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In 2008 the Council of Europe and the European Commission, together with a group of pioneer cities, took a challenge: to develop and test a culturally competent approach to integrating diverse communities. The
Intercultural cities initiative was born.
At the heart of this novel approach to integration lies the concept of
Diversity advantage. The Dublin milestone event will be an opportunity to take stock of what cities have achieved, what works and what does not, and under which conditions, what challenges remain and how they can be addressed together with partners from other networks and organisations.
Over 60 cities in Europe and beyond have joined the Intercultural cities programme and pursue the diversity advantage. At the Dublin event these cities will share their experience and learning:
What does diversity advantage mean in practice and how can different kinds of
urban policies be shaped through the intercultural lens?
What intercultural strategies have cities adopted? How have they managed to
build broad local partnerships to ensure grassroots involvement, transversality
and sustainability? What challenges are they facing and how are they dealing
with them?
How can cities demonstrate the reality of diversity advantage? Is the concept
supported by research evidence? How can the results be assessed?
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