The Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities programme is organising a seminar on 27-28 October in San Sebastián, Spain. The seminar will examine local policy responses to prejudice and discrimination against religious minorities and pave the way for general guidelines about the intercultural approach to building trust and cohesion within the city as a whole. It will recognise and respond to rising levels of Islamophobia as well as stigmatisation of other religions, whilst acknowledging the rights of all individuals and groups – whether religious or not – under the European Convention on Human Rights. In particular local authorities can help promote positive interactions between individuals and groups and provide legislative protections against discrimination.
However, some aspects of policies at local, national and international levels could well be seen as exacerbating tensions between groups. Some policies may be criticised as systemically discriminatory towards particular groups. This can be highly controversial and frequently politicised territory for policymakers and individuals, as well as for groups and organisations in civil society. The reasons for this are varied and will be explored in the seminar, drawing on a variety of related expertise, research and previous engagement by the Intercultural Cities Network in exploring issues relating to “faith in Intercultural Cities” in general.