Leaders of refugee-hosting municipalities plot pathways toward more inclusive cities and towns

On 3-4 October 2024, over 35 municipal leaders from 12 European countries participated in a UNHCR-hosted workshop on refugee integration and inclusion in Cascais, Portugal.

Mayors, Deputy Mayors and other leaders from Athens, Istanbul, Ungheni, Wroclaw, Plovdiv, and Vilnius, to name a few, engaged in lively discussion and strategized on areas of pressing concern for municipalities across Europe, including access to long-term funding, affordable housing solutions and effective multistakeholder coordination on refugee integration.

Leaders that have worked on the front lines of earlier large-scale refugee arrivals exchanged experiences on refugee inclusion that have had a positive or transformative impact on host communities and local economies with senior municipal officials from Central and Eastern Europe, whose towns and cities have recently transformed into major refugee-hosting destinations. International Financial Institutions, housing stakeholders, the private sector and other regional bodies also joined to support the analysis and development of proposals for solutions. 

The 2-day agenda also included a field visit, a networking activity, and a final debriefing session between participants and their respective UNHCR country counterparts to decide on areas for follow-up based on their main takeaways from the workshop. Cascais was selected for its history of commitment to refugee integration.