On 3-4 December 2025, an expert visit was paid to the city of Oeiras (Portugal), a longstanding member the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities (ICC) Programme and the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities (RPCI). The ICC expert visit focused especially on the role of local associations and civil society organisations in contributing to vibrant local democratic life and in shaping intercultural policy, as well as the ways in which young people contribute to those policies. The top-level commitment of the city to intercultural inclusion was highlighted by Francisco Rocha Gonçalves, Vice-President of the Municipality, who opened the meeting on behalf of the municipality. He spoke about the need to further develop intercultural inclusion to counter division and to promote cohesive and resilient local communities.
The ICC experts met with the city staff, with many departments of the city administration taking part in meetings on the Oeiras index score, as well as many representatives of associations working locally to promote intercultural inclusion. Education was particularly emphasised following up on the work carried out in Oeiras in the RPCI grant in 2025, on intercultural educators. Preliminary outputs and learnings from the ICC inter-city grant which Oeiras has been co-implementing with the British city of Leeds were also shared.
The ICC expert visit coincides with the publication of Oeiras’ latest index report – which the visit will help to complement. The report, published today, shows progress by the municipality in a number of areas compared to 2018, when it last completed the ICC index. Particular progress is noted in the fields of intercultural competences, international outlook and a culture of welcoming in the municipality. With an overall score of 76 out of 100, Oeiras has strongly developed its work on business and culture since 2018. There is still further work to be done on participation and language.
The ICC Programme would like to thank Oeiras for welcoming this expert visit, which plays a key role in raising the visibility of the ICC Programme locally and finding tangible ways to implement recommendations through exchange of international best practice.
