Starting on Saturday 23 October in the neighborhoods of San Francisco, Zabala and Bilbao La Vieja, the Diversitours-Aniztasuna Tours, consists of intercultural guided tours carried out by neighbours who have been trained to design the route in a participatory manner, and deliver a tour aimed at connecting visitors with the history of the neighborhood and of its diverse community.
Diversitours is a project sponsored by the Intercultural Cities programme that aims to develop alternative and positive narratives about diversity, and foster an open attitude towards migration as a resource. Visitors are brought closer to places and experiences brimming with life and activity that are not often proposed in urban guided tours.
With this programme, "we aim to empower people who are committed to an open, critical, inclusive and intercultural citizenship; it aims to contribute to the fight against negative stereotypes, hate speech and the global rise of extremism", explained City Councillor Itziar Urtasun.
Implemented in cooperation with Koop SF 34, the project Diversitours builds on the experience and knowledge generated by the European Network Migrantour, a European project of social and solidarity tourism present in more than 20 European cities involving community actors to highlight the richness and cultural diversity of cities such as Turin, Milan, Lisbon, Brussels, Marseille, Paris and Barcelona.
The next Diversitours visits will take place on 30 October (fully booked) and 6 November.