans to carry out another youth exchange project with Vallecorsa, Acuto and possibly Pietraperzia (Vallecorsa’s partner city, located in Sicily). An application for project funding from EU funds under the “Erasmus+” programme is being prepared – informs Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman.
At the beginning of June 2014, a trip by students from Municipal Lower Secondary School No. 3 to the municipalities of Vallecorsa and Acuto is planned, where the young people will present a performance devoted to Saint Maria de Mattias in Italian. – Our Italian partners wish to use Bolesławiec’s experience in obtaining European Union funds to develop joint projects under the “Erasmus+” and “Europe for Citizens” programmes as part of the new financial perspective for 2014–2020 – adds Piotr Roman.
(commissioned information)