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Fifth Global Summit: Building Trust for Multi-Actor, Whole-of-Society Prevention

Publication Date:

21/12/2024

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Event Reports

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Cape TownCommunity-Led SolutionsFifth Global SummitWhole-of-Society Prevention

— 9 minutes reading time

Introduction

On 3 – 5 December 2024, the Strong Cities Network held its Fifth Global Summit in Cape Town (South Africa), bringing together more than 140 participants, including 60 mayors and governors, as well as city officials, practitioners and partners from more than 90 cities and 40 countries around the world. The Summit included mayoral conversations, thematic parallel sessions and tabletop exercises – providing city officials from diverse contexts with opportunities to share and learn from city-led innovations and approaches to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation, and maintain social cohesion amid global crises.  

The Summit agenda featured two tabletop exercises, including one focused on fostering trust within and between local governments and residents as a foundation for effective prevention. Cities are uniquely positioned to play a key role in prevention because they can tap into trusted relationships with their residents and partners to mobilise a multi-sectoral, whole-of-society response that matches the complex and multi-dimensional processes of hate, extremism and polarisation. There are different ways local governments can (re-)build and maintain trust, including by promoting transparency, accountability, participation in decision-making, inclusivity, equity and consistency. Working through a series of short hypothetical scenarios, inspired by real-world events, participants explored these elements, identifying possible impediments to trust, and sharing innovations and good practices that have helped strengthen trust with their communities.

Building Trust Early in Governance

Establishing trust in local government was identified as crucial for creating a strong foundation for collaboration. Participants discussed several ways mayors and their administrations can strengthen trust following an election cycle, including by taking immediate symbolic and concrete actions that will serve all residents, cooperating with the opposition in governance matters and immediately reaching out to communities to better understand their needs and priorities. However, reaching out to communities can be challenging. For instance, Yaqub Hanif, Councillor, Luton Borough Council (United Kingdom), shared how challenging it is to speak to all residents in a city as diverse as Luton, and how tensions can rise if elected officials are perceived to be talking to one community and not another. Hence, in Luton, communities have been encouraged to form multi-faith groups where each community can appoint a representative, ensuring that communities are properly represented when engaging the local government.

Navneet Bhalla, Executive Director, Manavi​, argued that the first act of any mayor taking office should be to declare their city a “fair and welcoming” place. While the symbolism of such a declaration is significant, she emphasised that such declarations need to be paired with substantive actions. For instance, in Hoboken (New Jersey, USA), the city has prioritised elevating the role of women in civic life and promoting women of colour to leadership roles. These efforts created a sense of belonging among diverse communities. Where there has been pushback, the administration has used these conversations as opportunities to further clarify their commitment to fairness and inclusion.

Janice Zahn, Councilmember, Bellevue City Council (Washington, USA), reflected on navigating contentious issues following her election (such as defunding the police, a movement to re-allocate funds from law enforcement to non-policing forms of public safety) by leading with shared values and framing conversations to avoid divisive rhetoric. Rory Hoskins, Mayor of Forest Park (Illinois, USA), shared how his administration improved transparency by broadcasting public meetings online and expanding opportunities for public comment, ensuring residents had multiple avenues to engage with the local government. He also highlighted the importance of joint initiatives with neighbouring towns, which diversified representation and showed that leadership can take many forms, as well as fostering trust among residents who might not feel represented by a single leader.

Following the election we decided to embrace the political opposition, despite a tense atmosphere in its prelude. The governor included them in governance by offering them four seats as a sign of good will.

Peter Odima, Minister for Lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Busia County (Kenya)

Finally, participants agreed that it is important for mayors to assure their constituencies that they will govern for everyone, regardless of who they voted for; rhetoric that can met with action by meaningful attempts to collaborate with opposition parties and bridging the political divide, particularly following contested elections. Monica Muga, Executive Secretary, Homabay County (Kenya), shared that contested elections in Kenya can lead to violence between different political factions. Despite this, immediately following her election, the new governor made clear to her constituents that she will equally serve all residents without discrimination.

Understanding and Responding to Community Needs

Participants pointed out that in order to maintain and/or build deeper trust with the communities they serve, local governments need to continuously survey and update their understanding of local needs. Cyril Xaba, Mayor of eThekwini Municipality (South Africa), explained that due to rapid migration and urbanisation in his city, demographics and community needs have shifted and it has often become very challenging to provide relevant public services on a consistent basis. To address these issues, the city is regularly engaging communities to better understand and address their needs. For instance, following a mapping of urbanisation challenges, the city is examining options to legalise informal settlements and provide equal access to healthcare and education.

Mayor Hoskins described how his administration in Forest Park is working closely with school districts to monitor changing demographics and understand the evolving needs of families, providing critical insights into how to support marginalised communities. Felipe Fernandes, Advisor to the Mayor of Braga (Portugal), highlighted how the city’s municipal councils have become an effective tool for better understanding demographic changes and for promoting participatory governance, enabling targeted responses to the city’s changing community needs.

Florence Namayanja, Mayor of Masaka City (Uganda), also reinforced the importance of feedback mechanisms (such as open forums or town halls) as tools to ensure that all voices are heard and represented. In Fuenlabrada (Spain), Deputy Mayor Francisco Javier shared that the city organises bi-annual summits (including one after an election) in each of its six districts to better understand community needs. Civil society organisation representatives usually take part in these meetings, which are open to all residents.

Mitigating Tensions Between New Arrivals and Long-Term Residents

Participants acknowledged the challenges posed by increasing migration and underscored the importance of framing inclusion as a collective benefit. Benedetto Zacchiroli, President of European Coalition of Cities Against Racism (ECCAR), noted that long-term residents often feel excluded from the process of settling newcomers. He argued for the need of greater transparency and communication around integration processes; not only how it is done, but also why it benefits the community as a whole, and not just the newcomers individually, though economic boosts, increased government tax revenues and cultural diversity. Maroš Chmelík, Executive Director, Centre for Community Organising, described how Slovak cities are successfully integrating new arrivals by communicating the advantages of inclusion early and consistently. He noted that cities with a strong focus on inclusion reaped economic and social benefits, despite political polarisation and national-level opposition.

Mayors who communicated the benefits of refugee and migrant inclusion from the beginning of the [Ukraine] war had far greater success with integration and saw great benefits for their municipalities.

Maroš Chmelík, Executive Director, Center for Community Organising (Slovakia)

Felipe Fernandes (Braga, Portugal) underscored the need for targeted national-local cooperation to develop collaborative and cost-sharing approaches and other coordination measures to alleviate the pressure of migration on local governments. Jorge Garza, Associate Director for Communities Building Belonging, Tamarack Institute (Canada), added that in addition to vertical cooperation, a whole-of-society approach at the local level is essential to address this challenge, including the importance of providing more space (both physical and metaphorical) for local organisations and innovators to work with migrant communities.

Overcoming Language Barriers

Language barriers were identified as a significant obstacle to meaningful inclusion and integration, with participants offering a range of solutions to address this challenge. Feres Ismail, Superintendent of Community Safety & Well-Being Services, Peel Regional Police (Ontario, Canada), described mobilising community members as messengers who could translate and disseminate key information within their networks, creating a natural and effective flow of communication. Kate Nelson, Director of Community Partnerships, Boise (Idaho, USA), shared that her city’s Neighbors United programme forges partnerships with individuals, organisations and companies who provide interpretation and translation voluntarily to ensure language accessibility to newcomers, as well maintaining close ties with community liaisons to ensure local needs are met. She also highlighted the utility of integrating technology into language strategies to reduce costs while enhancing effectiveness.

Amy Siciliano, Public Safety Advisor, Halifax Regional Municipality (Nova Scotia, Canada), shared that in order to overcome language barriers, Halifax developed a legal glossary, as well as companion workshops and videos, in collaboration with five different ethnic communities. Navneet Bhalla alsounderscored the legal and moral imperative of facilitating language access, citing Manavi’s work in translating essential materials for communities to empower them to access public services. These examples demonstrated how strategic investment in language solutions can foster trust and dismantle barriers to inclusion.

Next Steps

Following the successful delivery of the tabletop exercise and positive feedback from participants, Strong Cities will continue to look for opportunities to incorporate similar exercises in its workshops, including short and longer, more complex scenarios where participants have an opportunity to analyse challenges and co-create solutions.

Practices shared during the Fifth Global Summit, including this session, will be captured and integrated into the Strong Cities Online Resource Hub, which houses a library of living guides and toolkits on mayoral leadership and city-led action to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation. Strong Cities will continue to work with cities across its global network and beyond in 2025 to help address key prevention-relevant needs and amplify their efforts.

Further Resources

Recent Strong Cities policy briefs and resources:

• Creating Safe, Cohesive and Resilient Cities through Urban Planning & Design: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• Managing Migration: City-Led Approaches for Being an Inclusive, Welcoming and Socially-Cohesive City, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative: Preventing Hate & Building Social Cohesion Amid Global Crises — Unleashing the Potential of Cities in Western Canada & the Western United States, Strong Cities Network, November 2024
• Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative: City Leadership in Maintaining Social Cohesion Amid Global Crises – Learning from ‘The Columbus Way’ and Other City-Led Approaches in Europe and North America, Strong Cities Network, October 2024
• Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative: Maintaining Community Cohesion in the Midst of Global Crises — The Role of Mayors and Cities, Strong Cities Network, March 2024
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2024
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2024
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network, May 2024
• City Spotlights Library, Strong Cities Network

Donors & Partners

The Fifth Global Summit was made possible with generous support from the European Union, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Public Safety Canada, the US Department of State and the City of Cape Town. 

The views expressed in this session report do not necessarily reflect those of all Strong Cities Network members, the Management Unit or Summit sponsors and partners. 

Contact Information 

For more information about the Fifth Global Summit or the Strong Cities Network, please contact [email protected].

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