‘Bolognesi. Dal primo giorno’. (‘Bolognese. From the first day’). These are the words that welcome you to the city of Bologna, written boldly on a red banner at the front of the city hall. “We are a welcoming city, that doesn’t leave anyone behind,” explained Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor of the city, as she welcomed participants to the 11th Integrating Cities Conference. Hosted in Bologna this year, the event provided a moment for city officials, policymakers, representatives of EU institutions, academics, and NGOs to share good practices in integrating migrant communities. The conference was part of the UNITES, an EU-funded project which aims to co-design integration strategies with migrant people in cities.
“Migration is a topic that polarizes Lithuania’s politics a lot,” said Simona Bieliūnė, Deputy Mayor of Vilnius. Vilnius is not the only city working to improve its integration policies and offer more welcoming spaces for newcomers, in a political landscape hostile towards migrants: “Bologna is a historically inclusive city. Yet Italy’s citizenship law is very tricky for foreigners, even for people born and raised in Italy. But here, we always say that if you are in Bologna, you are a Bolognese,” argued Emily Marion Clancy, Deputy Mayor of Bologna.
Shada Islam, journalist and founder of New Horizons Project, noted the contrast between local and national governance: “At a national level, our leaders are driven by hate.” She also warned of the normalization of hatred in European societies. Referring to seemingly progressive politicians, she remarks that “the ‘good Europeans’ are not so good anymore, they are playing the game of the far right and disseminating its message.”
Despite the good intentions of many mayors in Europe, sometimes cities are not prepared for emergencies such as the sudden arrival of large groups of people, following for example wars and conflicts in Europe’s neighbourhood. This was discussed at the workshop entitled ‘Co-designing Emergencies: Examples from European Cities’.
Adem Kumcu, UNITEE’s president, participated in the panel discussion and highlighted that “cities need to learn how to deal with emergencies, how to respond to traumatized people. It is about how cities work towards preparedness, involving all stakeholders.”
The crisis in Ukraine, however, has left some examples of solidarity, self-organization, and good local governance practices: “My life changed when the war started. We chose to move to Timisoara [Romania] because we had heard it was very open. When we arrived, they opened a support centre for Ukrainian refugees to deal with the emergency situation. What is more important, they created a volunteer system, they asked us how they could involve us in the crisis management,” said Eugenia Rozbitskaya, founder of Faina UA. She insisted that the most effective way to deal with emergencies is to directly involve those affected, empowering them to utilize their skills to provide for each other: “Emergency situations are not a problem, but an opportunity for the future. It gives us a chance to recognize new powers and talents of the community.” On the same line, Simona Bieliūnė told the audience how Vilnius had to adapt to the new challenges posed by the Ukrainian crisis: “We got a lot of refugees from Ukraine and Belarus to Lithuania, and they didn’t want to use psychosocial services, so we invited doctors from their own countries to work with them.”
Amid the rise of the far-right in Europe and worldwide, cities can take a clear position and become sanctuaries for newcomers. The creation of safe spaces has proved crucial to this goal: “A safe space is a place where you don’t fear for your life. Many of the people we work with are afraid of public institutions, however.”, suggested Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA, at the workshop Cities Fostering Safer Spaces for the Participation of Vulnerable Migrants. Views on how to define the concept of safe space varied across the panel: Kirstie Angstmann, elected member of the Migrants’ Council and the Women’s Commission of Freiburg, Germany, stated that “for many of us, cities are houses, but not homes. A safe space is a home.”
On the other hand, Daro Sakho, Diversity Manager of Bologna, argued that “no space is 100% safe, so we need to talk about safer spaces for now.” Ari Alatossava, Mayor of Oulu, Finland, argued that “the whole city should be safe, not just one part. (…) If we can trust others, we can create safe spaces”. Oulu is one of the 8 cities that partnered with UNITES. When Alatossava wanted to reach out to stay-at-home migrant mothers, he contacted them directly through the schools and asked them what would help them to integrate into the city. “They asked for swimming lessons for their children, so that is what we offered.”
Ultimately, integrating cities against national and international political trends is about creating spaces where everyone feels welcome, empowering newcomers as they build new lives, and changing negative narratives about migration held by locals. As Razan Ismail of New Women Connectors puts it: “We need spaces for belonging. Belonging is about fighting isolation, which exacerbates fear.”