The governance of diversity and international solidarity: the practice of communes in French-speaking Belgium
Abstrakt
Communes and towns can contribute to a wider appreciation of the riches of their cultural and social inheritance. They can take a clear lead in spreading a socially pacifying appreciation of the diversity of their populations, and put forward a stimulating, creative and unifying vision of this diversity.
In this respect, what competence, what know-how, is to be found in the individual parts of Belgium? What initiatives are being taken in the communes of Wallonia and Brussels in these fields, what are the results and the prospects? In order to find the answer to these questions, an exploratory inquiry was carried out amongst the municipal authorities of French-speaking Belgium. The local policies to be scrutinized included the formal and informal arrangements made by the authorities of the communes to support associations, directly and indirectly; to favour integration; to bring out the value of ethnic and cultural diversity; the setting up of intercultural dialogue and common action against discrimination; and also action in favour of international solidarity, in collaboration with migrant groups.