The Intercultural Cities (ICC) Programme Annual Report 2023 presents the main events and activities organised last year, as well as the tools and methodologies developed to assist local and regional authorities in Europe and beyond in the design, implementation and review of intercultural policies based on the principles of real equality, valuing diversity, fostering meaningful intercultural interaction as well as active citizenship and participation.

The new ICC Programme Advisory Group gives a stronger role to member cities in the governance of the programme. Ambitious work to improve the functioning of the ICC good practice database, as well as the presentation of ICC resources on the programme’s website, was initiated and will be finalised in 2024.

ICC cities continued supporting Ukrainian counterparts and welcoming people fleeing from Ukraine following the Russian Federation’s military aggression which started in February 2022. More specifically, through an interagency initiative between the CoE-ICC Programme, OSCE-ODIHR, UNHCR and OECD, implemented in cooperation with the Union of Polish Metropolises (UMP), the different international organisations offered a series of training courses for Polish city administrations, preparing them to work with newcomers and addressing the challenges they might encounter while integrating them.

Here are a few highlights from last year:

• 6 new members joined the ICC Network of cities;
• 6 cities have directly benefitted from assessments of their policies and targeted recommendations based on the ICC Index methodology;
• Capacity-building and peer-exchanges between members covered areas such as intercultural integration and welcoming, placemaking, intercultural and inclusive communication, anti-rumours and intercultural competence;
• Key resources have been translated into Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Spanish and Ukrainian thus contributing to the spreading of intercultural principles around the globe.

Annual report 2023 >>