Didcot–Meylan Twinning Association

General Information Historical Meylan   United Meylan  Enterprising Meylan

Lively Meylan  Natural Meylan   Energetic Meylan Statistics

General Information

Five kilometres outside Grenoble and its university campus, Meylan is at the gateway to the Grenoble agglomeration. It is also situated at the mouth of the Gresivaudan valley and is an easy, accessible route for Geneva and the Swiss Alps. As for those who dream of escaping into the wilderness, they will have the privilege of quickly reaching the mountains and surrounding lakes.

Historical Meylan

The name Meylan - Mediolano in the eleventh century - means "plain in the middle". Throughout its history, Meylan has developed by following this principle of balance: balance between modernity and tradition, between urbanisation and preservation of an exceptional environment, between economic development and habitations. To this balance, favourable to the blossoming of the women and men who live in Meylan, add a full social life: local activities organised around different facilities, numerous associations active in the field of the environment, of solidarity, of culture, of sport and leisure, make Meylan a particularly dynamic and pleasant to live.

United Meylan

From grandchildren to grandparents, all Meylanais can appreciate day to day life in their town. After the first steps towards a social life at a local child care centre, the youngsters, from nursery school to sixth form, will complete their education in Meylan. As for the elderly, they have access to an organisation of home helps and of meals on wheels, or of accommodation facilities in one of the two reserved centres. The health and social welfare services offer nearby facilities, easily accessible to all inhabitants. The Employment Resource Centre, shared by several authorities, offers a personalised welcome and follow-up service for job seekers. It develops an important relational network with companies.

Enterprising Meylan

With more than 900 establishments, made up of freelance industries, Meylan is proof of a dynamic economic life. Not only the Meylanais, but inhabitants from all over the Grenoble agglomeration, come to work in Meylan. This counts for more than 10,000 posts, 5,000 of which are to be found in the Zirst, a park for innovation and scientific and technical achievement. Created in 1972 in the heart of a 110 hectare wooded parkland, this centre of activity enjoys today an international reputation. It regroups more than 200 companies at the head of fields in computer science, industrial electronics, robotics, artificial intelligence, automation and the software industry. In addition to this concentration of high technology industries, shops, markets, craftsmen, banking institutions, hotels and restaurants have equally found a choice setting in Meylan.

Lively Meylan

Sportsman or artist, book lover or music mad, spectator or actor, the Meylanais enjoy a varied range of activities to occupy their free time. Cultural facilities are at their disposition: two music schools, a library for each area, an exhibition centre and a national stage seating 600, where theatre, dance and music follow successively. On the sporting side, facilities include gymnasiums, swimming pools, tennis courts, squash courts, workout rooms, sports grounds and a stadium, all of which offer sixty or so disciplines for leisure and competition.

These local facilities are enriched by a full and varied associative life. The Meylanais are very much involved in such sporting or cultural organisations, local societies, associations for the quality of life, the protection of the patrimony or of the environment. These are an essential element to local dynamics.

Natural Meylan

The local authority of Meylan benefits from a privileged natural setting, which it preserves with care. Notably, forty five hectares are reserved for public parks, each one with its own particular charm. Walkers easily fell relaxed along the footpaths among these green open spaces. As regards cyclists, fourteen kilometres of cycle tracks have been reserved. This environmental policy is reinforced by the action of the Environmental Resource Centre. Situated in the heart of an eight hectare wooded parkland, it organises exhibitions, workshops and courses in eco-citizenship as well as walks to discover the surrounding nature for both the young and grown-ups. Lastly, Meylan is home to a centre for the protection of wild fauna, which receives and cares for injured birds and mammals before releasing them into the wild.

Energetic Meylan

Meylan is one of twenty-three associated local authorities within the Grenoble Alps Metropolis, a community of local government authorities from the Grenoble agglomeration. With a budget of one thousand million Francs, the authorities have committed themselves to joint projects to create a coherent collective transport network, to build social housing, to improve water and waste treatment, to pursue the extension of the university, to reinforce economic developments between authorities.... Meylan equally plays an active part in the campaign for the promotion of "regions" within a global contract for the development of the Gresivaudan. This programme brings together fifty or so local authorities. Its purpose is to reinforce the valleys identity through economic development and an improvement in the quality of life,

Lastly, Meylan has affirmed its openness to Europe and the world through its twinning with the town of Planegg, in the south-west of Munich in Bavaria, the town of Gonzalas in Louisiana, situated between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and the town of Didcot to the south of Oxford. Tomorrow, Meylan would like to extend these links to other European towns. Beyond Europe, Meylan wishes equally to establish a North-South link with African towns or villages.

Statistics