In line with ICC-Ukraine's 2021 Work Plan and as part of the Anti-rumours strategy implementation in Ukraine, the 5th ICC-Ukraine Cities Forum "Media and Intercultural Interaction" brought together – under a hybrid format - local ICC coordinators and cities’ representatives in Melitopol on June 18-19. The Forum was held in the context of Melitopol’s traditional brand-festival “Chereshnevo“ (Cherry Fest).

The theme of this Forum was largely determined by the very first results of the mapping and context analysis of rumours in Ukrainian cities, performed during the ongoing Anti-rumours project sponsored by the ICC programme in Ukraine. The results indicated that the media may be among the key agents for the dissemination of stereotypes and rumours related to diversity.

Therefore, the Forum aimed at:

• Identifying the main prejudice and stereotypes in the media,
• examining international and local trustbuilding strategies and practices, and
• reviewing international media standards and ethical journalism norms as a means of combating discrimination in an intercultural environment.

The results of a relevant study conducted by the Centre for Sociological Studies of Melitopol University with the methodological support of experts from the Ashburn Intercultural Institute were presented to highlight the benefits of an intercultural approach in combating hate speech and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or cultural origins. In addition, ICC Melitopol shared its experience in community-based work on improving information literacy and critical thinking.

The Forum further included a roundtable on "National minorities in Melitopol as mediators of intercultural interaction and dialogue", featuring representatives of ethnic and national minorities, journalists, local NGOs and activists.