Purpose:
Mainstreaming the intercultural perspective into the work of all the districts.
Stimulus/Rationale:
The Barcelona Interculturality Plan (2021-2030) states that Barcelona can only progress towards becoming a more intercultural city based on public policies designed in accordance with principles of equality, acknowledgement of diversity and positive interaction and dialogue if all the city’s areas and districts incorporate this strategic framework and narrative in the design of their policies and lines of action. Otherwise, there is the risk of limiting interculturality to a set of measures promoted by a department, thus diluting their influence on many of the issues that affect progress towards the goals proposed by interculturality.
To this end, and as a strategic framework for action, the Plan considers that it must include a dynamic dimension that enables lines of action to materialise and adapt to each area of action and changes in context. For this reason, the plan implementation involves all the districts outlining their own intercultural action plans for a 2-to-3-year period. These plans would incorporate the lines of action of the Intercultural Plan that apply to their area, but in many cases they will also include other actions that are more specific and relevant to each area.
Process:
From 2018 the BCN Intercultural Programme has encouraged periodic collaborative meetings with the technical area of Barcelona City Council‘s districts in order to promote better policy implementation with regard to diversity with an intercultural perspective. All the districts of the city are invited.
These meetings that are celebrated twice a year (autumn and spring) are focused on specific areas of interest for adding an intercultural perspective to public policies: linguistic diversity education, public participation, etc.
The meetings are divided into two parts: a training part on the different lines of action of the Intercultural Barcelona Plan; a second part to share and exchange experiences and challenges faced between the staff of districts in order to implement the intercultural perspective. These meetings allow participants to catch up with developments and the various districts to share the growing presence and relevance of an intercultural focus and the consolidation of related projects carried out by the districts.
Impact:
Adding the intercultural perspective has enabled cooperation ties with various areas and districts to be established to promote this approach in the various areas of municipal action. This has been possible thanks to the promotion and consolidation of the City Council’s Barcelona Interculturality Programme.
In addition, different successful projects shared in those general meetings have been scaled up and implemented in other areas of the city.
Last, plans have been designed (District Intercultural Action Plans-PAID) with a set of measures aimed at facilitating the incorporation of the intercultural perspective in all District policies. The plans, drawn up on the basis of internal work in the districts themselves, promote institutional change to tackle the structural inequalities that hinder access to rights and public policies on equal terms for the whole of the population of that territory.
Key reference documents:
