On 26-27 March 2025, 23 members of the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities (ICC) Programme met in Wrocław, Poland, to gain insights and practical knowledge on implementing effective intercultural inclusion policies. This study visit was organised in co-operation with the municipality of Wrocław and the Wrocław Centre for Social Development.

Dorota Feliks, Director of the Wrocław Centre for Social Development, said that "it is a great pleasure to see the positive reaction of the cities to Wroclaw's invitation. We are excited to be hosting members of the ICC Network and sharing our many years of experience in intercultural dialogue and building strong local communities, even though we have joined the network only quite recently."

The visit provided the representatives of ICC members with first-hand experience of Wrocław’s approach to improving inclusion and social cohesion through the creation of spaces and places for interaction between diverse individuals and groups, integration of newcomers, especially Ukrainians, and placemaking. It aimed to increase awareness, improve knowledge, and deepen ICC members’ understanding of the positive impact of the Council of Europe’s approach to intercultural inclusion. In particular, the group learnt about the city strategy currently in development, comprising the three pillars of “Beauty, Wisdom and Security”.  

Th study visit also follows up on the work carried out in the context of the Academy for the Integration of Migrants and Refugees in Polish Cities, in particular the anti-rumours training held in Wrocław with representatives of Polish cities in May 2024. These initiatives represent the Council of Europe’s continuing commitment to member states, including local and regional authorities, to managing the consequences of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The ICC delegation was welcomed by Dr Ryszard Kessler, Deputy Mayor of Wrocław. They heard presentations on how Wrocław had drafted its new strategy for inclusion and good practices for engaging local stakeholders in participation, consultation or co-creation processes for strategies from various departments of the administration. Ewa Gołąb-Nowakowska, Director of the Foreign Relations Office of the Municipality of Wrocław, indicated that “Membership in the Intercultural Cities Programme is for Wrocław not only a platform for strengthening partner ties, but above all a source of inspiration and experience of other cities, for implementing solutions to build a strong and integrated community".

The group visited the district of Four Denominations (District of Mutual Respect) to learn about the first intercultural project in Wrocław focusing on dialogue and cooperation between religious groups through education – learning tolerance through learning about other cultures and traditions. Established in 1995, the District is now a cultural hub hosting artistic events and film festivals.  

On the second day the delegation met at the Passage of Dialogue, an urban space for meetings and social activities in the heart of Wrocław, run by the Wrocław Centre for Social Development. An urban space for social and intercultural activities, meetings, trainings, workshops, it also hosts consultations and meetings for migrants and refugees. In that sense, the Passage of Dialogue has been the main municipal info point hosting Ukrainian refugees since the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022, hosting over 20,000 people in the months following the start of the full-scale invasion.

ICC members exchanged good practices around the topic of creating spaces for and in intercultural local communities in their cities, and also visited several places on the topic of placemaking, among which was the mural “Welcome to Nadodrze”, the NOMADA association, the House of Peace Foundation and the Foundation for Sustainable Development’s  “Ecocentre”.