PARIS, FRANCE — New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno visited Paris City Hall today to meet with Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire to discuss strengthening the relationship between the two cities, shared opportunities and challenges, and the historic New Orleans Saints game in Paris this weekend.
The mayors discussed the strong cultural connections between New Orleans and Paris, and the opportunity presented by the Saints game to bring the two cities closer together. Their conversation also addressed serious challenges facing major international cities, including infrastructure, public services, economic development and quality of life. Mayor Moreno also acknowledged the difficult moment Paris is experiencing, while emphasizing the importance of maintaining strong international relationships and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
Strengthening New Orleans’ UNESCO Partnership
Mayor Moreno also visited the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), where she met with Director-General Khaled El-Enany, joined by executives from New Orleans & Company.
The meeting focused on New Orleans’ designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Music and opportunities to elevate and expand UNESCO’s partnership with the city. Discussions centered on strengthening international cultural connections, promoting New Orleans’ extraordinary musical and cultural heritage, and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in the arts, education, cultural preservation and tourism.
Mayor Moreno emphasized the importance of leveraging the UNESCO designation to increase New Orleans’ global visibility and create new opportunities for the city’s artists, cultural institutions and creative economy.
Exploring Innovative Water Infrastructure Solutions with Veolia
Following yesterday’s meeting with Paris city officials on stormwater management, Mayor Moreno continued discussions on innovative water infrastructure solutions today with executives from Veolia, a French global environmental services company with longstanding operations in New Orleans.
The meeting explored water-management technologies that could help modernize New Orleans’ infrastructure and improve service reliability. Discussions focused on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology to provide additional protection against harmful pathogens in drinking water, as well as advanced leak-detection systems to help identify and reduce water loss from aging infrastructure.
The meeting built upon Mayor Moreno’s visit to Paris’ Austerlitz stormwater storage basin and discussions with city officials about advanced modeling and predictive technologies used to anticipate major rain events and improve drainage management. Together, the meetings reflect the administration’s interest in learning from international approaches to water management and identifying practical solutions that could benefit New Orleans.
Mayor Moreno on Strengthening International Partnerships
“New Orleans and Paris are two extraordinary cities with deep cultural connections, shared challenges and tremendous opportunities to work together,” said Mayor Moreno. “My meeting with Mayor Grégoire was about building a real, lasting relationship between our cities that goes well beyond this historic Saints game. I want us to have an ongoing partnership where we exchange ideas, learn from one another and work together on issues that matter to our residents. My meetings with UNESCO and Veolia are part of that same effort to turn international relationships into meaningful opportunities for New Orleans. We have so much to share with the world, but also so much we can learn from it.”
Mayor’s Visit to Paris City Hall: Click Here