Purpose:
Lublin’s Civic Dialogue Commission for the City Support System for the Integration of Migrants constitutes a key element of Lublin's participatory system for managing cultural diversity.
Stimulus/Rationale:
The idea behind setting up the Civic Dialogue Committee was to create a forum for coordinating activities of the municipality, other local authorities and the civil society with regard to the integration of migrants, fostering inclusion and promoting meaningful interaction with the host society.
Process:
According to the Order of the Mayor of Lublin, dated 11 September 2019, any 5 local civil organisations can request the Municipality to set up a Civic Dialogue Committee.
Based on a request of the local civil society organisations, a special Civic Dialogue Commission for the City Support System for the Integration of Migrants was set up and started operating officially in April 2021.
Any local NGO can request to be a member of this Civic Dialogue Committee. The role of the Committee is to:
- initiate discussions in the city on the integration and inclusion of migrants;
- propose specific actions that can be taken by the City and the Committee members for the integration and inclusion of migrants;
- consult, co-create and initiate documents and draft legal acts issued by the Mayor and the Lublin City Council in the field of supporting integration and inclusion of migrants;
- give opinions on draft legal acts supporting the integration and inclusion of migrants.
The work of the Group is coordinated by the Participation Office of the City of Lublin.
The predecessor of the Civic Dialogue Committee was the Integration Support Group. Between 2012 and 2020 the Integration Support Group was a key forum for coordinating actions related to migrants’ inclusion and intercultural approaches. Established in 2012 as part of the “Lublin 4 all” project, it allowed to informally coordinate actions of various private and public actors working in the field of social inclusion and intercultural integration.
The Integration Support Group was an informal group composed of the representatives of a much broader spectrum of actors: Lublin Municipality, other relevant local public authorities (e.g. the city’s Family Assistance Centre), the Province of Lublin (e.g. the provincial police and the Department of Citizen and Foreign Affairs), universities, cultural centres, and civil society organisations.
The work of the Group was also coordinated by the Participation Office of the City of Lublin.
The Group continued to operate even after the end of the “Lublin 4 all” project, until 2020, when it became necessary to establish a more formal structure for cooperation and the Civic Dialogue Committee was then set up.
Impact:
The creation of the Integration Support Group and later of the Civic Dialogue Commission for the City Support System for the Integration of Migrants offered its members the opportunity to cooperate and to coordinate several initiatives carried out by their respective organizations. The meetings also led to the emergence of new ideas and the implementation of new activities, including opening a helpdesk for foreign residents within the Lublin City Residents Office.
