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Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

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Intercultural Regions Network

About

Europe is becoming more diverse. The key to fostering inclusion is adopting an intercultural approach based on strong coordination among all levels of government and other relevant stakeholders. 

Inspired by the Intercultural Cities Programme of the Council of Europe, the Intercultural Regions Network aims to provide a platform for regions to share knowledge, resources and experiences to promote intercultural integration at regional level.

The Network will provide support for regions to design, implement and evaluate diversity and inclusion strategies based on the principles of equal opportunities, recognition of diversity and positive interaction between people from different origins.

Principles and objectives of the Network

  • Guarantee equality of rights and duties for all residents. Regions will work to balance the rights and obligations in guaranteeing equality of rights and obligations for all citizens, and will also work to guarantee access to public services, such as education and health for all citizens, regardless of their administrative situation.
  • Guarantee equality of opportunities for all citizens. Regions will promote social mobility opportunities to ensure all inhabitants have the chance to advance via employment, entrepreneurship, education, voluntary work, political engagement, and cultural pursuits. 
  • Recognize and acknowledge diversity. Regions will promote actions and policies that help all citizens understand the value of diversity, embrace pluralism and deal with difference in a constructive manner. 
  • Promote interaction among all citizens. Regions will facilitate meaningful intercultural dialogue between all citizens, regardless of their country of origin or other elements of identity. 
  • Promote a shared common culture. Regions will promote the creation of a shared public culture based on democratic values, respect, human rights, and also gender equality. 
  • Fight against racism, xenophobia, hate, and any kind of discrimination. Regions will actively fight against all forms of hate violence at all levels. 
  • Work towards increasing the sense of social belonging of all citizens. Regions will work towards achieving that all citizens feel part of the society without having to renounce to their cultural identity. 
  • Involve citizens of diverse background in the decision-making process. Regions will involve all citizens affected by specific public policies, regardless of their origin and nationality, to participate in the design and implementation process, including via modern deliberative and participatory processes. 
  • Work towards full citizenship for all citizens. Regions will actively work to enable all citizens to obtain citizenship in the countries where they are living. 

Roadmap and activities

The activities of the Intercultural Regions Network have been established by the member regions and key actors involved: the Council of Europe and the Assembly of European Regions in synergy with two projects: INCLUD-EU and EU-BELONG.

  1. Development of a generic policy framework and a multi-stakeholder governance model for intercultural integration at the regional level, based on the Principles of the IRN, as well as adapting it to the Intercultural integration policy approach and the Intercultural cities INDEX benchmark to the regional level in order to monitor policy progress.
  2. Organisation of capacity-building sessions for regional officials (elected and non-elected).
  3. Development of regional intercultural strategies.
  4. Embedding regional intercultural strategies in action – commitments by stakeholders.

Members

  • Catalunya (ES)
  • Värmland (SE)
  • Västra Götaland (SE)
  • Västerbotten (SE)
  • Emilia Romagna (IT)
  • Innlandet (NO)
  • Murcia (ES)
  • Navarra (ES)
  • Valencia (ES)
  • Arad (RO)
  • Basque Country (ES)
  • Council of Europe

If you are interested to join our network, please fill in this expression of interest and send it to Vania Freitas [email protected]

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News

A Whole-of-Society Approach to Inclusion

A Whole-of-Society Approach to Inclusion

The Includ-EU Workshop "Whole-of-Society Approach: Cross-sectoral and Multistakeholder collaboration for inclusion" in Cluj-Napoca gathered around 70 representatives from the Netherlands, ...
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EU-Belong: Diversity for Better Inclusion is a Shared Responsibility

EU-Belong: Diversity for Better Inclusion is a Shared Responsibility

On Tuesday 28th March, the EU Committee of the Regions was the setting for an exchange among public authorities and ...
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Interculturalism for Intercultural Regions to be!

Interculturalism for Intercultural Regions to be!

Are you interested in knowing more about how a region can become intercultural and inclusive, yet you missed our first ...
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How will an Intercultural Approach to Migrant Integration help Europe's Regions- The EU-BELONG Project takes off!

How will an Intercultural Approach to Migrant Integration help Europe’s Regions- The EU-BELONG Project takes off!

On 23-24 February, the Assembly of European Regions, together with 14 partners from 8 countries, kicked off EU-Belong, an ambitious ...
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Opportunity: Capacity Building Of City Services For The Inclusion Of Migrants

Opportunity: Capacity Building Of City Services For The Inclusion Of Migrants

Helping city services to fight gender-based violence The EU-funded project Equalcity is supporting local services to better identify, prevent and ...
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AER and Intercultural Regions Network meet with Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson

AER and Intercultural Regions Network meet with Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson

On 10 July, the AER President, Magnus Berntsson, and the Chairs of the Intercultural Regions Network (IRN), Oriol Amorós, Secretary ...
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Intercultural Regions Network set for launch!

Intercultural Regions Network set for launch!

European regions have agreed to establish an Intercultural Regions Network to better work together to develop comprehensive intercultural strategies to ...
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AER Projects

  • Ongoing projects
    • YOUTHopia: Where Cohesion Gets Real For the Next Generation
    • EU-BELONG: An Intercultural Approach to Migrant Integration in Europe’s Regions
    • MEET: Mobilise Europe = Engage Together
    • Includ-EU: Regional and local expertise, exchange and engagement for enhanced social cohesion in Europe
  • Partner search
  • Completed projects
    • SCIROCCO Exchange project
    • SKILLNET – Sector Skills Network of VET centres in Advanced Manufacturing: a coalition of transnational VET providers
    • CUBES – Cultural Administration Boosting with the Engagement of Sustainability for Local Communities
    • Y-FED: Europe is what we make of it
    • AMiD – Access to Services for Migrants with Disabilities
    • AER Summer Academy 2016
    • Alcohol Prevention Peer Reviews
    • ECREIN+
    • Engaged
    • Joint Efforts to Combat Dropout (JET-CD)
    • Let’s REUnite! Together for cohesion project
    • MOCHA
    • MORE4NRG
    • PRESERVE
    • PYE – Promoting Youth Employment
    • PRO-I3T
    • REALM – Regional Adult Learning Multipliers and the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiatives
    • Regions4GreenGrowth
    • Road to the Future
    • SEED European Silver Economy Awards
    • Smart Care
    • Smart Europe
    • YES – Youth Entrepreneurship Strategies

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