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Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative: Maintaining Community Cohesion in the Midst of Global Crises — The Role of Mayors and Cities

Publication Date:

25/03/2024

Content Type:

Event Reports

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BratislavaCity-Led Actioncity-led responseGazaGlobal CrisesGPMIsraelLocal ImpactRefugeesRussiaTransatlantic InitiativeUkraine

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Event Details

Description: The Strong Cities Network convened more than 40 mayors and local government practitioners as well as national government, civil society and multilateral representatives from Germany, Central and Eastern Europe and North America to share experiences, lessons learned and good practices in maintaining social cohesion in the midst of global crises such as migration, climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war, among others.

Where & When:  6 – 7 March 2024, Bratislava, Slovakia

Partners: City of Bratislava and Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia

Local Governments Represented:

• Czech Republic: Prague
• Germany: Bremen, Dortmund Zittau
• Hungary: Budavar (District I), Budapest and Miskolc
• Portugal: Braga
• Slovakia: Bardejov, Bratislava and Žilina
• Ukraine: Lviv
• United States: Aurora (Colorado), Chicago (lllinois), Highland Park (Illinois), Reno (Nevada), and Rochester (New York)

City Associations Represented:

• Union of Polish Metropolises, Poland

Partners Represented:

• Foundation For a Path Forward, Canada
• Foundation House of Peace, Poland
• Global Parliament of Mayors
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• National Democratic Institute (NDI)
• One World Strong
• UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• Unbroken Foundation, Ukraine
• U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism
• U.S. Embassy, Bratislava

Key Takeaways

For Mayors & Cities:

• Cities are on the forefront of addressing the local impact of global crises, which can diminish inter-communal relations and contribute to the spread of hate and violent extremism and democratic backsliding. Consequently, their role in maintaining social cohesion and safeguarding local democracy is crucial, especially in places where national leaders and governments are contributing to the erosion of social cohesion and undermining local governance.     
• Cities should manage the influx of refugees and other new arrivals through collaborative, comprehensive and data-driven approaches that respond to immediate as well as medium- and long-term integration needs, while maintaining social cohesion. Support should be based on a muti-pronged “one-stop-shop” service provision accompanied by easy access of resources and information and a commitment to the principle of “Do No Harm”.
• Local governments are often well-placed to convene diverse, and often opposing, groups across their city to address inter-communal hate and polarisation fueled by mis/disinformation. This not only includes creating a space for dialogue and mediating tensions between communities but also creating a united identity for the city, including through strategic public communications campaigns.
• Cities should work to engage and empower hard to reach communities and give them a voice in matters of public interest. They should acknowledge, however, that it can be stressful for some communities/residents to engage with local government. To address this, they should break down the engagement process and meet communities where they feel comfortable and frequently visit them in their “second living room”.
• Mayors and other local leaders need to be prepared: they should have a crisis management plan in place that is rooted in fostering unity, resilience and recovery to address hate and violent extremist incidents and other crises, including those fueled or exacerbated by public panic, humanitarian fatigue and historical tensions that can (further) polarise communities. The plan should emphasise the importance of clear, consistent and coordinated communication with both government officials and local communities.
• Local government can facilitate coordination among the different government departments, law enforcement and community-based organisations working to address the immediate and long-term needs of victims and their families following a violent incident and in deescalating tensions within and between communities and between residents and the local authorities. Further, while prioritising the immediate needs of those impacted, local governments should take into account the medium- and long-term needs of the victims, families and communities while working towards strengthening unity and community resilience across the city more broadly.
• Cities should proactively forge and nurture strong trust-based relationships with community actors to not only leverage them for prevention initiatives, but also for deploying a rapid, comprehensive and coordinated response in times of crisis.

For Strong Cities:

• Strong Cities should support mayors and the local governments they lead by providing guidance on how they can address hate, polarisation and mis/disinformation during elections, as well as tools for enhancing digital hygiene among both city employees and local communities. See Preventing and Responding to Election Disruption and Violence: Ten Considerations for Cities.
• Strong Cities should support cities with good practice on incident response. See A Guide For City-Led Response.
• Strong Cities should continue to include smaller, often overlooked, cities into its work because they are largely excluded from conversations on hate and violent extremism prevention.
• Strong Cities should facilitate a platform for city-to-city, cross-border cooperation in Europe and North America because many of these cities share very similar threats to peace and security. See Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative.

Next Steps

This workshop is part of a larger effort by Strong Cities to bring European and North American cities together to discuss shared threats and inspire one another with innovative city-led solutions. Findings from this conference will inform our ongoing Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative, which will continue in 2024 in Strasbourg (France) in May, Stockholm (Sweden) in June, and Columbus (Ohio, United States) in September.

Findings from this workshop will also strengthen Strong Cities existing guides: one for mayors on mayoral leadership in prevention and response, the other for local government practitioners on how to enhance and sustain city-led prevention efforts. They will also inform an updated list of Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative findings and recommendations for 2024. 

In addition to Strong Cities’ guidance on ten considerations for mayors and cities in the wake of global crises, the Network will explore developing further resources to address key needs and priorities identified during the workshop. This will include guidance on how cities can address hate, polarisation and mis/disinformation during elections, as well as tools for enhancing digital hygiene internally within city governments and among communities.

Strong Cities will also build on the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the Global Parliament of Mayors to jointly support mayors and other local leaders to strengthen their approaches and elevate their voices at the national, regional and global levels in the prevention of hate, polarisation and violent extremism.

Additional Resources

• Navigating Local Impacts of Global Crises: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Cities – Lessons from the Israel-Gaza Crisis, Strong Cities Network (December 2023) 
• Research on American Muslims and the Impact of Events in Palestine, Israel, and Surrounding Region, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (December 2023) 
• Information disorder in the Israel-Hamas war highlights shifts in the fight against online misinformation, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (November 2023) 
• Violent and graphic content of the Gaza conflict served to minors’ accounts, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (October 2023) 
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (September 2023) 
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (September 2023) 
• Countering and Dismantling Islamophobia: A Comprehensive Guide, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (undated) 

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