On 22-24 January 2020 in Rijeka -
this year’s European Capital of Culture, will host a group of international partners who are
meeting to launch together a Network called: European Towns Fostering Intercultural Dialogue
and Combating Discrimination of Migrants and Minorities.
All the project partners come from 14
countries - 11 EU members: Latvia, Poland, Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Spain,
Netherlands, Romania, UK and Bulgaria and 3 neighboring countries - Serbia, Macedonia and
Albania/Association of Albanian Municipalities.
The project seeks to raise awareness
on the richness of EU cultural environment and promote key European values such as pluralism
and tolerance, facilitated by intercultural exchange, this way contributing to the
development of a respectful, dynamic and multifaceted European identity.
Key project priority is fostering
intercultural dialogue between diverse communities and political actors in Europe,
preventing discrimination and combating the stigmatization of migrants and minority
groups.
All in all, over 3000 participants
will take part in the design and implementation of 5 international events in Croatia,
Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania, as well as in 5 on-line civic debates that will take
place until December 2020.
The Network will promote active civic
participation on transnational scale, support local and European policy makers' and citizens
‘efforts in jointly address challenges of intercultural dialogue and stigmatization of
minorities and migrants.
The first international project
Event in Rijeka will touch upon such subjects as: Celebrating Cultural Diversity, the
European initiatives White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, migration and humanitarian
crisis, as well as experience sharing from different Capitals of Culture that the Network is
rich with.