Purpose:
INTERCULTURAL NARRATIVES, Lines of Action for Coexistence is a new commitment to consolidate the transversality of the intercultural approach with the commitment of the municipal services and other institutions.
The objective is to produce a transformation in mental frameworks incorporating diversity, through knowledge and shared experience by generating Intercultural Narratives. Awareness-raising, training and dynamisation of professionals and all types of social agents are priority actions. The Network for the Transmission of Positive Values and Messages is the driving force. The INTERCULTURAL NARRATIVES Programme, Lines of Action for Coexistence, is the toolbox.
The four lines of action of the Programme are: awareness and information, training, provision of services and communication and participation. The programme has 4 objectives:
- Promote interculturality as an essential approach for the construction of local public policies.
- To make visible and recognise the intercultural reality and reinforce the values of coexistence, diversity and good neighbourliness.
- Disseminate positive narratives, new messages, and transform negative perceptions. Prevent rumours.
- To provide tools and promote the networking of people and groups working for coexistence and interculturality. The development of the INTERCULTURAL NARRATIVES Programme, Lines of Action for Coexistence, will be the toolbox for working on the management of diversity and coexistence based on rights and duties. A priority objective is to offer training and materials for positive stories, carry out awareness-raising tasks and design communication strategies to improve the functioning and structure of the Anti-Rumour Network. And to favour the relationship and collaboration between the active agents.
Stimulus/Rationale:
In 2014 Santa Coloma de Gramanet City Council created the Xarxa de Transmissió de Valors i Missatges Positius, "The network for the transmission of values and positive messages", whose main objective was to promote awareness of the values of cohesion and coexistence in diversity among citizens. The Network is one of the projects promoted by the Coexistence Service, and is made up of people who want to contribute to establishing a positive framework for coexistence in the city (in 2023, more than 400 people and 70 associations and civic organisations).
The Network set out to reflect on coexistence and diversity, promoting the intercultural approach and actively participated in the design of a new action plan, or an update of the Coexistence Plan (2001).
Process:
The review of the Coexistence Plan (2001), initiated around 2013-2015, culminated in 2018 with the work of diagnosis, reflection and proposals, giving rise to the programme 'INTERCULTURAL NARRATIVES, Lines of action for Coexistence'. The programme represents a qualitative leap in quality and perspective with respect to previous plans and projects and recovers, contextualising, the vision of the Coexistence Plan (2001).
From the end of 2016 to the end of 2017, with the support of the university and consultancy firms, the Service carried out a process of shared diagnosis, debate, reflection and proposals where people, professionals, associations and institutions have been the protagonists of the reconstruction of the collective intelligence of good coexistence.
As part of this participatory process, a meeting was organised in May 2017 with members of La Xarxa and another in June 2017 with professionals and municipal services.
Impact:
The INTERCULTURAL NARRATIVES programme included more than 30 actions to be developed. Applying more or less intensity, according to the available resources, the following actions (results) can be highlighted:
- Training on the intercultural approach and the necessary competencies targeted to entities and associations that are part of the Xarxa de Valors.
- Training through the continuous training programme targeted to the City Council staff:
- Interculturality: conceptual framework and how to implement its principles in the different municipal areas.
- Gender and intercultural perspective.
- From the continuous training with the staff of the administration arose the proposal to incorporate the criteria of interculturality in the bases for granting subsidies. Thus, following the model of incorporating the gender perspective, the inclusion of interculturality as an approach for the construction of socio-cultural programmes by the city's entities was incorporated into the scale for the granting of subsidies.
- Women's group "Conversatorias". Space of women and for (diverse) women: intersectional experience and shared knowledge.
- Quarterly meetings: awareness-raising, training and education (healthy eating and interculturality, feminism, sexual and reproductive health, etc.).
- Meetings for the inclusion of the intercultural perspective in the celebration of March 8 (International Working Women's Day) and November 25 (Day for the elimination of violence against women).
- Involvement in other participation spaces (La Ciba, Consell de les Dones).
- Implementation of the Travel booklet "A necessary journey" to work on the group's biographies: "A necessary journey. Women from around the world live together in Santa Coloma".
- The group participates in the "Study Tuesdays" (University City, University of Barcelona campus, Nutrition and Dietetics) on diversity in relation to healthy eating habits and the impact on women's health, as well as its incidence on preventive medical protocols: pregnancies and others.
- Centres for Coexistence: incorporation of positive management mechanisms in schools, taking into account diversity and the intercultural approach to its attention. Incorporation of anti-rumour strategies and mechanisms to work on critical thinking.
- Coordination seminar: meeting and exchange space between the city's high schools (management teams). It is set up with the collaboration of the Pedagogical Resources Centre to discuss strategies during the school year.
- Inter-centre meetings (3 per year): to work directly, through citizen participation tools, with the youngsters that are part of the Centres for Coexistence project. Between 70 and 80 young people aged from 12 to 18 participate in each meeting.
- Connection and alliances between projects: FAST LISA project (European project for understanding, training and action to fight against discrimination and hate speech online) and Centres for Coexistence project. Implementation of the strategies generated during the development of the FAST LISA project in the framework of the development of the project Centres for Coexistence.
- Construction of communication tools to generate critical thinking, especially targeting young people to fight rumours and build alternative narratives: "The Triple Check", Capgira't, use of memes and moods.
All projects and materials are available on the website.
Key reference documents:
