On Wednesday, 27 March 2024, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities held the roundtable on “Intercultural Regions: Embracing Diversity”.

The session brought together experts and representatives from different European regions to share insights and good practices related to implementing interculturalism strategies and fostering a more sustainable and inclusive Europe at the regional level.

Voices from Three European Regions

During the session, speakers from Catalonia (Spain), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), and Västerbotten (Sweden) presented their unique intercultural approaches tailored to their specific regional contexts.

• Eunice Romero, General Director on Migration and Anti-Racism in Catalonia, emphasised the need for international cooperation to combat discrimination and promote a person-centred approach, as part of the Intercultural Cities Programme and EU-Belong. They are executing 70 actions against racism and fostering interculturalism across health, labour, education, and security sectors, engaging all governance levels.
• Lia Montalti, Regional Councillor of Emilia-Romagna, shared her region’s best practices for diversity and inclusion, as Emilia-Romagna boasts a high ratio of international residents to Italian citizens. Its triennial integration plan focuses on equity, autonomy, and mobility, addressing digitalisation, competency development, and intercultural skills. Immigration contributes to the region’s stable demographic trajectory, although a housing crisis and unfavourable rental laws remain significant challenges.
• Daniel Sjögren, Chairman of the Arts and Culture Committee of Skellefteå Municipality (Västerbotten), highlighted the abundance of natural resources in the region, which, despite past economic decline, has recently attracted massive investments for a fossil-free industry, creating 50,000 new jobs and rapid growth. With immigration and the Sami people alongside the Swedish majority, he emphasized that failed integration poses significant risks. The Cultural Centre, known for its renowned architecture and inclusive leisure activities, plays a crucial role in fostering diversity and inclusion to retain residents.

AER Secretary General on EU-Belong and the Role of Regions

During the session, AER Secretary General Christian Spahr spoke about the key role regions play in achieving integration in Europe, as well as the organisation’s efforts towards interculturalism, particularly through its ongoing project EU-Belong. The project is funded by AMIF and led by AER in partnership with 10 European regional authorities, and aims to improve the socioeconomic inclusion and sense of belonging of migrants at the regional and local levels across Europe.

“Through the EU-Belong project, the Assembly of European Regions fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange, equipping regions with practical tools to drive innovative policy approaches combatting racism, discrimination, and inequalities.” – AER Secretary General Christian Spahr

Join Our Peer Learning Activities!

The AER and Catalonia are facilitating peer learning and cooperation on using an intercultural approach in sectoral policies through the EU-Belong Transfer Clusters. To learn more about implementing interculturalism across policy areas through multistakeholder collaboration and co-design, or to stay informed about EU-Belong’s activities, such as webinars and the development of pilots, register to the EU-Belong Newsletter and follow us on X/ Twitter at @EU_Belong.

EU-Belong is a 3-year project run by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and 12 partners, and co-funded by the AMIF Programme of the European Union.

This article was written by Nicola Miceli, who did an internship on Policy & Knowledge Transfer at the AER Secretariat from January 2024 to June 2024.