On 14 March the city of Vila Verde (Portugal) has joined the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities (RPCI), becoming the 154th member* of the ICC programme and the 14th member of the RPCI.

The municipality of Vila Verde is a reference territory for the alliance between its historical identity and modernity. It combines tradition and a vast heritage with innovation and sustainable development, as a strategy for valuing the quality of life. Founded on 24 October 1855, the municipality has currently 33 parishes and a population of approximately 47,000 inhabitants, distributed in a balanced way over its more than 228 square kilometers in length. It is situated between the city limits of Braga and Viana do Castelo district.

The identity of the city and of its population is strongly marked by emigration to the four corners of the world, which resulted into a deep-rooted local culture of interculturality. Over time, the different generations of Vila Verde have been able to cultivate openness and interrelationship with other regions and countries.

Counting with many intercultural projects and programmes already running, the city joins the RPCI with the view of making equality and diversity advantage a key priority for sustaining its community cohesion, equality, and prosperous development.

Vila Verde >>

About Intercultural Cities

INTERCULTURAL CITIES (ICC) is a Council of Europe capacity-building and policy development programme to support local authorities (across Europe and beyond) in the design and implementation of inclusive integration policies and strategies based on the intercultural integration policy model. Tested with cities and local authorities, the intercultural integration policy model has been endorsed – back in 2015 - by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers through the adoption of a specific Recommendation addressed to the 47 Member States. The recommendation recognises the ICC model as an effective policy approach to amplifying and managing as a resource the socio-economic benefits that diversity brings to European societies.

About the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities

The Portuguese network of Intercultural Cities (RPCI) was set up in 2012, to gather together Portuguese municipalities where the executive and technical staff are committed to actively promote local diversity, welcoming policies and intercultural interaction to ensure every resident feels included in the society. Since 2021, the RPCI is run by RPCI Cooperative, an entity registered under the Portuguese national law. Its main goal is to support cities in reviewing their diversity and inclusion policies through an intercultural lens, and developing comprehensive intercultural strategies to manage diversity positively and realise the diversity advantage.

* The counter does not include the city of Izhevsk (Russian Federation) which has been suspended from the ICC programme following the decision of 2nd March 2022 of the Committee of Ministers to suspend the rights of representation of the Russian Federation in the Council of Europe.