In recent years, we have seen an increase in negative narratives about cultural diversity, immigration, the arrival of refugees or the presence of ethnic and religious minorities in many European countries. These narratives, together with other factors, fuel social polarization, generate discrimination, racism, xenophobia and hate speech, putting at risk community cohesion and the lasting success of intercultural policies.
Many European and Italian cities, applying the intercultural approach, promote local policies that favor equality, inclusion and anti-discrimination. However, cities face difficulties in accompanying these policies with narratives that reinforce them and explain their importance and value to their citizens.
With the STAND project, ICEI aims to deconstruct negative narratives, but above all to support local authorities in promoting new positive narratives, which valorize diversity and the contribution of minorities to the construction of our society. Municipalities and civil society organizations, especially if engaged in the youth field, can play a key role in the creation and dissemination of alternative narratives capable of promoting the intercultural principles of equality, recognition of diversity, interaction and participation. To do so, however, they need adequate tools and skills. With the STAND project, we will work on the training of municipal staff and members of local associations and then, with them, on the co-construction of new narratives around neighborhoods, initiatives, local policies that can be told differently to citizens.
ICEI and the other technical partners (ACI-Diversit and RPCI – Rede Portuguesa das Cidades Interculturais) will make their skills available to accompany Municipalities and associations in this process, also facilitating the comparison of experiences and good practices implemented by the participating cities, to promote mutual learning and the creation of a set of shared skills to be put at the service of the entire network of Intercultural Cities (ICC).
European Union – CERV 2024 Networks of Towns
The project will support 15 European cities in building new narratives to highlight the value of coexistence in diversity and the contribution of minorities to the social and cultural development of cities and Europe as a whole.
Civil society organizations present in different local contexts will also be involved in this process, in particular those operating in the youth sector, so that they can actively participate in the process of building and disseminating alternative narratives.
The project represents an important opportunity for exchange and cooperation between the European cities involved, whose results will be valorized within the Intercultural Cities program promoted by the Council of Europe, coordinated in Italy by ICEI.
Direct beneficiaries: Municipality staff of the cities actively involved in the project; Young people and members of civil society of the 15 cities.
Indirect beneficiaries: European citizens, made more aware of the benefits of diversity, helping to promote equality (including gender) and fight discrimination.
Project activities
The activity plan is divided into several blocks, alternating phases of transnational comparison, in which experiences are shared to increase mutual skills, with phases in which the activities will be carried out in parallel in the four participating countries, tailoring them to the local contexts of the fifteen cities. Specifically, we will start with an in-depth analysis of the needs of each city and continue with the design of national and transnational training modules, both in person and online, to strengthen the skills of local authorities.
Communities of practice will be created for mutual sharing and pooling of acquired knowledge. Local events will be organized to co-create new narratives and pilot dissemination actions in the different city contexts. We will then move on to a participatory evaluation that will involve civil society and citizens and, finally, to a reworking of the narratives, so that they can also be disseminated on an international scale and inspire other similar experiences.
RESOURCES
- Training and thematic event in Italy
- Bottom-up survey on competences, needs and priorities for new narratives on diversity
- Training programme on new narratives #Italy
- Training programme on new narratives #Spain
- Training programme on new narratives #Portugal
- Training programme on new narratives #Poland
- Knowledge sharing event in Spain
- Co-design new narratives in Italian cities
- Co-design new narratives in Spanish cities
- Co-design new narratives in Portuguese cities
- Co-design new narratives in Polish cities