Fez/Morocco

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Fez/Morocco

The partnership between Strasbourg and Fez was renewed with the signing of a new agreement in 2016.

Fez is considered to be the spiritual, intellectual, cultural, crafts and food centre of traditional Morocco. Its Medina has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1971 and it is considered as one of the most extensive and best conserved historic towns of the Arab-Muslim world. It has a population of 200,000 and contains about 60% of the city's craftsmen and businesses within its 350 hectares.

Goals

  • Support cultural cooperation and academic exchanges.
  • Develop exchanges in the field of the environment.
  • Prioritize youth exchanges between Strasbourg and Fez.

Two cities with many similarities

Strasbourg and Fez have in common a rich academic tradition, a strong reputation in the cultural field, sites on UNESCO's World Heritage list and a population having a range of different religions. These points in common led them to engage in decentralized cooperation. Since the partnership began in 1999, exchanges between Strasbourg and Fez have focused on a wide range of areas: culture, crafts, economic and tourism development, urban public transport, sanitation, exchanges between associations, etc.

2016: new agreement, new areas of cooperation

A new partnership agreement was drawn up in 2016. It concerns:

  • Youth and all actions that aim to promote contact and mobility among young people in Strasbourg and Fez in collaboration with the AMSED association (the Migration, Solidarity and Sharing for Development Association) (Strasbourg) and its Fez partners: Espace Solidarité Développement and the Awladi center in Fez.
  • The environment and improved living conditions, in particular through exchanges on waste management and sanitation, as well as support to green economy players and ecologically responsible initiatives.
  • Culture as the ideal gateway for exchanges and the dissemination of a culture of peace among peoples, by holding artistic and cultural events in both cities with the aim of seeing a genuine intercultural dialog emerge, in particular in such events as the World Festival of Sacred Music in Fez and Strasbourg's Sacred Days.

Academic exchanges: exchanges between students and management training through the university institutions in both cities, in particular the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallâh University in Fez and the University of Strasbourg.