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North America Regional Hub: Mayoral and City Leadership Against Hate, Extremism and Polarisation — Putting Communities First

Publication Date:

27/08/2024

Content Type:

Event Reports

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faith leadersGlobal CrisesNorth America Regional HubOnline hatePittsburghTree of LifeUS Mayoral RetreatUS presidential election

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Event Details

Description: The Strong Cities Network North American Hub organised its first retreat for mayors and other city leaders from the United States, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The event, ‘Mayoral & City Leadership Against Hate, Extremism & Polarisation: Putting Communities First’, allowed more than 70 mayors and other city leaders from around the country as well as representatives from community-based organisations and other institutions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to share with and learn from each other about the approaches and innovations needed to maintain social cohesion and enhance community resilience amid rising levels or hate and polarisation. The retreat, which also served as the official launch of the Strong Cities North America Regional Hub, provided a platform for city officials and local practitioners to discuss pressing issues affecting communities across the country. These include: 1) how cities can address the growing threat of online to offline hate impacting social cohesion and targeting of elected officials, 2) the role of faith leaders and interfaith cooperation in city-led prevention and response, 3) how to balance free speech and public safety related to local impacts of global crises, 4) city-led strategic communication in crisis response and recovery and 5) how civility and compassion can be antidotes to hate, extremism and polarisation in the lead up to the 2024 USA presidential election.

Where & When: 6 — 8 August 2024, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States)

Cities Represented

• United States: Albuquerque (NM), Athens (OH), Atlanta (GA), Chattanooga (TN), Chicago (IL), Columbus (OH), Forest Park (IL), Highland Park (IL), Hoboken (NJ), Houston (TX), Kinston (NC), Los Angeles (CA), Louisville (KY), New York (NY), Newark (NJ), Overland Park (KS), Philadelphia (PA), Pittsburgh (PA) and Rochester (NY)

Partners Represented

• Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
• Eradicate Hate Global Summit
• Muhammad Ali Center
• National League of Cities
• Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation
• Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Other Organisations Represented

• Allegheny Conference
• Center for Applied Research on Targeted Violence (formerly Collaboratory Against Hate)
• Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania
• Common Ground USA
• Institute for Strategic Dialogue
• Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
• Light Initiative
• Mediators Beyond Borders International
• Not in Our Town
• One World Strong Foundation
• Pittsburgh Center of Interfaith Cooperation
• The Andy Warhol Museum
• The Hear Foundation
• Tree of Life Inc.
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UMPC)
• United States Department of Homeland Security, Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships
• United States Department of Justice
• Violence Prevention Network USA, INC

Key Takeaways

For Mayors & Cities

• Strengthen Community Cohesion and Partnerships: Proactively build relationships with community-based actors and organisations to build trust and foster partnerships that can be easily leveraged in times of need. This collaborative approach can enhance the effectiveness of prevention initiatives and extend cities’ reach to historically hard-to-reach communities ensuring city responses are community-focused. For example, city leaders can ensure that all elements of each faith community are at the table and connect regularly with those faith leaders. Cities can also undertake messaging campaigns – available in all local languages – encouraging residents to stand against hate and speak out to create just and equitable societies. Cities should study the successes and failures of Muslim-Jewish communal relations post-7 October to learn how inter-communal relationships can withstand the shocks of crisis. Finally, local arts and cultural institutions such as museums can also be leveraged in service to the immediate community, from workforce development to after-school programmes.
• Continually Update Crisis Communications Plans: Ensure crisis communication and response planning is kept up to date with all local, county, state and federal contacts and agencies that can be leveraged in a crisis. Regularly update guidance on communications strategies that reflect current community sensitivities and reinforce trust in the city to support residents during and after a crisis. Communication plans should ensure the city’s synchronicity with the police chief and ensure the city is speaking with one voice, especially during times of uncertainty. They should also empower community leaders to speak publicly about their own perspectives on unfolding crises and provide spaces for grief and expressions of grievance, while still upholding the rule of law. This practice will enhance cities’ response effectiveness and assist them in identifying gaps in plans that can be proactively addressed before a crisis occurs.
• Enhance digital literacy training and education: Implement digital literacy education and continuously promote good practices and resources to counter the spread of online hate and conspiracy narratives that contribute to social or other polarisation. Initiatives should be tailored to target demographics and cities should leverage community-based partners to co-develop resources and deliver training to meet the community’s needs.
• Continuous Coordination and Cooperation across the Local Government: Develop information-sharing pathways for the city to coordinate initiatives with city councils that work to address challenges city councils cannot address alone. Mayors should leverage their convening powers to support city councils’ efforts and city councils should regularly update Mayor’s offices on issues they are tackling to create a unified approach to addressing community needs and public safety concerns related to hate, extremism and polarisation. Mayors should also work with City Councils to enact policies around public protests that can pre-empt scenarios that could lead to violence and/or victimisation of certain communities. Cities can also instruct the various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that operate in the city to work together and share information with each other and with the communities, including non-profit groups and university research centres, to ensure greater transparency and problem-solving.
• Integrate De-escalation Tactics, Community Dialogues and Mental Health Practitioners into Public Safety Strategies: To balance public safety and the protection of civil rights when planning for public assemblies or addressing local impacts of global crises, cities should leverage community assets across multiple disciplines. This includes integrating dialogue and de-escalation practices into traditional law enforcement responses as well as involving mental health practitioners to support de-escalation and provide follow-on care for affected communities and individuals. Embedding these functions in the civil service, rather than with political appointees of the current administration, helps convince communities that these assets will be available beyond the next election, enhancing trust building and encouraging community leaders to build long-term relationships. During a non-violent protest, actually having law enforcement deployed out of sight may contribute to the protest remaining peaceful. Cities should also support the growth of community-based ‘resilience centres,’ which can be invaluable to communities in the wake of tragedy. More broadly, cities should work to connect public safety and the criminal justice system with the mental health system in the interest of community health and safety.

For National Governments

• Support City-Led Prevention Efforts: Provide funding and resources to cities to enhance their prevention and intervention programmes. National governments should facilitate training and capacity-building initiatives for local actors to address extremism and hate in a context-appropriate way.
• Promote Whole-of-Society Approaches to Public Safety: Encourage integrated approaches that address all forms of hate and extremism. This includes fostering cooperation among law enforcement, social services and community organisations to create comprehensive and cohesive prevention and public safety strategies.
• Improve Communication and Resources on Federal Support for Cities’ Crisis Response: Regularly provide information on pathways and agencies that can facilitate federal support to cities in crisis response.

For Partners & Donors

• Provide additional support to local governments to enhance communities’ digital literacy and address the online hate and extremism landscape, particularly ahead of the November United States Presidential election.
• Support the development of city-led efforts to increase hate crime and incident reporting outside of traditional law enforcement pathways, including by facilitating the sharing of good practices to raise awareness on what is a hate crime or incident and inclusive messaging that empowers communities to report.

For Strong Cities

• Facilitate knowledge sharing and good practices: Continue to provide a platform and opportunities for cities to share experiences, raise challenges they are working to address and successful practices to mitigate and prevent hate, extremism and polarisation. Specifically, this should include more opportunities to learn from 1) cities that have experienced crises, 2) faith leaders and interfaith councils on how to cultivate partnerships with cities, 3) local governments that have fostered social cohesion in communities and 4) research, religious and community-based institutions to understand the needs and vulnerabilities that cities can better address.
• Expand its footprint in North America so that more cities have access to Strong Cities resources and opportunities.
• Continue to promote city-led prevention efforts in national prevention conversations: this includes by continue to update Strong Cities online toolkits and resources with new city-led prevention efforts as well as engage national partners for participation in Strong Cities city-to-city learning opportunities to ensure local efforts are informing national good practices.

Next Steps

Following its launch, the North America Regional Hub will be building and deepening the Network’s engagement with more than 30 current member cities and many more in the membership pipeline, in the Hub’s initial focus areas of Canada and the United States. By channelling support through Regional Hubs, Strong Cities is able to offer local government leaders and practitioners a consistent and sustained resource to advance their prevention efforts and leverage the benefits of the global network.

Informed by the priority themes and concerns identified by cities across the region, as well as the practices and experiences of cities across the Network, the North America Regional Hub’s initial focus areas will include:

• Mayoral leadership in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation, strengthening social cohesion and promoting civil discourse and compassion.
• Strengthening local government capacities through tools and guidance for mayors and city leaders; capacity-building for city practitioners; and sharing of city-led, multidisciplinary prevention models that leverage existing service delivery for violence prevention and public safety.
• Threat analysis and monitoring across the online and offline environments, leveraging the expertise of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which hosts the Strong Cities Management Unit.
• Identifying and sharing good practices across the Strong Cities Network.
• Building trust between cities and local communities through the design and delivery of discrete programmes that engage faith communities, young people, overlooked communities and civil society organisations.
• Navigating local impacts of global crises, such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, migration, mis/disinformation and conspiracy narratives, including those related to elections, which can fuel offline hate, polarisation and political violence.

This convening is the first of many city-to-city learning opportunities hosted by Strong Cities North America with upcoming ones scheduled for Columbus, Ohio (September 2024) and Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) (October 2024). In addition, this retreat is the first in a series of annual convenings Strong Cities will be hosting with and at PTS as part of its three-year strategic partnership.

Furthermore, practices that were shared at the retreat and captured in this event report will also be integrated into Strong Cities’ Resource Hub, a living library of guides and toolkits to on mayoral leadership and city-led action to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation.

Additional Resources

• Innovations in Prevention: Piloting Multi-Actor Frameworks in Small and Mid-Sized Cities in the United States, Strong Cities Network (July 2024)
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• City-Led Response: Mayoral Leadership, Strategic Communications and Key Decision Points for Healing and Long-Term Social Cohesion, Strong Cities Network (April 2024)
• Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative webpage, Strong Cities Network (undated)
• Global Crises, Local Impacts: Key Findings & Recommendations to Date, Strong Cities Network (April 2024)
• Navigating Local Impacts of Global Crises: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Cities – Lessons from the Israel-Gaza Crisis, Strong Cities Network (December 2023)

Participant Shared Resources

• Chicago City Key Applicant Guide, Office of the Chicago City Clerk
• Unlock Chicago City Key Resource, Office of the Chicago City Clerk
• The Philadelphia Civil Rights Rapid Response Team Summary and Playbook, Philadelphia Community Relations Division
• Partnerships for Peace Presentation, Philadelphia Community Relations Division
• RESTORE Help Line Flyer, Violence Prevention Network USA, Inc.
• RESTORE Project Information Fact Sheet, Violence Prevention Network USA, Inc.
• United Against Hate Week Participation Information, Not in Our Town

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