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.
- 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.
- Organisation of capacity-building sessions for regional officials (elected and non-elected).
- Development of regional intercultural strategies.
- 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 contact Emanuela Pisanó [email protected]
News
EU-Belong Final Conference in Strasbourg: A Regional Approach for an Intercultural Europe
On 25 and 26 March 2025, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) hosted the third and final EU-Belong Knowledge Sharing ...
Human Trafficking and Labour Exploitation | Insights from the EU-Belong Webinar
On 7 March 2025, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Government of Catalonia hosted a highly insightful webinar ...
EU-Belong at the Open Doors Podcast: Intercultural Regions, Migration and Belonging
To celebrate World Justice Day 2025, Vania Freitas (AER Secretary General) and Marlen Niubó Edeler (Catalan Coordinator of the Committee ...
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! EU-Belong & DT4E: how intercultural integration can foster successful and sustainable labour migration pathways
On World Migration Day 2024, The Assembly of European Regions is pleased to release an exclusive interview, produced in collaboration ...
EU-Belong & History Box: demonstrating the role of history education in advancing intercultural integration across Europe
On 17 October 2024, Emanuela Pisanó, EU-Belong Project Manager, participated in the final event of History Box, an Erasmus+ funded ...
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! EU-Belong at the European Citizens’ Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society: creating a safe and healthy European society through democratic participation
On 17 May 2024, Emanuela Pisanó, AER European Project Manager, joined the European Citizens' Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society, ...
NEW PUBLICATION! Building Inclusive Societies: Regional strategies for intercultural integration
Co-financed by the EU Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF), the EU-Belong project wants to improve the socio-economic inclusion and ...
Interculturalism: A Strategy for Europe’s Future
On Wednesday, 27 March 2024, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities held the roundtable on "Intercultural Regions: Embracing Diversity" ...
EU-Belong Conference in Donegal | Intercultural Integration: A Shared Journey towards Equality and Belonging
From 19 to 21 March 2024, Donegal, Ireland, hosted the second EU-Belong Knowledge Sharing Event, an inspiring gathering focused on ...
EU-Belong at One Donegal Social Inclusion Week
EU-Belong will organise its second Knowledge Transfer event in Donegal (IE), "Intercultural Integration:A Shared Journey towards Equality and Belonging" on ...
EU-Belong at High Level EU Event
On February 9, AER Secretary General Christian Spahr spoke at the plenary roundtable of the high-level policy forum and ministerial ...
EU-Belong at Conference on Experimenting at Local Level to Improve Participation
On January 25th, EU-Belong Project Manager Emanuela Pisano spoke at the final event of the PISTE project, to share how ...
Addressing racial discrimination in housing: a multi-stakeholder approach | A Recap of the First EU-Belong Webinar
On 23 November, the EU-Belong project hosted its first webinar, focusing on racial discrimination in access to housing through the ...
Inclusion café: Co-design for temporary housing solutions
The first online EU-Belong Inclusion Café took place on 16 October to discuss how to address temporary housing needs in ...
NEW PUBLICATION! Multi-stakeholder model framework and Toolkit for Regional Intercultural Integration Strategies
Co-financed by the EU Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF), the EU-Belong project wants to improve the socio-economic inclusion and ...
AER President and Vice-Presidents highlight Value of Diversity at Includ-EU Final Conference
AER President Albert Castellanos and Vice Presidents Nina Bjørby and Jean-Luc Vanraes underlined the importance of interregional collaboration and whole-of-society ...
EU-Belong Conference in Gdańsk: addressing the housing crisis
The EU- Belong conference that took place in Gdańsk from 14 - 15 June 2023 gathered several stakeholders and civil ...
NEW PUBLICATION! Building Intercultural Competences: A handbook for Regions and Stakeholders
Co-financed by the EU Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF), the EU-Belong project wants to improve the socio-economic inclusion and ...
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, ...
We’re looking for a coach for a one-off online group coaching session in June 2023!
In the context of the Includ-EU project, the Assembly of European Regions is planning an online one-off group coaching session ...
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 ...
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 ...
How To Foster An Intercultural Approach To Education & Training- Highlights From Includ-EU Webinar
On 24 May 2022, AER organised, within the framework of the Includ-EU project and in cooperation with IOM (International Organisation ...
Inclusion, Creativity & Human Potential
Labour participation is an essential building block for inclusion. It has a direct impact on access to housing, wellbeing and ...
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 ...
