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Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative: The Role of Local Authorities in Strengthening and Safeguarding Social Cohesion 

Publication Date:

30/06/2026

Content Type:

Event Reports

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Social CohesionTransatlantic Dialogue Initiative

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This report provides a summary of discussions during the event and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Summary

A transatlantic exchange between local authorities in the UK and United States on shared challenges and city-led efforts to strengthen social cohesion, which also provided UK local authorities with the opportunity to inform the design and contents of Strong Cities’ new UK Prevention Academy. 

Where & When: 30 June 2026, London (United Kingdom) 

Cities Represented

• Canada: Guelph (Ontario) [virtual], Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) [virtual] 
• England: Birmingham, Burnley, Coventry, Luton, Manchester (Greater Combined Authority and Manchester City Council), Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Westminster 
• Scotland: Dumfries & Galloway, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire 
• United States: Cincinnati (Ohio), Houston (Texas), Newark (New Jersey), New York City (New York), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) 

Partners Represented

• Home Office 
• Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) 
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) 
• Local Government Association (LGA) 
• British Future 
• Communities Inc. 
• Groundswell Project 
• Institute for Strategic Dialogue 
• True North Leadership 

Key Takeaways & Recommendations

For Mayors & Cities:  

• Cities should consider and invest in cohesion as a core component of all governance mandates and as a long-term objective rather than a short-term goal. 

• Cities should provide opportunities for community members to participate in governance, including budgeting processes, co-designing public spaces and neighbourhood maintenance initiatives. This can foster pride in place and civic belonging, bringing residents together with a shared sense of ownership over their built environment.  

• City-led community engagement should consider accessibility and inclusivity to ensure that even the most isolated residents are able to share their needs and perspectives with their local government. To this end, credible community-based actors can serve as vital partners for local governments as they seek to engage diverse communities.  

• Cities should also invest in monitoring and evaluating efforts to strengthen cohesion, creating a feedback loop with residents and community-based partners to understand what works, what doesn’t and where the most resources and investment is needed.  

For National Governments:  

• National governments should consistently and proactively coordinate with local governments on national issues that have local implications so that local governments can prepare adequately. For example, where asylum seeker accommodation is planned, local governments need sufficient notice to prepare appropriate local responses, particularly at a time of rising anti-migrant sentiment. 

• National governments can play an important convening role, bringing local governments together at sub-national and national levels to learn about their needs, raise their awareness about relevant national frameworks and foster peer learning and exchange. 

For Partners & Donors:  

• Given the appetite for transatlantic city-to-city exchange, donors should continue to support opportunities for local governments from across Europe and North America to come together to discuss pressing challenges and city-led responses.  

• Think tanks and academic partners should consider training cities on open-source investigation (OSINT) skills to enable them to do basic in-house online threat monitoring, given local governments are on the frontline of responding to the offline impacts of online challenges. 

Next Steps

• Strong Cities will create a series of virtual training modules on the capacity gaps identified in the meeting, which will be developed with insights from Strong Cities’ global network of cities and subject matter experts.  
• Given the desire for transatlantic exchange, Strong Cities will also ensure modules include case studies from North American and other European cities and will provide local governments in the UK with virtual opportunities for transatlantic exchange through the remainder of 2026.  
• The UK Prevention Academy will also feature ‘peer dialogues’, complementing the virtual training modules with in-depth peer exchange on implementing lessons learned, as well as a virtual ‘help desk’ to respond to queries from local authorities in the UK as needed basis.  

Contact Information 

For more information on this event and the Strong Cities’ UK Prevention Academy, please email Charlotte Moeyens, Chief of Staff, Strong Cities Network at [email protected].

Additional Resources 

• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network 
• A Guide For City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network 
• A Guide For Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network 
• Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative
• National-Local Cooperation Initiative
• Sixth Global Summit
• Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative 

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