Future Fund promotes fire department encounters with the Czech Republic

Every municipality in the Czech Republic and Germany has a fire department. The joint future fund of both countries now wants to promote these grassroots organizations as nuclei of cross-border cooperation. Money for joint projects will be made available in a special call for proposals under the motto "Volunteer fire departments - a source of good neighborliness", according to a spokeswoman for the Future Fund in Prague.

Funding will be provided for costs such as travel, accommodation and meals, joint leisure and educational activities as well as fees for course leaders and instructors. Up to 70 percent of the total costs will be covered. The submitted projects are to be implemented within a period from June 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027.

"Fresh impetus" for cross-border cooperation

The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Czech Fire Rescue Corps, the Association of Firefighters of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia and the German Firefighters Association. Their representatives spoke of a fresh impetus to organize joint activities, take part in festivals and connect communities and their inhabitants.

A small foretaste was provided by a meeting of young firefighters on the occasion of the first Germany-wide day of honour for the birthday of the Basic Law on 23 May. Members of the youth fire department in Edertal in Hesse and their peers from the town of Nyrany near Pilsen (Plzen) explored Berlin together - both on the water by boat and on land in the Comenius Garden in Neukölln-Rixdorf. Johann Amos Comenius was a Czech philosopher and educator (1592-1670).