The sister city agreement between the cities of Tartu and Lviv was signed on November 7, 2024, in Tartu.
The friendship agreement supports the existing cooperation between Tartu and Lviv, which dates back to 2006, and establishes a framework for continued collaboration in various fields. Planned areas of cooperation between the two cities include tourism and sports, education, science, culture and arts, healthcare and rehabilitation, environmental protection, and local governance.
Lviv is the largest city in Western Ukraine, while Tartu serves as the center of Southern Estonia and is the country's second-largest city. Thus, we share the status of regional hubs and the challenges that come with it. Both Tartu and Lviv are cities with rich cultural life and heritage, and we are united by our membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as Cities of Literature. Additionally, both Tartu and Lviv are university towns that, among other fields, offer medical training. Lviv is home to Ukraine’s oldest university as well as a national medical university.
Since the full-scale outbreak of war, Tartu has also provided material support to Lviv. In cooperation with GoBus, the City of Tartu donated three buses to Lviv in 2022 for passenger transportation in children’s and social care institutions. In 2023, Tartu supported Lviv, as a UNESCO City of Literature, in awarding a literary prize.
In November 2024, the Tartu 2024 Foundation, in collaboration with Lviv’s Cultural Strategy Institute, organized an event within the European Capital of Culture program titled “Ukraine! Unmuted.” The event included seminars, concerts, and a book presentation.