On 24 November and 1 December, the first online introductory meetings were held with interested stakeholders for the intercultural network for the Nicosia region.

The meetings were organised by the coordinator of the Nicosia network, the consortium of Center for Social Cohesion, Development and Care (CODECA), and the Center for the Advancement of Research & Development in Educational Technology (CARDET). The coordinators presented the Nicosia network aims, which include:

• Developing policies and good practices for the integration of people of migrant backgrounds
• Contributing to the understanding of diversity as an advantage and competences to build more cohesive communities
• To prepare and promote an intercultural strategy and action plan for the region
• To provide input for future integration activities on a national level

Following the presentations there were active discussions on how the network would work, who else should be invited to join, and priority issues that the network could address.

The participants in the meetings included non-governmental organisations working with migrants and on integration and social cohesion issues from the Nicosia district, as well as local and national public administration staff.

The Nicosia regional network is one of five regional networks which are being created in Cyprus under the “Building Structures for Intercultural Integration in Cyprus” project. Representatives of the partnership implementing the project, the Intercultural Cities Programme of the Council of Europe, European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support, and the Civil Registry and Migration Department of the Ministry of Interior also participated in the meetings.

Further meetings with stakeholders interested in joining the network will be held over the coming weeks.

The “Building structures for intercultural integration in Cyprus” project is being carried out with funding from the European Union, via its Structural Reform Support Programme, and in co-operation with the European Commission's DG Structural Reform Support.