On 14–15 November 2024, the annual meeting of coordinators of the Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Programme (ICC) took place in Braga and Vila Verde (Portugal). Wrocław was represented by staff of the Foreign Cooperation Office and the Wrocław Centre for Social Development.
At the network coordinators’ meeting, the ICC Secretariat reviewed the implementation of the programme in 2024, after which we discussed challenges together and exchanged ideas on future joint work and on ways to strengthen the ICC Programme. Among the good practices discussed, we presented the cooperation between the sister cities of Reykjavík and Wrocław within the joint project Młodzi Liderzy/Young Ambassadors.
In his opening speech, Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga, presented the city’s perspective as an intercultural city. Braga’s residents form a diverse community of nearly 130 nationalities, originating from South America (e.g. Brazil) and North America (USA), Africa, Europe (e.g. Ukraine, Romania and Russia) and Asia (Pakistan), among others, as well as the Roma community. The Mayor of Braga stressed that it is mostly young families who migrate to Braga, which is why the city has made educational and intercultural activities for children and young people its priority.
During the visit to Vila Verde, Júlia Fernandes, Mayor of this charming town, presented traditional Vila Verde embroidery as a tool for intergenerational and intercultural integration. Embroidery is a beautiful and rich tradition of which the town is proud. Together with the Mayor, we had the opportunity to visit the Aliança Artesanal Handicraft Promotion Centre, see embroidered works and observe participants of intercultural workshops at work, embroidering phrases in various languages.
In addition, we made a study visit to the Vila de Prado Cultural Centre, which presented Ciga Giro, a project supporting the Roma community, and took part in workshops on disinformation and building alternative narratives in intercultural cities (led by Claudio Tocchi, ICEI – Istituto Cooperazione Economica Internazional) and on methods supporting the integration of Roma and Travellers, based on the example of Sheffield (led by Terezia Rotas, Welcoming Cultures UK).
We would like to thank the ICC Secretariat and the authorities of Braga and Vila Verde for their hospitality, and all participants for an inspiring meeting and conversations.
The Intercultural Cities Programme (ICC) is a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, launched during the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. It aims to support local authorities in developing and implementing intercultural integration policies. Wrocław has been a member of the ICC network since 2021. Find out more about the programme here.
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