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News & Events Event Reports

Fifth Global Summit: Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative

Publication Date:
21/12/2024
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Cape TownCommunity-Led SolutionsFifth Global SummitTransatlantic Dialogue Initiative

— 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 included a parallel session focused on transatlantic discussion and exchange, building on Network’s Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative, providing city leaders and practitioners from across North America and Europe to reflect on the Initiative’s progress to-date and inform its agenda for 2025. Participants illuminated the growing shared challenges facing cities across the Atlantic. These range from global crises and online harms, both fuelled by mis/disinformation and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), to escalating distrust in governments and between communities. They highlighted how divisive, often violent, narratives and external influences can disrupt community cohesion. This shared reality underscores Strong Cities crucial role in facilitating dialogue, informing and inspiring efforts, and co-designing solutions that draw on diverse perspectives. By fostering these transatlantic connections, the Network empowers cities to address these challenges collaboratively and effectively.

Transatlantic Dialogue

Strong Cities launched its Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative in October 2021 in Brussels (Belgium), with support from the US Department of State, to strengthen cooperation between mayors, local governments and practitioners on both sides of the Atlantic in addressing hate, extremism and polarisation, and safeguarding local democracy. Since then, the Initiative has convened 15 in-person events, including in 2024 events co-hosted with the German Marshall Fund in Washington D.C. (January), and with Strong Cities members Bratislava (March), Strasbourg (May), Stockholm (June) and Columbus (September). This work was guided by the Transatlantic Dialogue Ten Key Findings for 2023 and continuously informed and updated by developments and feedback from cities throughout the year.   

Addressing Common Challenges

During the session, participants shared how their cities – in Europe and North America – are facing an increasingly more complex and dynamic threat environment. They underscored the impact on social cohesion of global crises in 2024, including the ongoing Middle East conflict, that had exacerbated tensions and tested (and in some cases undermined) decades long investments in interfaith and other intercommunal dialogue. Cities shared how other challenges, such as mis/disinformation and conspiracy narratives, and online hate, are impacting local communities.

Ravi Bhalla, Mayor of Hoboken (New Jersey, USA), shared his experience of being targeted personally by disinformation campaigns, and how the Israel-Gaza conflict and anti-migrant narratives remain major wedge issues in his community. He noted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to build bridges and bring people together to discuss these sensitive issues as people are often entrenched in echo-chambers – both on- and offline – and are not exposed to alternative narratives which might help build understanding or empathy. Van Johnson, Mayor of Savahnah (Georgia, USA), emphasised that it is not just a case of online harms fuelling community tensions, but also a lack of skills and mechanisms through which people can mitigate the impact, and a lack of willingness and opportunities to find common ground with individuals holding opposing views. Noor Duisterhoff, Policy Officer on Radicalisation and Polarisation, The Hague (The Netherlands), also cited a perceived “dialogue fatigue” in her city, particularly with the ongoing Middle East conflict, making discussions more difficult and polarised. Participants further underscored the significant impact locally of rhetoric, political statements and campaigning at the national level.

Steve Patterson, Mayor of Athens (Ohio, USA), shared how disinformation campaigns, many powered by AI and originating from outside the city, had contributed to community tensions and, in some cases, led to bomb threats. Similarly, Kate Nelson, Director of Community Partnerships, Boise (Idaho, USA), added how external actors, using online platforms to feed mis/disinformation into the city’s local communities, were seeding a rise in white Christian nationalism and anti-migrant sentiment, with specific implications for the development of school curricula and book availability in libraries and, more broadly, public discourse. In Zittau (Germany), Mayor Thomas Zenker said it is becoming increasingly challenging for the local government and residents to identify where social media, and emerging technologies such as AI, are being used for malign purposes. He shared how German mayors are “being pushed off” major social media platforms, impacting their ability to communicate effectively with their constituents.

Beyond the online space, Feres Ismail, Superintendent of Community Safety & Well-Being Services, Peel Regional Police (Ontario, Canada), spoke of how youth perceptions regarding socio-economic opportunities, or lack thereof, are contributing to mistrust in local governments and the city’s ability to engage effectively with young people. Felipe Fernandes, Advisor to the Mayor of Braga (Portugal), agreed, adding that disenchanted youth in Braga are similarly becoming more pessimistic in democracy writ large, and some have even resorted to acts of violence, such as targeting local public transport instracture. Jorge Garza, Associate Director for Communities Building Belonging, Tamarack Institute (Canada), underscored how these challenges impact small and medium-sized cities; facing the same challenges and impacts, yet routinely left out of conversations about how to prevent and counter. This is a concern shared by the Strong Cities Network and a key consideration in our engagement and membership growth. Jorge also emphasised that threats facing cities should not be treated in silos nor should local governments focus only on the topic/issue that is receiving the most attention.

We must continue representing the voices of small- and medium-sized cities who have limited accesses to resources and opportunities for learning.

Jorge Garza, Associate Director for Communities Building Belonging, Tamarack Institute (Canada)

Dialogue and Storytelling

Mayor Van Johnson underscored the power of active listening and storytelling as tools to bridge divides, sharing how his city of Savannah (Georgia, USA) is using these methods to foster empathy and understanding between communities. Noor Duisterhoff echoed this sentiment, sharing how The Hague (The Netherlands) convenes meetings where individuals are encouraged to share personal narratives (rather than abstract grievances) to “humanise” otherwise divisive and complex issues. Tariq Tyab, Co-Founder of the Foundation for Path Forward (Canada), described a Jewish-Muslim dialogue initiative the Foundation launched following the escalation of the current Middle East conflict. As a result of that initial conversation, all engaged parties are now participating in regular dialogue – in partnership with the City of Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) and the city’s interfaith dialogue mechanism – to address social issues and maintain cohesion.

Rory Hoskins, Mayor of Forest Park (Illinois, USA), shared a practice from his city: a civility pledge signed by all elected officials to model inclusivity and respect for residents. He also praised leadership training initiatives organised by the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs (USA) that convene representatives from different political backgrounds to foster mutual understanding and cooperation through continued dialogue.

We are seeing a dialogue fatigue – especially after 7 October 2023. What we are testing now is bringing people together to share personal stories to humanise complex issues through individualised experiences. We found that people with relevant stories need to be empowered to share them.

Noor Duisterhoff, Policy Officer on Radicalisation and Polarisation, The Hague (The Netherlands)

Empowering Community-Led Solutions

Community-led initiatives that leverage local creativity and grassroots engagement to address challenges in ways that resonate with citizens have proven to be powerful tools for fostering resilience, trust and social cohesion, particularly in the context of rising polarisation and global or national crises. For example, Benedetto Zacchiroli, President, European Coalition of Cities Against Racism (ECCAR), shared how the municipal government in Botkyrka (Sweden), an ECCAR member, transformed negative stereotypes about youth by empowering them with the responsibility to manage the city’s TikTok profile. Similarly, Feras Ismail, Peel Regional Police (Ontario, Canada), reported how fora for dialogue and mutual support had been established after Catholic school students expressed solidarity with an Islamic school following an attack driven by Islamophobic sentiments. José Francisco Herrera Antonaya, Director General of International Relations, Madrid (Spain), shared an initiative in Madrid, which brings households from diverse backgrounds together to identify shared local needs, build mutual understanding and co-design social impact approaches. Karren Lane, Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, Los Angeles (California, USA), emphasised the potential benefit of also partnering with philanthropic organisations to tap into additional expertise and funding that could further strengthen hyper-localised approaches to enhance community safety and well-being.   

Next Steps

In early 2025, Strong Cities will publish a Key Lessons and Recommendations policy brief, capturing practices, experiences and lessons learned from across the various Transatlantic Dialogue activities held in 2024. Strong Cities will continue to invest in the Transatlantic Dialogue as a platform for meaningful exchange of good practices and innovations between European and North American cities and local leaders, while also looking for opportunities to engaged cities from the Western Balkans and Latin America in the initiative.

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.

Further Resources

Recent Strong Cities policy briefs and resources:

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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