On 23 May a restricted group of policy makers, researchers, and NGO representatives met in Florence (Italy) to prepare the further strategic development of the Intercultural cities programme by addressing the challenge of how to export the intercultural policy model at the regional and national levels.

Applying the intercultural paradigm to the national level would require European States to commit to promote cultural reciprocity and symmetry in interethnic relations, adopting a public discourse fostering a pluralistic - as opposed to ethnocentric - regional or national identity, encouraging social mixing and interaction in the public space, neighbourhoods and institutions, as well as rendering governing bodies more diverse and developing the diversity/intercultural competence of public officials.

The diversity advantage concept which is at the heart of the Intercultural cities (ICC) programme would imply, for the states adopting the intercultural integration approach to diversity management, numerous benefit including from increased economic competitiveness, attractiveness and prosperity, as well as from social cohesion and a better quality of life.

The meeting in Florence served to consolidate the idea of launching, as from next year, a new Laboratory under the aegis of the Council of Europe and the ICC programme that would develop policy ideas based on the intercultural approach but tailor made for regional and national levels.

This new laboratory of selected experts will be called “The Squared Circle: Inclusive Integration Policy Laboratory”. It will involve city, regional and national officials, as well as experts and NGO representatives that are mid-career, change-oriented decision-makers or influencers. The Squared Circle will work in rounds of two thematic sessions per year, with on-line work in between. The members are called to broaden the discussions in their respective countries and start building a coalition of similar laboratories at national levels.

It is expected that the Squared Circle will contribute to accelerating the outreach and take-up of the intercultural integration model but also to further develop and enrich it.