#ParksMatter Partnership Agreement signed!

On September 30, 2024, in the City Council of Rzeszów, Poland, Ihor Popadiuk, Director of the Department, and Konrad Fijołek, President of Rzeszów, signed a partnership agreement for the implementation of the project “City Parks Matter - a new approach to urban greenery management in Ivano-Frankivsk and Rzeszów (ParksMatter)”, implemented within the framework of the Interreg Next Poland-Ukraine 2021-2027 Program. 

“We are interested in cooperating with Ukrainian cities for many reasons that I do not need to explain - especially in the case of Ivano-Frankivsk, which is a partner city of Rzeszów. Today, Ukraine is defending the freedom of Europe and the world, but it's nice that, despite these tragic events, we can implement projects like today's greening. This is an example of great cooperation and the relationship we want to build. We want to integrate Ukraine and Ukrainian cities with Europe and the European Union. Now this is a cross-border program, but in a few years there will be no borders, and Ukraine will be in the European Union, and we will implement many other joint projects,” said Konrad Fijołek, President of Rzeszów.

“I would like to thank the president of the city and all the people of the country for the help we are receiving today and throughout the war. Rzeszów has become a hub that helps Ukraine and Ivano-Frankivsk a lot, and it is a good partner and a guarantor of good cooperation for our cities. The agreement we are signing today will not only allow us to arrange parks in Rzeszów and Ivano-Frankivsk, but also to exchange the best European practices and establish closer cooperation,” said Ihor Popadiuk, Director of the Department of Investment Policy, Projects, International Relations, Tourism and City Promotion of Ivano-Frankivsk City Council.

The joint project started on October 1 and will last for two years. In addition to the revitalization of parks in both partner cities, it includes soft activities aimed at sharing best practices, developing new approaches to green space management, and raising public awareness. The visit also included a meeting of the project teams working on the project, where the partners discussed joint activities and shared plans for arrangement of parks.

The project “City Parks Matter - a new approach to urban greenery management in Ivano-Frankivsk and Rzeszów” is implemented under Interreg Next Poland-Ukraine 2021-2027 Programme. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of its authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.