Commercial, cultural, sport and tourist co-operation established by Mikołów with partner towns in Europe became very friendly over the years; official contacts quickly became less formal, often at the level of individual residents.

Therefore it would be better to call our partners twin or sister towns as they are referred to in other countries.

First international contacts were established in 1981 between Mikołów and Beuningen muncipality, the Netherlands. In those difficult years the Dutch people organized charity aid for residents of Mikołów. In November 1991 representatives of both towns signed a formal agreement on co-operation and afterwards Mikołów received a Magirus fire egine and PCs for the City Office.

Since then Mikołów has signed three more partnership agreements:

– in 1992 with Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, France,
– in 2000 with Klimkovice, the Czech Republic, and
– in 2008 with Ilava, Slovakia

Representatives of those cities are invited every year to major cultural events in our town Mikołów?s Music Days, “Mikołow Impressions?, and ?Days of Mikołów?.
Young residents of the partnership towns meet at European Youth Meetings organized for years now as part of co-operation between European towns, and during holiday stays organized e.g. by the Dutch for groups of children coming from the poorest families in Mikołów.

Young people eagerly participate in numerous sports events. One of the most popular is the athletics meeting of three towns – Mikołów, Klimkovice and Ilawa.

A common practice also includes an exchange of experience between small business owners, social activists, or employees of local government offices in partnership towns.

The authorities of Mikołów do appreciate the co-operation with foreign partners and to prove this the following three were awarded the title of the Citizen of the Year ? Pierre Champion, the mayor of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, Huib Zijlmans, the mayor of Beuningen and Pavel Malik, the mayor of Klimkovice.