A new International Fairtrade Towns website that will connect nearly 700 Fairtrade towns in 18 countries has been launched today by the Fairtrade Foundation with partners across Europe.

The new website, fairtradetowns.org, combines information about the history of Fairtrade Towns internationally, a Google map, the latest news and events, downloadable resources and tools in eight languages.

The Fairtrade Towns movement has been rapidly growing since Garstang became the first Fairtrade Town in the UK in 2001. International Fairtrade cities including Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm and San Francisco are now part of a collective peoples’ push, changing the way trade is done.

Earlier this year, an International Towns Conference conference took place in Lyon, bringing together representatives from more than 17 countries.

In the UK, there are currently 441 Fairtrade Towns. To become a Fairtrade Town (including villages, cities, islands, zones, boroughs and counties) five goals must be met, including getting local businesses, workplaces and community groups to use Fairtrade products, thereby supporting farmers in developing countries.

Blanca Sanchez, Fairtrade Towns co-ordinator, welcomed the new site. She said: “This site will join thousands of people from different countries. Fairtrade Towns is an amazing international movement that is helping to create a fairer world with small gestures and thanks to the international Fairtrade Towns site, campaigners from all around the world will be able to share and learn from others’ experiences.”

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