Today, our continent is more diverse than ever. This is due to the world’s growing globalisation, which has reduced distances and led to increased mobility. Hundreds of thousands of newcomers arrive in Europe every year. As a result, Europe now has a population of 450 million, representing every nationality in the world. Europe embodies a broader spectrum of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as well as religious and philosophical beliefs, than ever before.

This increased diversity offers opportunities but also presents challenges. Municipalities and cities have developed a range of initiatives and policies to address these challenges and build on the opportunities. The conference brought together these insights to learn from each other, exchange best practices, and explore how European local authorities can collaborate.

The conference presented inspirational initiatives, policies, and methods from Flanders and abroad. Participating local government representatives chose from a range of:

• Plenary sessions that involved conversation and discussion between representatives of local governments and global experts on local diversity policies.

• Parallel sessions, including workshops on city-to-city mentoring, network and buddy projects, language acquisition, e-inclusion and communication strategies, alongside bystander training and collective impact training sessions.

• Site visits in Mechelen, which highlighted inspirational local initiatives fostering efforts to live together in diversity.