25/01/2019

Cities in transition, Welcoming cities? Invitation to participate in the Biennale of Cities in Transition of Grenoble (March 2019)

The French city of Grenoble will host, from 8 to 16 March 2019, the second edition of Biennale “Cities in Transition”. This event will be a great opportunity to get to know territories from across the world which are promoting local, innovative initiatives in the field of economic, ecological, social and democratic transition. Nowadays, issues regarding migration are more relevant than ever for local policy-making. That is why cities in transition facing these challenges innovate: trying to find decent solutions for welcoming migrants that are well-adapted to the local level.

ANVITA’s association, the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights, Grenoble-Alpes metropolitan area and the City of Grenoble would like to invite you to three successive meetings on migration policies at the local level to take place in Grenoble on Monday, 11 March 2019 (in conjunction with the city’s Biennale).

A first workshop will provide a space for municipalities to exchange points of view regarding the recently constituted ANVITA network – National Association of Welcoming Cities and Territories (from 14:00 to 15:00): This meeting will allow organizers to present the network and answer some questions regarding its own functioning. Likewise, it will help showcase and disseminate among the audience ANVITA member municipalities-led initiatives on the issue of migration.

A second workshop will focus on providing communication and engagement tools regarding migration to local elected officials and municipal officers (from 15:00 to 17:30): The objective of this session will be to reveal how to deal with clichés and other preconceived ideas regarding migration.

A final roundtable open to the public will take place in the official venue of the “Cities in Transition” Biennale, and will allow municipal authorities from France and other countries to present their initiatives in the field of inclusive policies towards migration (from 18:30 to 20:00).

When? Monday, March 11 2019, from 14:00 to 20:00

Where? Maison de l’International, 1 Rue Hector Berlioz, 38000 Grenoble – from 14:00 to 17:30 - Palais des Sports, 14 Boulevard Clemenceau, 38000 Grenoble – from 18:30 to 20:00

The UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights will participate in this important international meeting in order to share the initiatives that member-local governments are leading in their own territories in order to promote inclusive and human rights-based policies towards migration and refuge. In the same way, we invite member-local governments with a consolidated line of action on inclusive policies towards migration, to let us know your interest in participating in the session as speaker in order to share your experience. More broadly, we invite all members and partners to take part in the Biennial as a great opportunity to strengthen exchange with municipalities and territories in transition across the world.