Mayor of Tartu Urmas Klaas (Reform) said the two cities have plenty in common in their histories and in looking to the future.

He said: "In addition to being academic university cities, both cities have been selected as one of Europe's 100 climate-neutral cities. For 30 years, cooperation between Tartu and Tampere has been fruitful in several areas, in particular the creative sector, culture, public services and on the topic of smart cities."

Tampere House, operating in Tartu (or in Finnish, Tarto) for most of the past 30 years, is organizing the events, intended for residents of the town and which run as follows:

Friday, September 9

• Climate-neutral cities conference focusing on mobility, biodiversity and community, looking at the similarities and differences between different cities. The conference will also mark the anniversary of cooperation between the twin cities and their accession to the EU Mission: 100 Climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.
• Finnish Embassy will visit Annelinn High School, where it will present the circular economy exhibition 'Greener Choices'. The exhibition will showcase sustainable innovations and products by Finnish companies, which can be used to save the environment and make more reasonable choices on a daily basis.
• At 6.00 p.m., an international poetry evening will be held at the culture club Salong (Vanemuise 19).

Saturday, September 10

• 11.00 a.m. interactive street artwork created in cooperation between Estonian and Finnish youth will be opened on Sõpruse Bridge. A social media campaign introducing the work is planned, and in the future there will be an opportunity to add QR codes, through which you can view the content, via your smartphone, created by young people themselves.
• Finnish-themed guided tour through Tartu city center.
• 3 p.m. Finnish-style dance party in Poe Street Park.
• 5 p.m. Finnish movie "North of Eden" (Finnish: "Edenistä pohjoiseen" (2014)) and, at 7.00 p.m., "The Blind Man Who Didn't Want to See the Titanic" ("Sokea mies joka ei halunnut nähdä Titanicia" (2021)) to be screened for free at Elektriteater (Finnish, with Estonian subtitles).

More information (in Finnish) is here.

Tampere is an inland, relatively industrial city in western Finland, and has a population of around 244,000.

Finland and Estonia share very close ties due to their geographical proximity, respective histories and linguistic and cultural similarities.

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