The “Intercultural Cities Programme”, jointly initiated by the Council of Europe and the EU in 2008, was discussed at the Congress plenary session on 4 March.

On this occasion, Mayors of Berlin-Neukölln (Germany), Lublin (Poland), Lyon (France), Melitopol (Ukraine), Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and Reggio Emilia (Italy) presented programmes of their respective cities to promote cultural identities, diversity and exhange between different ethnic, religious and social groups. Also, they exchanged examples of best practice in respect of managing conflicts and threats to the development of integrative and future-oriented local policies.

The debate in the plenary focused on a range of topics: the role of immigrant women in the integration process, the contribution of the media, possible consequences of the financial crises and the human rights context. Neukölln Mayor Heinz Buschkowsky made clear that there were areas of conflict where human rights and integration policies could clash and that common European values, fundamental rights and freedoms must not be put at risk.

A recommendation to endorse the “Intercultural Cities Programme” at the Committee of Ministers’ level was prepared by Jens Nilsson (Sweden, SOC) and adopted by Congress members. (more...)