Santa Maria da Feira: Results of the Intercultural Cities Index
Date: October 2016
A comparison between 81 cities[1]

Introduction

The Intercultural Cities is a Council of Europe flagship programme. It seeks to explore the potential of an intercultural approach to integration in communities with culturally diverse populations. The cities participating in the programme are reviewing their governance, policies, discourse and practices from an intercultural point of view. In the past, this review has taken the form of narrative reports and city profiles – a form which was rich in content and detail. However, narrative reports alone were relatively weak as tools to monitor and communicate progress. Thus, an “Intercultural City Index” has been designed as a benchmarking tool for the cities taking part in the programme as well as for future participants.

As of today 81 cities have undergone their intercultural policies analysis using the Intercultural City Index: Amadora (Portugal), Arezzo (Italy), Ballarat (Australia), Barcelona (Spain), Beja (Portugal), Bergen (Norway), Bilbao (Spain), Botkyrka (Sweden), Braga (Portugal),  Bucharest (Romania), Campi Bisenzio (Italy), Cartagena (Spain), Casalecchio di Rena (Italy), Castellón (Spain), Catalonia (Spain), Coimbra (Portugal), Comune di Ravenna (Italy), Constanta (Romania), Copenhagen (Denmark), Donostia-San Sebastian^[2] (Spain), Dortmund (Germany), Dublin (Ireland), Duisburg (Germany), Erlangen (Germany), Forli (Italy), Fucecchio (Italy), Fuenlabrada (Spain), Geneva (Switzerland), Genoa (Italy), Getxo (Spain), Haifa(Israel), Hamburg (Germany), Ioannina (Greece), Izhevsk (Udmart Republic, Russia), Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), the London borough of Lewisham (United Kingdom), Limassol (Cyprus), Limerick (Irland), Lisbon (Portugal), Lodi (Italy), Logroño (Spain), Lublin (Poland), Melitopol (Ukraine), Mexico City (Mexico), Montreal (Canada), Munich (Germany), the canton of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), Neukölln (Berlin, Germany), Novellara (Italy), Offenburg (Germany), Olbia (Italy), Oslo (Norway), the district of Osmangazi in the province of Bursa (Turkey), Parla (Spain) Patras (Greece), Pécs (Hungary), Pryluky (Ukraine), Reggio Emilia (Italy), Reykjavik (Iceland), Rijeka (Croatia), Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Sabadell (Spain), San Giuliano Terme (Italy), Santa Coloma (Spain), Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal), Unione dei Comuni-Savignano sul Rubicone^[3] (Italy), Sechenkivsky (District of Kyiv, Ukraine), Senigallia (Italy), Stavanger (Norwey), Strasbourg (France), Subotica (Serbia), Sumy (Ukraine), Tenerife (Spain), Tilburg (The Netherlands), Turin (Italy), Turnhout (Belgium), Unione Terre dei Castelli^[4] (Italy), Valletta (Malta), Västerås (Sweden), Vinnitsa(Ukraine) and Zurich (Switzerland).

Among these cities, 44 (including Santa Maria) have less than 200,000 inhabitants and 47 (including Santa Maria) have less than 15% of foreign-born residents.

This document presents the results of the Intercultural City Index analysis for Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal) in 2016 and provides related intercultural policy conclusions and recommendations.

Intercultural city definition

The intercultural city has people with different nationality, origin, language or religion/ belief. Political leaders and most citizens regard diversity positively, as a resource. The city actively combats discrimination and adapts its governance, institutions and services to the needs of a diverse population. The city has a strategy and tools to deal with diversity and cultural conflict. It encourages greater mixing and interaction between diverse groups in the public spaces.

Methodology

The Intercultural City Index analysis is based on a questionnaire involving 73 questions grouped in 11 indicators with three distinct types of data. Indicators have been weighed for relative importance. For each indicator, the participating cities can reach up to 100 points (which are consolidated for the general ICC Index).

These indicators comprise: commitment; education system; neighbourhoods; public services; business and labour market; cultural and civil life policies; public spaces; mediation and conflict resolution; language; media; international outlook; intelligence/competence; welcoming and governance. Some of these indicators - education system; neighbourhoods; public services; business and labour market; cultural and civil life policies; public spaces are grouped in a composite indicator called “urban policies through the intercultural lens” or simply “intercultural lens”.

The comparison between cities is strictly indicative, given the large difference between cities in terms of historical development; type and scale of diversity, governance models and level of economic development. The comparison is based on a set of formal criteria related to the intercultural approach in urban policies and intended only as a tool for benchmarking, to motivate cities to learn from good practice.

Taking into account the above-mentioned differences between the cities and a growing number of new cities willing to join the Intercultural Cities Index, it has been decided to compare the cities not only within the entire sample, but also according to specific criteria. Two of these have been singled out insofar: the size (above or below 200,000 inhabitants) and the percentage of foreign-born residents (higher or lower than 15 per cent). It is believed that this approach would allow for more valid and useful comparison, visual presentation and filtering of the results.

According to the overall index results, Santa Maria da Feira has been positioned 66th among the 81 cities in the sample, with an aggregate intercultural city index of 45%, after Cartagena (46%) and before Beja (45%). Santa Maria da Feira has been ranked 34th among cities with less than 200,000 inhabitants and 33rd among cities with less than 15% of foreign-born residents.

 

 

Santa Maria da Feira – An overview

Santa Maria da Feira is a Portuguese municipality located in the district of Aveiro, in the northwest of the country. Together with Santa Maria, the municipality comprehends two more cities: Fiães and Lourosa.

Economically, the city of Santa Maria is important for its cork transforming and shoe factories. Whereas historically, it is known for its medieval castle which was the residence of the first king of Portugal Alfonso Henriques. This historic background gave birth to a medieval festival that brings back the city to the Middle Ages. 

According to the 2011 census, the municipality counts a total of 139.312 inhabitants, out of which 1.033 people (hence the 0,74% of total population) have a foreign background. Furthermore, the questionnaire indicates that the majority ethnic groups are Brazilians (0,26%) and Ukrainians (0,21%).

The Purchasing Power for Santa Maria in 2013 was the 84,7% whereas in Portugal for the same year was the 100,00%.

1.   Commitment

 

The optimal intercultural city strategy would involve a formal statement by local authorities sending an unambiguous message of the city's commitment to intercultural principles as well as actively engaging and persuading other key local stakeholders to do likewise.

Santa Maria’s rate in the area of Commitment is considerably higher than the city sample. In fact, while the Portuguese city scored the 86%, the city sample scored the 72%.

The city has formally and publically stated its participation in the Intercultural Cities network and has adopted an integration strategy program establishing a Department whose aim is to encourage intercultural integration. This department is called “Social Action and Quality of Life Division and Presidency – CLAIM[5]: local center to Support the integration of migrants”. In order to facilitate immigrants’ integration into the municipality, the city in 2002 created a project called “Project for Fighting Poverty”. The same year, the city promoted the EQUAL project, whose objectives are the promotion of social inclusion in the Portuguese society and the professional integration of migrants in the shoe industry (through a partnership with the Development Footwear Technology Centre, a private company, and a non-profit social Institution, the Associação Pelo Prazer de Viver).

In 2005, the city created the Association of Immigrants called Druzhba and the following year Santa Maria joined the Platform on Immigrant Hosting and Integration Policies strengthening the connections between minorities and the municipality. Ever since then, the city has been very active in the promotion of social inclusion, for instance promoting business investments in the countries of origin of migrants. Lastly, the city in 2016 joined the RMAD, a network of municipalities friends of migrants and diversity.

The city has allocated an annual budget for the implementation of the intercultural strategy and it comprehends several festivals and initiatives. For example, it includes the activities CLAIM and GACE and the events: Medieval Journey and IMAGINARIUS (the largest street art festival in Portugal).

Positively, public speeches often refer to the intercultural commitment during public meetings and assemblies. The city stays connected with its inhabitants through social networks (i.e. Facebook) and the official municipality website; these useful tools allow inhabitants and newcomers to find information about the municipality. In the official webpage, Santa Maria da Feira de Feira states:

The Municipality’s relationship with its emigrant and immigrant diaspora is fundamental for attracting a young, highly qualified population that can contribute for the Municipality’s economic growth, by applying ethnic knowledge, diversified skills, entrepreneurship and inherent competences. Santa Maria da Feira acknowledges that diversity is an advantage that can improve productivity, creativity, innovation and efficiency in companies and cities[6]. 

The city has a dedicated body responsible to implement intercultural strategies and in order to strengthen the feeling of self-confidence and openness to ensure peace and mutual understanding the city has organized ceremonies and activities to encourage interculturalism. In fact, since 2009 Santa Maria da Feira Social Network promotes the Awards Solidarity, which aims to honor organizations or institutions which, by their actions, innovations and good practices contribute to the promotion of cohesion and social development of the municipality.

The city could combine the Awards Solidarity with the good practice carried out in Genoa where the Institute of Research MEDI, specialized in migration and interculturality, organizes an award called “Premio Mondi Migranti” (Migrating Worlds’ Award). This prize is awarded to personalities who have had a positive impact on issues related to migration, globalization and intercultural relations.

Furthermore, Santa Maria da Feira could consider following Ballarat’s initiative of establishing a Multicultural Ambassadors’ Program (MAP) that establishes a strong link between Council and the multicultural Community. In fact, Multicultural Ambassadors will implement special projects in line with Council’s People and Communities Division strategic goals, they will be champions for their existing communities and will engage citizens’ participation in workplaces, interest, social, religious and recreation groups, as well as in schools and community groups. To the present date, a total of 50 Multicultural Ambassadors have been appointed by the Council to the said role.    

2. Education[7] policies through an intercultural lens

School has a powerful influence in society and has the potential to either reinforce or challenge prejudices in a number of ways through the social environment it creates, the guidance it provides and the values it nurtures.

The analysis shows that Santa Maria da Feira’s education policy achievement rate is the 50%, lower than the city sample rate of 66%.

In most primary schools, children are of the same ethnic background, and teacher’s ethnic backgrounds rarely mirror pupils’. On the bright side, most schools make strong efforts to enhance parents’ participation in the education system. For example, schools try to include the Romani Community in Argoncilhe. In order to increase parents’ participation, perhaps schools could try to communicate with parents in their mother tongue, perhaps handing out flyers or with the support of translators.

However, schools often carry out intercultural projects. One of this project is called “The school we have & the school we want”, funded by the European Union, directed to school management members, members of the general councils, department coordinators, cycle coordinators, teachers of the subject areas of mathematics, teachers wishing to develop ICT, foreign language teachers and special education teachers.

Another great project is IOS - Improving Our Skills that aims to achieve the following objectives:

·         Contribute to training the staff of the Adult Education and Training;

·          Focusing on strategic training for their management and direction of middle management and teachers in order to obtain up more enhancers changing results;

·         Empower organizations and their employees, for the acquisition and consolidation of skills in the adult education, European citizenship, intercultural, employment and community development;       

·         Improve the level of fundamental skills and abilities, particularly as regards its relevance to the labor market and its contribution to a cohesive society, in particular by increasing mobility opportunities in learning and by strengthening cooperation between the world of education and training and the world of work;

·         Promoting language skills;     

·         Disseminate international best practices, creating dynamic sites likely to generate innovation, opportunity, and quality projects for the community and audiences.

Unfortunately, schools in Santa Maria do not have a policy to increase cultural/ethnic mixing in schools.

In order to improve this field, the municipality could be inspired by Genoa’s initiatives. In Genoa, in fact, schools organize a wide range of activities: The Christmas markets, where children can do arts and crafts, old clothes and various items are sold for charity. The organization called Daneo organizes music classes, sportive activities and other extracurricular activities together with various volunteering activities. Moreover, two choirs have been successfully established.

Another excellent initiative comes from the Australian city of Ballarat and it is called “Racism: it stops with me” created by Councilor Belinda Coates. The campaign invites all Australian to reflect on what they can do to encounter racism whenever it may happen. Similarly, the Intercultural City of Erlangen organizes the network “Schulen ohne Rassimus – Schulen mit Courage” (schools without racism – schools with courage). This network is the biggest school association in Germany and comprehend more than 1.000 schools, all of them with the same purpose: discourage any form of racism or discrimination. Throughout the year, schools carry out projects and events aiming to enhance social inclusion raising awareness on this delicate topic. Another similar initiative comes from Reggio Emilia (Italy) and it is called “Due calci al razzismo” (2 kicks against racism). This the sports event (5-a-side football) is organised every year in November at the Palazzetto dello Sport. Organised since 2006 in collaboration with sports associations (Uisp). Participants include representatives from the various minority communities, the police force, Italian and/or foreign women, disabled individuals, local administrators, youth from secondary schools etc.

3. Neighbourhood policies through an intercultural lens[8]       

An intercultural city does not require a “perfect statistical mix" of people and recognises the value of geographical proximity and bonding between people of the same ethnic background. However, it also recognises that spatial ethnic segregation creates risks of exclusion and can act as a barrier to an inward and outward free flow of people, ideas and opportunities.

Santa Maria’s neighbourhood policy indicators are the 50%, lower than the city sample’s rate of 63%.

In the city there are no areas where people from a minority ethnic group represent the majority of residents and, as the questionnaire states, the municipality doesn’t need to promote activities to mix citizens from different areas. Equally, the city does not have a policy to increment the diversity of residents in the neighbourhoods.

However, it might be worth remembering that even if at the moment the population is equally distributed in the city, the situation might change. It would be a good idea if the municipality could start organizing activities to increment the diversity of residents in the neighbourhoods. For instance, in order to avoid ethnic concentration and to encourage social cohesion, Santa Maria da Feira could follow Limassol’s example where The Euromed Festival aims to gather people together through folkloristic dancing and exhibitions. Another activity carried out in Limassol is the “Social Work on the Road” programme that started in 2010 and since then it aims to prevent criminality, especially among young people. This programme follows the following steps:

-      Raise awareness on the danger of drug and alcohol abuse

-      Psychological support, e.g. prevent teenagers from dropping school, family support

-      Fight against unemployment

Alternatively, Parla’s “Equipo de Mediación Vecinal” (team of local mediation) is responsible for the organization of events and meetings. Moreover, the “Equipo” offers a safe and welcoming place where all the citizens can talk and share their problems and/or concerns while getting to know each other creating connections. In addition, the team enhances the link between new/developing areas (such as Barrio de Parla Este) with more “aged” districts.

Many initiatives can be implemented to bring people together, it is important to ensure that all generations, cultures and genders are equally involved in the integration process. For this reason, the Portuguese city could look up at the Villa centre in the city of Erlangen. This centre is an intercultural meeting place for people of all ages and backgrounds that offers an extensive programme that comprehends a wide range of events: Sunday brunches, juggling and painting, women conversation groups, etc. For the youngest the centre organizes the Universal Children’s Day where children will have fun in the city playground.

4. Public service policies through an intercultural lens  

        

        

An optimal intercultural approach remains open to new ideas, dialogue and innovation brought by or required by minority groups, rather than imposing a “one size fits all" approach to public services and actions.

Santa Maria da Feira’s public service is the 45%, only one point higher than the city sample, whose rate is the 44%.

The ethnic background of public employees does not reflect the composition of the city's population and the city does not have a recruitment plan. We warmly recommend the city to introduce a plane to increase migrant/minority representation at higher hierarchical levels.

Positively, non-Portuguese people can be employed in public administration and the municipality takes action to encourage mixing in the private sector. For instance, the Municipality is involved in the project Casa dos Choupos, a Multisectorial Solidarity that takes care of international relations and comprehends the ALPE (the Local Agency in favour of Employment and Financial department).

Santa Maria provides funeral sevices and burial areas to suit the different needs of its multi-religious community. However, the city should guarantee the offer of the following services: Schools’ canteens should provide different meals to mirror pupils’ alimentary needs and sportive facilities should have women-only time schedules in order to suit the needs of women with specific necessities. For instance, in Erlangen, the BIG-Projekt fosters intercultural sporting engagement and there are female-only swimming days in the public swimming pools.

Santa Maria might wish to look up to Barcelona that has the objective to promote mutual acknowledgement, interaction and exchange through intercultural subsidies, such as festivals (also adopting migrants’ holidays), art exhibitions and workshops, etc. For what concerns sports, Barcelona facilitates the inclusion of boys and girls in regulated sports, promoting changes in current legislation that may hinder the participation of foreign youngsters. It promotes projects based on sport that encourage interaction between young people from different origins, especially in the urban areas that have the biggest immigrant populations and the highest risk of isolation or segregation.

Another example comes from the Spanish city of Getxo that organizes a Street Culture Day to promote social cohesion and encourage immigrants' integration through sportive activities; combined to this, the International Folk Festival, where music promotes interaction between people from different cultural backgrounds, celebrating cultural diversity with folk music.

5. Business and labour market policies through an intercultural lens

Santa Maria’s rate of achievement in this area is the 40%, only one point higher compared to the city sample’s rate of 41%.

Santa Maria does not have a business umbrella organisation to promote diversity and non-discrimination in the employment; and it does not have a charter or another document against ethnic discrimination.

However, the municipality encourages the cross relation between all nature of business as there is no distinction between ethnic business from mainstream business. However, the municipality is beginning to facilitate businesses with migrant, youth and women fostering relations with other European cities that have already experienced diversity advantage. On this purpose, Santa Maria is a partner of the project MATCH coordinated by the MPG. The Municipal sectors involved in this project are: Casa dos Choupos and Social Solidarity (that involves international relations and the ALPE – Local Employment Agency and Financial Department).

In order to to encourage differnet cultures to mix, a business incubator has been established. In fact, they are involved in two projects and are partner with the Council of Europe project “Rating Diversity” and “Diverse Incubators”. It is worth noticing that these two projects will also aim to give priority to companies with a diversity strategy.

In order to improve the level of interculturality in the field of Business and labour market, the municipality should strengthen the collaboration with local businesses in the promotion of diversity and equal opportunity in employment.

Several initiatives can be implemented to provide cultural awareness in the workplace, for instance, the Norwegian city of Oslo aims to bring diversity into the Norwegian business. In fact, Oslo’s City Council’s Office for Business Development has taken an active stance on integrating minority businesses. Similarly, in Bergen, another Intercultural Norwegian city, several policies are encouraging international cooperation by supporting local universities to attract foreign students. International students are then invited to take actively part in the city life.

6. Cultural and civil life policies through an intercultural lens

The time which people allocate to their leisure may often be the best opportunity for them to encounter and engage with inhabitants from a different culture. The city can influence this through its own activities and through the way it distributes resources to other organisations

Santa Maria’s achievement for cultural and civil life policy is the 44%, lower than the cities average of 76%.

Interculturalism is not used as a criterion when allocating grants to associations, but the city regularly organises art and cultural events:

-      Imaginarius and the Medieval Journey in the Land of Santa Maria are two events that promote the intercultural interaction between foreign art companies, schools and local NGOs.

-      To celebrate the Intenational Day of Peace, the 20 and 21 september 2016, the Palestinian company Freedom Theatre (FT) performed in Santa Maria the theatre pièce: "Return to Palestine" and organized the workshop "Theatre for Change". In addition, the company organized a meeting on the subject of “Life in Palestine and Refugees”  where all the attendees had a chance to share their opinions and experiences on Palestinian Refugees.

The city occasionally organises public debates on the topic of cultural diversity. However, trainings and campaings to raise awareness on interculturality are addressed to local NGOs and municipal staff:

-      In September 2015, a special meeting of the Local Council for Social Action was held, in order to discuss, raise awareness and create consensus among partners within the framework of the process for receiving refugee/migrant citizens in our Municipality. 60 bodies attended this meeting.

-      In February 2016, a partnership with the local NGO Associação Rosto Solidário and the City Council organized two workshops called “Understanding” that focused on the reception of refugees. These meetings involved a wide range of participants: youth leaders, scouts, volunteers and professionals in the field of social and human sciences.

-      In March 2016, the VI Meeting of the Portuguese Intercultural Cities Network, entitled “Migrations and Development” with the CoE Expert Oliver Freeman was held. This meeting foucsed on the contribution of the immigrant business success from the country of origin.

To encourage people to take part in the civil life, the city of Santa Maria could look up to Erlangen, where public debates on the subject of harmony and coexistence are regularly organised. Erlangen has published the brochure “Von Integration zu Vielfalt – kommunale Diversitätspolitik in der Praxis “(from integration to diversity – local diversity policy in practice”, this document shows the activities that will take place in the city and highlight the importance of multiculturalism. Other points of interest: the city organises intercultural workshops for trainees, experts, managers and gives support to increase the number of employees with an immigrant background; the municipality aims to encourage newly arrived citizens to take part in the decision making process and in the political life of the city.

7. Public space policies through an intercultural lens    

Well managed and animated public spaces can become beacons of the city’s intercultural intentions. However, badly managed spaces can become places of suspicion and fear of the stranger.

The rate of achievement of Santa Maria’s public space policy is the 44%, lower than the city sample’s rate of 64%.

In Santa Maria, the public spaces involved in the process of interculturality are: schools playgrounds and event squares, where the main events (Imaginarius, Medieval Journey, Perlim) are held.

The interesting projets Sun in the Community aims to gather together Roma people; whereas the Outside Doors is an initiative that brings together natiolans intercultural projects whose aim is to sell self-made products while encouraging citizens to interact.

Despite these excellent projects, the city does not take into account the ethnic/cultural backgrounds when designing and managing a new public building or space. Similarly, when the city authorities decide to reconstruct an area, they don’t consult people with different ethnic/cultural backgrounds. The municipality of Santa Maria could look up to Ballarat, where it is a standard operating procedure to consult various communities prior to the design and management of public spaces. For example, the redevelopment of the Civic Hall took three years of consultation and made use of various methodologies to reach out to people in order to solicit ideas and consensus prior to planning implementation.

Positively, there are no areas which are dominated by one minority ethnic group and there are no areas defined as “dangerous”.

To increment its cultural activities, the city could look up to the following Intercultural Cities’ programmes: 

Tenerife carries out an event to promote diversity: it is called "Isla Forum Tenerife in the world". The main objective is to enhance the brand of the island of Tenerife as cultural diverse, for his close ties with Europe, Latin America and Africa. Exhibitions, public debates, courses, seminars and conferences are organised in order to raise awareness of the cultures of different countries and the mixture between them. In the framework of this initiative, the municipality stages also special days, meetings and festivals related to diversity and living together and occasionally encourages cultural organisations to deal with diversity and intercultural relations in their productions, for example in the cinematographic sector. The “carnival” celebration of the island is also a great event in which interculturalism is promoted.

In Genoa it is organized the festival “Mediterraneo Antirazzista “(Mediterranean against racism). This festival lasts about 3 days and promotes equality and respect. During these days the festival hosts: tournaments of football and volleyball, concerts, entertainment for children, photographic exhibitions etc. together with this festival, the Uisp (Italian sport organization) organizes a soccer tournament called Cartellino rosso al razzismo! Red Card to Racism! This tournament gathers together 24 teams, players are encouraged to play in a climate of friendship and harmony.

8. Mediation and conflict resolution policies

 

The optimal intercultural city sees the opportunity for innovation and greater cohesion emerging from the very process of conflict mediation and resolution.

Santa Maria’s mediation and conflict resolution policy achievement in 2016 corresponds to the 38%, wheras the average of the cities taking part in the programme is higher: the 65%.

The city provides a general mediation service with specialized staff, who also deal with cultural conflicts and whose aim is to find conflict solutions for each individual when problems arise. Moreover, intercultural mediation is provided in specialised institutions such as: hospitals, police, youth clubs, mediation centres, retirement homes etc.

The city should consider establishing an inter-religious organization capable to deal with religious conflicts. Perhaps the city of Santa Maria could look up to Ballarat whose Mayor has been hosting interfaith dialogues with various faith leaders in the Grampians region. Another interesting practice from Ballart involves the Police force. In fact, it would appear that Victoria Police in Ballarat works closely with the Council in relation to mediation for general purposes covering neighbourhoods, streets and both actively seeking to meet residents to discuss problems and possible solutions to issues.  Moreover, Victoria Police has allocated a Cultural Diversity Officer who is in charge of meeting/coordinating/working with various groups, agencies and organizations to discuss concerns and that relate to indigenous and multicultural affairs 

Santa Maria might wish to consider following Berlin-Neukölln initiative “Good Daughters – Good Sons” that get young people to understand conflicts while trying to find creative solutions to counteract violence and inter-ethnic conflicts. In fact, it would appear that there is great concern that violence is becoming increasingly prevalent particularly amongst young people, and this might – if not handled well – also develop an ethnic complexion. The work being undertaken to address this is impressive, for example the opening of a neighbourhood conflict mediation centre in Richardplatz; the theatre project ‘Good daughters – good sons’ designed to get young people to understand how conflicts can start.

Instead, Reggio Emilia has set a centre to mediate and to prevent and solve conflicts. The intercultural centre “Mondinsieme” welcomes a great variety of ethnic and language backgrounds and offers support and assistance. For example, the Mondinsieme has great expertise in training mediation workers and supplies staff for schools and hospitals. Reggio Emilia has established an Intercultural centre with trained mediators with a variety of ethnic and language backgrounds who intervene whenever they feel a problem might arise – for instance if kids in some schools tend to cluster too much on ethnic basis.

9. Language[9]

Santa Maria’s language policy achievement rate is lower than the city sample. In fact, while the Portuguese municipality scored the 36%, the city sample rate is the 49%.

The city supports and provides specific language trainings in official language(s) for hard-to-reach grous, such as non-working mothers, unemployed, retired people, etc. one of this programs is called “Portugues for All” and it is a partnership between: CLAIM, ALPE and IEFP.

To improve in the language field, the city could support and encourage the development of minority languages on a local level. For instance, it could financially support minority newspaper and/or radio and TV programmes in a minority language like the Intercultural Cities of Arezzo and Ballarat, In fact, Arezzo’s weekly newspaper Piazza Grande has a Romanian column, moreover, the channel Tele San Domenico (TSD) shows the news in several languages. Instead, Ballarat has a collaboration with the 99.9 Voice FM – Ballarat Community Radio. Today, the radio station offers a weekly radio program to be conducted by the Multicultural Ambassadors in minority languages.

Positively, Santa Maria seeks to give a positive image of migrants and/or their minority language. On this purpose, the city could consider celebrating the international mother tongue day, and maybe involving libraries.

Libraries play a fundamental role in promoting a positive image of minority languages. Some Intercultural Cities developed the following good practices:

The Ballarat municipality organizes a Poetry Festival called “Poetenfest” where there are readings and poetry presentations in mother tongue, e.g. presented by refugees in Farsi, Arabic, Kurdish e.g.       
For children aged 3-5 years ‘Little Languages Storytime’ is driven every Tuesday during the school term and the concept is to open a magic suitcase to find out the country that will be visited for the day. Vicarious activities specific to the identified country includes: singing, dancing and creating special things from around the world. Another Library activity carried out in Ballarat that has been popular to migrant men and women is the ‘Cook Book Chat” which is a delicious monthly meeting to discuss food and food writing.  This group chat activity is open to a discussion on all things food from Agnes Jekyll, Claudia Roden, and Mrs Beeton to the Naked Chef.

In Tenerife the “Salon del Libro Africano” (African book Salon) aims to discover African culture. Similarly, other cultural activities are led. For example, the “Festival del Cine Polaco” offers a unique opportunity to discover Polish culture through movies and documentaries.

10. Media policies

 

The media has a powerful influence on the attitudes to cultural relations and upon the reputations of particular minority and majority groups. Local municipalities can influence and partner with local media organisations to achieve a climate of public opinion more conducive to intercultural relations.

Santa Maria da Feira media policy in 2016 is the 0%, a very low result compared to the 46% achieved by the city sample.

The city does not promote a positive image of immigrants and/or minorities in the media and it does not provide support for advocacy and/or media training to mentor journalists with minority background.

In order to promote interuclturality in the media, the city could adopt a communication plan, promoting engagement between citizens and local stakeholders and authorities. Perhaps the city might find useful the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to transmit messages and to keep citizes constantly updated on the latests news.

The Municipality should also monitor how minorities are portrayed in the media, highlighting diversity as an advantage and not as a deficit, raising awareness and providing support for advocacy and/or media training to mentor journalists with minority background.

In order for the media to pass a positive image of migrants and minorities, the city could organise an anti-rumour campaign, to raise awareness and to foster dialogue and mutual understanding.

For example, in 2010 Barcelona started carrying out the BCN Anti-Rumour campaign to combat negative and unfounded rumours that have an adverse effect on living in diversity, based on working in conjunction with different social actors and organizations. A part of this campaign has been substantial press coverage. Another good example comes from Oslo, where there has been establishedan internet service, called “Cultural diversity in the media” informing on concerts, exhibitions and festivals organized by artists with minority backgrounds. This pro-diversity coverage of the cultural scene is reflected in the local media (newspapers, radio, local TV). Among journalists and editors, and media researches, there is a growing awareness about the role of the media in promoting cohesion and presenting news in a responsible and intercultural way. This has resulted in a stronger focus on the recruitment of journalists with ethnic minority background. The municipality runs its own publication – “Oslo Now” – which is distributed freely to every household in the city. The Office of diversity and integration runs an internet based newsletter – the “OXLO bulletin”. The municipality sponsors an event called “Top 10”, which each year celebrates and profiles the ten most successful immigrants in Norway, in business and work, academia and media, culture and civic life.

11. International outlook policies

An optimal intercultural city would be a place which actively sought to make new connections with other places for trade, exchange of knowledge, as well as tourism.

For the indicator of an open and international outlook, the city of Santa Maria achieved the 83%, higher than the city sample's rate of 72%.

The city has adopted a specific economic policy to foster international cooperation towards an economic sustainability, has specific financial provisions and encourages universities to attract foreign students and encourages them to take part in the city life and to stay after the end of the study. However, it has not established an agency responsible to supervise and encourage the city to start international businesses, emphasizing how important it is for the city to be open to international connections.

It is worth noticing that here in Santa Maria diversity and migration are perceived as a window to explore new opportunities and new markets. The municipality is planning the launch of an online platform that will link local business owners of all backgrounds with the Portuguese diaspora and with the countries of origin of local immigrants. The launch of this platform is the culmination of a number of initiatives that reach out through business partnerships. The municipality has regular business exchanges with Kenitra, in Morocco. The partnership, made possible thanks to the presence of Moroccan nationals in Santa Maria da Feira, started with a visit by a Kenitra delegation in 2012. Since then, a number of protocols between the two municipalities have been signed, in addition to the private sector business relations established.

To improve in this field, Santa Maria could look into Barcelona initiative “Do It in Barcelona”. This programme comprehends a multitude of initiatives whose goals are: 1) to strengthen the city’s competitiveness; 2) Incorporate new methodologies into existing entrepreneurial support programmes that allow people with a business background in their home country to make the most of their experience; 3) Support the creation of intercultural teams to develop business efficiency and productivity; 4) Support initiatives aimed at finding multi-linguistic solutions; 5) Support the creation of social networks that encourage the integration of new residents into the city and that also make it possible to establish economic bridges with their home countries.

12. Intelligence competence policies

A competent public official in an optimal intercultural city should be able to detect and respond to the presence of cultural difference, and modulate his/her approach accordingly, rather than seeking to impose one model of behaviour on all situations.

The attainment rate of Santa Maria da Feira in the field of intercultural intelligence competence policy in 2016 is of the 36%, lower compared to the city sample’s rate of 64%.

According to the answers provided in the questionnaire, Santa Maria only sometimes encourages and publicizes the City Council to mainstream the flow of information in the process of policy formulation. In addition, the city never undertakes surveys to inquire on community perceptions about diversity.

The city fosters intercultural competences through interdisciplinary seminars and networks, however it might be a good idea to promote also courses and trainings.

The Romanian Intercultural City of Constanta, for example, has put into practice a number of policy initiatives to encourage international cooperation. In particular, it has set up an agency responsible for monitoring and developing the city’s openness to international connections. It has initiated projects and policies to encourage economic co-development with countries of origin of its migrant groups.

Equally important, the intercultural city of Bergen (Norway) has developed interdisciplinary seminars, workshops and courses to improve intercultural competences of its officials and staff. Combined to these courses, the city also conducts surveys to find out how inhabitants perceive migrants/minority groups.

13. Welcoming policies

People arriving in a city for an extended stay (whatever their circumstances) are likely to find themselves disorientated and in need of multiple forms of support. The degree to which these measures can be co-coordinated and delivered effectively will have a significant impact on how the person settles and integrates.

The attainment rate of Santa Maria welcoming policy is the 65%, higher compared to the 54% of the City’s sample.

The city has not established an office to welcome migrants and newcomers to the city, but it has provided a comprehensive city-package of information and assistance in support to newly arrived residents.

The city supports and welcomes specific categories of newly arrived, such as students, refugees and migrant workers; the CLAIM network (Local Centers to Support Immigrants’ Integration) is creating cultural and linguistic bridges with its customers is the central mission of the CLAIM network (Local Centers to Support Migrants’ Integration) and of the GAEI (Offices of Specialized Support to Immigrants), established in 2003 to facilitate the immigrant integration.

It is extremely positive that the city organizes a special public ceremony to greet newcomers. The Instituto Superior de Entre Douro e Vouga (ISVOUGA) teaches courses in the areas of Business Sciences, Communication Sciences, Legal Sciences and Technologies. Plus, ISVOUGA has a team prepared to help Erasmus students to look for accommodation, integration and study follow up.

On this purpose, the city could take example from Sabadell, where the city publically celebrates the arrival of new comers and it offers various services to sustain and welcome the following categories: family members, students, refugees, and migrant workers.

In order to help migrants and newly arrived, Santa Maria could follow Ballarat’s  interesting activity of the Migrant Morning Tea: every day these morning teas have helped establish friendships across cultures, provided settlement information to new migrants regarding assistance that may be available.

In addition, Bergen municipality has established an Introduction Center for refugees, schools, health stations, schools and other public and private sectors. It acts as a link between the different migrant groups and the public sector, sharing experiences and expertise on issues in regards to integration, community empowerment etc. A good example is a collaboration they had with a hospital that once wanted to raise awareness on diabetes through offering courses to immigrants, as Diabetes was prevalent among migrants. They had challenges getting people to register for the courses and took contact with the organization for a collaboration and help on how to plan the course. Together, they organized the course at EMPO with a very good turn up. The multicultural staff played a very important role to pass on the information.

14. Governance of diversity

Perhaps the most powerful and far-reaching actions which a city can take in making it more intercultural are the processes of democratic representation and citizen participation in decision-making.

The attainment rate of Santa Maria da Feira in the field of governance is of 20%, lower than the city sample’s rate of 34%.

Newcomers can vote after three years of residence; however, politicians’ ethnic background dos not reflect the composition of the city population. Moreover, the city has not established a political body that represents migrants and minorities neither has a standard for the representation of minorities in boards supervising schools and public services. We warmly recommend the city to establish some initiatives to engage minorities and migratns in the polical life of the city.

For instance, in Ballart the “Intercultural Advisory Committee” (IAC) is made up of migrants and/or minorities leaders of their organizations as well as members from relevant public institutions, organizations and experts.     

In order to improve the field of governance, the city could look up to London Lewisham initiative of encouraging active citizenship: the “young Mayor” project. This initiative is the most important innovations in governance and participation because puts power and responsibility in the hands of young people. Many local authorities have adopted the idea of youth parliaments but these can often appear tokenistic. On the other hand, the Lewisham Young Mayor seems a much more robust attempt to put real power and responsibility in the hands of young people and treat them seriously. The Young Mayor is elected by direct ballot every year and – along with a cabinet of young advisors – is given a budget (£30,000 per annum) to initiate a programme of work, as well as to scrutinise the work of Sir Steve Bullock and the Council.

Another interesting example comes from Berlin-Neukölln, the project is called: “Young, Colourful, Successful”and it aims to redesign the city centre taking into account the intercultural diversity. Neukölln has the chance to be the first place in Germany to redesign a city centre in a way that acknowledges cultural diversity. The City Council of Berlin Neukölln was awarded by the German Federal Government the title “Place of Diversity” and with this sends a message against right-wing extremism and for diversity and tolerance. The place-name sign “Neukölln – Place of Diversity” is set up visibly on the square in front of the underground station “Britz-Süd”.

Alternatively, Santa Maria da Feira could find interesting Neuchâtel who has implemented several good governance policies. An independent political body has been created to represent all ethnic minorities living in the canton. The FéNéCi – Fédération neuchâteloise des communautés immigrantes (Neuchâtel Federation of Migrant communities) reunites different migrant associations and, as a public institution, works with the COSM and has certain level of influence on the political sphere.

15. Anti-Discrimination

Despite the lack of a surveillance of the activities to prevent discrimination or rumours; the city has a specific service to support victims of discrimination. 

The municipality shouldorganize initiatives to discourage negative feelings and/or negative perception towards newly-arrived.

A good practice against discrimination is the Limerick’s anti-rumour project that encourages integration and inclusion in schools: each third-level institution has incorporated the Anti-Rumours project into an aspect of their courses and used the project as an assignment for part of a course. To name one, the Anti-Rumours approach has been included in the Development Education module run by Mary Immaculate College as part of the teacher training programme. The module encourages participants to take part in an external event and lists the Anti-Rumour workshops. Anti-rumour workshops have resulted in the development of an Anti-Rumours Education pack which can be used in Second-level schools throughout Ireland. Lastly, third-level students engaged in the Anti-Rumours campaign have started planning an Anti-Rumours Flash Mob / Performance in Limerick City centre.

Alternatively, Patras’ project entitled “Combating Discrimination in the Field of Entrepreneurship: Women and young Roma and Muslim immigrants” is financed by “PROGRESS-Support to national activities aiming at combating discrimination and promoting equality” (JUST/2012/PROG/AG/AD) EU programme. Raising awareness, disseminating information and promoting the debate about the key challenges and policy issues in relation to anti-discrimination for Roma and Muslim immigrants as far as entrepreneurship is concerned, are the main objectives of the project. Mainstreaming of policies through the involvement of social partners, NGOs and relative stakeholders is also a challenge. The project is coordinated by the “National Centre for Social Research (EKKE)” and the area of Patras has been identified as a core-place at a national level, equal to the area of Athens. “Patras Municipal Enterprise for Planning & Development - ADEP SA” is the local partner organization.
15. Conclusions

Santa Maria’s attainment rates are generally lower than the city sample’s. The Index has shown that there is room for further improvements.

It is appreciable that the city scored a rate higher than the city sample in the following fields: public service, commitment, international outlook and welcoming.

On the other hand, the weakest fields where the city’s municipality must strengthen its policies are: education, neighbourhood, business and labour market, cultural and civil life, public space, mediation, language, media, intelligence and governance.

In view of the above, we wish to congratulate with Santa Maria da Feira for the efforts taken. Nonetheless, we are confident that if the city follows our guidelines and other Intercultural Cities’ practices, the results will rapidly be visible and tangible.  

16. Recommendations

When it comes to the intercultural efforts, with reference to the survey, the city could enhance the sectors below by introducing different initiatives:   

• Education: In the Italian city of Turin, schools have allocated vegetable gardens where students can cultivate with the help of their parents. Schools activities are important because they are a meeting point for parents coming from different countries, with different cultural background, to get to know the other members of the community        
  
  
• Mediation: To improve the field of mediation, the municipality could look up at Parla’s idea of celebrating the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (according to the UN, the 21^st of May), when the Mayor visits these places of worship and hold joint meeting. This is a perfect occasion to get to know each other, to bridge faith with politics and to attract the interest of participants.
  
  
• Public Space: In Genoa, the Maritime Museum “Galata” hosts a permanent exhibition on migrations. This exhibition shows how deeply Italian society has been shaped by the phenomenon of migration. One side of the gallery displays where Italians have gone when sailing out of the country, while the other side shows the migrants Italy have welcomed over the years.

• Language: to improve the field of Languages, Santa Maria could follow be inspired by the example set in Tilbug, in the Netherlands. In the projects of VVE (‘before and timely education’), children in the range from 2 till 6 are trained in order to develop especially language skills. The aim is that these migrant children will not have language arrears when they enter the primary school at the age of 5 years. Many language activities are implemented to toddlers in the playgroup. VVE - support is also given to the first two classes of the primary schools.         
  Furthermore, the city could give further support to libraries to organize public readings and literary events. To include a wider public, the municipality should offer movies, shows, theatre representations in a foreign language; small books or brochures could be translated in other languages to raise awareness of their importance and their richness.

• Education: The Canadian city of Toronto is worth a mention. In fact, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) governs over 550 schools and in some of these schools, the proportion of "new Canadians" is as high as 80 to 95 per cent. For half of them neither English nor French is their native language. TDSB aims to ensure that all students reflecting that diversity, have equitable opportunities to be successful in school and that systematic barriers to their achievements are identified and removed. Therefore, TDSB provides for low-achieving students individual support in the classroom and access to language learning in the students’ native language. TDSB supports also efforts to involve parents, neighbourhoods and ethnic communities. According to the data from the Programme for international Student Assessment (PISA) the TDSB has successfully closed the average achievement gap between second generation students of migrant origin and their Canadian peers.     
   

Santa Maria da Feira may wish to look into further examples implemented by other Intercultural Cities as a source of learning and inspiration to guide future initiatives. Such examples are provided in the Intercultural cities database[10].