Purpose: The purpose of this project was to design and test a participatory system of diversity management in the city of Lublin and to learn from the experience of the Swiss canton ofNeuchâtel in this regard. The aim was to set up a comprehensive system which would envisage new or enhanced participation channels, enhanced services for residents (with a special focus for enhancing services for newcomers or minorities) and improved anti-discrimination mechanisms at the local level.
Stimulus/Rationale: The city of Lublin joined the ICC Program as the very first Polish city already in 2008, when the ICC was set up, and wished to learn from the experiences of other ICC cities, particularly when it comes to setting up participatory systems of diversity management. Cooperation was established with the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel and a comprehensive and ambitious project “Lublin 4 all” was set up to allow for peer learning.
Process: The project “Lublin 4 all” was designed and rolled out in collaboration with the cantonof Neuchâtel, as well as ICC experts and staff members of other Polish municipalities, especially Gdańsk. In addition, it involved representatives of different public entities (i.e. various departments of the Municipality of Lublin, the Municipal Family Support Centre, the Municipal and Provincial Police Departments, the Lublin Province Governor’s Office), cultural institutions, religious organisations, and representatives of civil society.
The project implemented between 2012 and 2014 envisaged a number of ambitious smaller sub-projects, creation of a new consultative body and continuous peer-learning from the canton of Neuchâtel.
The main activities in the project included, among others:
- setting up a new Integration Support Group, which coordinated local integration activities undertaken by various municipal departments, NGOs and institutions. This Group was meeting once a month and was later transformed into a Civic Dialogue Committee – a grass root advisory body on local integration policies.
- information and promotion activities, including a website in English and Ukrainian languages and the creation of a municipal Help Desk for Foreigners.
- anti-discrimination projects run by local NGOs.
- The Communication Bridge – a project run jointly with the Applied Linguistics Faculty of the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, offering translation services to the staff of the municipality.
- The “Mystery shopper” sub-project - an assessment of the quality of services provided to foreigners by the staff of the Municipality. This sub-project included preparing mid-term monitoring and final assessment to ensure that lessons learned and proposals on how to improve services provided to foreigners and newcomers are well documented and implementable for the future.
The “Lublin 4 all” Project has also envisaged a number of peer learning opportunities which connected the staff members of the Municiaplity of Lublin and the staff of to the Neuchâtel city.
The collaboration with the canton of Neuchâtel played a fundamental role in the implementation of the “Lublin 4 all” project. In particular, the exchange of experiences and knowledge with the canton’s multicultural cohesion service (Service de la cohésion multiculturelle - COSM) played an important role. COSM is responsible for coordinating the intercultural policy of the Canton of Neuchâtel[BZ1] and implementing federal and cantonal laws on integration of foreigners and fight against racism and discrimination. It is also responsible for coordinating the Cantonal Integration Program (PIC), which establishes the strategic guidelines for promoting integration every four years.
In the framework of the joint project, members of the Lublin’s Integration Support Group met COSM officials and visited organizations and other institutions that collaborate with COSM. This allowed for a fruitful exchange of knowledge and peer learning. Furthermore, as a result of the exchanges with Canton of Neuchâtel, other new initiatives were taken up, including the collaboration with La Lanterne magique, an international cinema club for children and young people, and some forms of collaboration between the Canton of Neuchâtel and Lublin police departments.
Impact: The project allowed for developing new and innovative solutions for implementing the participatory systems of diversity management. The creation of the Integration Support Group offered its members the opportunity to cooperate and to coordinate several initiatives carried out by their respective organizations. The meetings also led to the emergence of new ideas and the implementation of new activities, such as opening a helpdesk for foreign residents within the Lublin City Residents Office.
The exchange of experience and knowledge with the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel and the implementation of peer learning activities allowed Lublin to excel, to become a point of reference within Poland for local integration policies and to obtain several awards for the actions carried out.
