Today, a new report analysing successes and shortcomings in intercultural inclusion in Montesilvano, Italy, has been published.

It notes particular achievements in the following areas:

• In education, thanks to the municipality’s intercultural mediation project run in schools since 2009. This programme enables students who arrive in the municipality from overseas to quickly receive the targeted support they need to feel integrated in classrooms and society more broadly.
• Montesilvano regularly organises events and activities in the field of arts, culture and sports with the aim of encouraging interaction between people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds.
• The city has taken part in EU projects promoting intercultural inclusion and especially participation, notably the DiverCities project in 2023-2024.

As this is the first time Montesilvano has undertaken the ICC index, there are also areas for improvement. Key recommendations include: developing diversity within the staff of local public services; rethinking public space and how it is used in an interculturally sensitive way; and building on work done in the DiverCities project, monitoring how residents with migrant/minority backgrounds take part in the decision-making process and taking action to ensure that those residents are fairly represented in key institutions and organisations.

The ICC Programme will support Montesilvano in implementing the recommendations included in the index report and in building on the strong commitment and work already carried out in the municipality. The report highlights a number of good practices which can serve as a source of inspiration for the municipality.

The city is also an active member of the Italian Network of Intercultural Cities (Rete Italiana delle Città del Dialogo).