20 years of partnership

‘Strongest Together’

The Field Band Foundation (FBF) and Norges Musikkorps Forbund (NMF) (The Norwegian Band Federation) celebrate 20 years of partnership in 2021. The Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (Norec) has enabled us to be stronger together through mutual exchange of personnel and sharing of knowledge with a social focus on impact on various levels. We believe we have played an important role to the world with the elements of musicking, lifeskills, social inclusion and bringing people together. Music Matters because it has a unique way of teaching us how to be together in different and better ways, especially in this strange COVID-19 environment.

The 20^th anniversary will be a series of events planned in South Africa and Norway. The need for physical distancing following Covid-19 has put a pause on what is considered important socializing activities such as family gatherings, leisure activities, school, as well as work. This has challenged people’s perceptions on how we can stay socially connected. 20 years of partnership has taught us that physical distancing does not necessarily equal social distancing or disconnection. It is our experience that the social connection within the partnership remains strong despite physical separation. We are strongest together.

The anniversary programme consists of the following key-components:

A new 20^th anniversary symbol has been created and will be used on the organisation’s email signatures for this year. Our slogan for this year is Strongest Together.
Alumni surveys, collection of success stories and measurement activities on organisational level will help us to develop and grow as organisations and partners and inspire us to new thinking on defining a road ahead for exchanges and partnerships within the new normal.
A kick-off video to launch the 20-year anniversary is shared on both organisation’s social media platforms.
30-second video clips will be shared from former exchange participants with greetings and well-wishes for the 20 years of partnership. This will bring us closer to our alumni and create greater awareness of our celebration.
Iconic exchange pictures telling a stories from previous years will be shared online weekly to remind us of the wonderful things that come out of a long-term collaboration.
Social media frames and stickers containing the new slogan and symbol will be shared with the members of the organisations and the public to help us celebrate our anniversary.
Awareness events on a local level in both countries will happen to share the story about how music and connectivity matters and lead to positive change.
An anniversary musical piece will be created and shared with members in both organisations, ensuring a common understanding of how we can be ‘strongest together’ across continents. This will also be especially showcased on commemorative days and events like Africa month, Youth Day, Heritage Day and Norwegian independence days (17^th of May)