Intercultural Cities

Abstract

The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity. How does the Intercultural cities programme work in practice? The Intercultural cities: what is it about? ■ The Intercultural cities (ICC) is a flagship Council of Europe programme that assists local authorities in designing policies based on the application of a novel diversity management model called intercultural integration. This policy model relies on the notion of "diversity advantage"-treating migrants as a resource for local economic, social and cultural development, and not only as vulnerable groups in need of support and services. Intercultural integration implies a strategic reorientation of urban governance and policies to encourage adequate representation, positive intercultural mixing and interaction, and institutional capacity to ensure equal access to rights and opportunities for all. The Intercultural cities programme offers a comprehensive methodology for helping cities develop their diversity strategies, and a range of analytical and assessment tools, including the very successful Intercultural cities INDEX. Diversity governance ■ Economic, management and psychological research have demonstrated that diversity brings considerable benefits for organisations and cities in terms of increased innovation, productivity and ability to solve problems. The diversity advantage has implications for urban policies since involving people from diverse backgrounds in policy design increases their effectiveness. From a policy perspective, the challenge is to devise and implement strategies for the management of diversity that can help to tap the potential benefits of diversity while minimising its costs. Intercultural integration: an evidence-based policy model ■ The intercultural integration policy model derives from an extensive analysis of city practice and a wide range of international standards. It is a comprehensive and strategic approach driven by committed leadership across political divides and administrative silos. It calls on local political, social, cultural and economic institutions to focus on harnessing the skills and talents of all citizens, including migrants and refugees, and creating the best conditions for their full participation in society and the economy. The model is now being implemented by over 100 cities in Europe, as well as in Japan, Korea, Mexico and Canada. Cities that join the Intercultural cities programme commit to: ► promote a pluralistic and inclusive identity through public discourse which embraces the diversity advantage; ► ensure that institutions, neighbourhoods and public space are open and mixed rather than segregated; ► actively build trust between communities and foster shared values by promoting a "we culture" of reciprocity and symmetry in interethnic relations; ► ensure equal access to rights and opportunities for all, also by rendering governing bodies more diverse and making sure all officials and services are culturally competent and that businesses and institutions are capable of managing diversity as an asset. ■ In order to support the process of intercultural strategy development, implementation and evaluation, the Intercultural cities programme proposes extensive city profiles, hundreds of good practice examples, a step-by-step guide and policy briefs on the intercultural approach in specific policy areas. These tools can be used for policy audits and also offer guidelines for active citizen participation in the strategy development process. ■ Study visits and thematic events offer opportunities for policy-makers, practitioners and advocates from each city to engage in discussions and share practices with their counterparts from other cities. The events use an interactive , hands-on format designed to bring energy, innovation and ideas into the strategy-making process and help build a stakeholder alliance. ■ The anti-rumour strategy is aimed at raising awareness about the importance of countering diversity-related prejudices and rumours that hamper positive interaction and social cohesion and lay the foundations for discriminatory and racist attitudes. ■ The strategy, conceived as a public policy, is composed of a number of elements: identifying major rumours existing in a city; collecting objective data and also emotional arguments to dispel false rumours; creating an anti-rumour network of local civil society players; empowering and training "anti-rumour agents"; designing and implementing anti-rumour campaigns to raise awareness, including by creating and disseminating new tools and resources, both creative and rigorous. ■ An inclusive integration policy laboratory, the "Squared Circle", involves local and national officials, NGOs and academics who are mid-career, change-oriented decision-makers or influencers in promoting the intercultural approach at different levels of governance to further develop its knowledge base. ■ Individual cities' performance in relation to the intercultural integration model is assessed via the Intercultural cities INDEX. The results of the INDEX help cities make evidence-based judgments about the impact and outcomes of their policies and resource investment.