Community cohesion at the local level : addressing the needs of Muslim communities : examples of local initiatives.
Date: 2008-12-18
Institutions: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Subjects: Muslim, anti-discriminatory measure, religious group, social integration, social policy

Community cohesion at local level:   
addressing the needs of Muslim Communities
Examples of local initiatives

FRA 2008

Local Communities Network (LCN)

The LCN brings together the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the 
Committee of the Regions and policy officers from the cities of Aarhus (DK), Antwerp 
(BE), Bradford (UK), Genk (BE), Mannheim (DE), Nantes (FR), Sheffield (UK), Rotterdam 
(NL) and Turin (I), in order to lead policy dialogue and exchange of good practice 
in addressing racism and discrimination, as well as issues specific to the situation of 
Muslim communities.* The work of the LCN follows on a previous study by the European 
Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) that examined the measures in 
place aimed at promoting equality and tolerance in relation to Muslim communities at 
the local level, and which resulted in the publication of the report Situation of Islamic 
Communities in five European cities in November 2001.**

•  to exchange information on innovative policies and implementation
•  to support the sharing and exchange of experience and good practice between local 

authorities and to encourage a learning process within the network;

•  to support the further development of social cohesion policy by communicating the 
policy-relevant experiences and outputs of the network to European institutions and 
local and regional authorities.

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The cities address topics that are of relevance to Muslim communities and to their policy 
making in general. 

•  Education, employment, public services;
•  Data collection, monitoring and policy evaluation;
•  Strategic policy making and cooperation with relevant partners;
•  Engaging Muslim institutions (Mosques, Imams) as strategic players in building 

community cohesion;

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•  Mainstreaming anti-discrimination approaches;
•  Youth and violent radicalisation;
•  Inter-cultural and inter-faith dialogue;
•  Access to banking and micro-credit;
•  Civic and political participation and representation;
•  Private security and violence in the community;
•  Building cross-community and multi-sectoral alliances and engaging the private sector 

to address issues of public concern.

Outputs

•  Situation of Islamic Communities in five European Cities - Examples of local initiatives 
•  Community cohesion at local level:  addressing the needs of Muslim Communities - 

Examples of local initiatives.

Both available at http://fra.europa.eu. 

*	

See	http://fra.europa.eu	for	more	information	about	the	Local	Communities	Network.	Some	cities	target	their	in-
tegration	policies/strategies	toward	Muslim	communities	in	particular.	While	some	cities	target	their	integration	
policies/strategies	toward	ethnic	minorities	in	general.	

**	 See	 Situation	 of	 Islamic	 Communities	 in	 five	 European	 Cities	 -	 Examples	 of	 local	 initiatives	 	 (2001)	 http://fra.
europa.eu/fra/index.php?fuseaction=content.dsp_cat_content&catid=3fb38ad3e22bb&contentid=3fb4f9a90cf05.

 
 
 
 
Community cohesion at local level:   
addressing the needs of Muslim Communities
Examples of local initiatives

FRA 2008

FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

 
C o m m u n i t y   C o h e s i o n   a t   l o C a l   l e v e l :   

a d d r e s s i n g   t h e   n e e d s   o f   m u s l i m   C o m m u n i t i e s

Foreword

Foreword

The phenomena of racism, discrimination and Islamophobia impacts di-
rectly  at  the  local  level  –  whether  it  be  in  the  provision  of  services,  community 
relations or broader political issues.  Disentangling the truly local issues from the 
national  or  international  context  remains  a  challenge  to  local  authorities  within 
the European Union. They have to deal with the day to day issues related to local 
employment, public service provision, education and a host of issues surrounding 
community cohesion. As we are all too aware local events can have repercussions 
far beyond city limits or national borders.  This ‘globalisation’ of local events pro-
vides the opportunity for local authorities to demonstrate that local solutions can 
have European wide application.  

This publication is aimed at policy makers and practitioners involved in 
addressing racism and discrimination or working in the field of equality, commu-
nity cohesion and integration at the local level.  In addition, it should be of value 
to those responsible for service delivery at the local level. Discrimination in educa-
tion, access to employment, housing and services, as well as inaction in the face 
of racist incidents and violence can widen gaps between communities, and trigger 
a process of isolation or alienation.  A number of local authorities across Europe 
have recognised that mainstreaming needs of individuals with Muslim background 
in local level policies enhances the municipality’s or region’s capacity to build co-
hesive  and  inclusive  communities.   The  practicalities  of  such  arrangements  vary 
widely,  as  does  the  situation  of  Muslim  communities,  a  population  with  highly 
diverse  migration  histories,  ethnicity,  religious  affiliation,  legal  status,  cultural 
background, disadvantage they encounter and experience with discrimination and 
Islamophobia.  

Commitment  to  achieving  greater  social  cohesion,  while  tackling  dis-
crimination that Muslims face on a number of grounds, and valuing diversity are 
vital to the city’s and region’s long-term social and economic well-being.  At the 
same time it is important not to rely on a person’s relation to the state as mediated 
exclusively through culture, religion or ethnic background.  A person may well de-
cide that one’s ethnic or cultural identity is less important than, say, one’s political 
convictions, professional commitments, or broader social relations.  

This publication provides a number of examples of good practice or ini-
tiatives  at  the  local  level  from  across  European  cities.  They  illustrate  models  of 
mainstreaming anti-discrimination and social cohesion. They highlight that some 
municipalities and regions  target their integration policies/strategies toward Mus-
lim  communities,  while  others  apply  generic  integration  policies/strategies  to-
wards ethnic minorities.  These are valuable lessons to be learned and shared with 
municipalities and regions across Europe.  

FRA, March 2008

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Acknowledgments

FRA would like to thank its partners in the Local Community Network 
(LCN) and the Committee of the Regions for their patient, valuable and important 
contribution to this report. The members of the LCN and the Committee of the 
Regions  are  very  much  the  real  authors  of  this  report  and  the  information  pre-
sented reflects the key contribution local authorities make to addressing the issues 
related  to  racism,  xenophobia  and  islamophobia  within  the  wider  policy  frame-
work of community cohesion and integration.  

This report results from a series of meetings of the LCN held over a peri-
od of three years. The meetings were policy focused, involved the exchange of good 
practice  and  highlighted  some  of  the  key  issues  that  the  local  authorities  them-
selves faced. The information in this report is based on individual reports from the 
cities of Antwerp (BE), Aarhus (DK), Bradford (UK), Genk (BE), Mannheim (D), 
Rotterdam  (NL),  Sheffield  (UK)  and  Turin  (I).    The  meetings  were  organised  by 
EUMC/FRA and hosted by the cities of Rotterdam, Bradford and Aarhus in 2005 
and 2006 and Mannheim in 2007.  A representative of the Committee of the Re-
gions has taken an active part in the meetings and the policy focused dialogue.  

FRA  would  like  to  thank  in  particular  Anne  Marie  Larsen  (Aarhus 
Municipality),  Anissa  Akhandaf  (Stad  Antwerpen),  Qudrat  Shah  (Bradford  Met-
ropolitan  District  Council),  Gert  Philippeth  (Germeente  Genk),  Claus  Preissler 
(Stadtverwaltung  Mannheim),  Harrie  Van  Onna  (Gemeente  Rotterdam),  Aurora 
Vitagliano (Comune Torino) and Peter Moore (City of Sheffield/Committee of the 
Regions).

DISCLAIMER: This report was compiled and edited by the European Union Agency 
for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The information contained in this report does not 
necessarily reflect agreement or disagreement with the views of the members of the 
Local Communities Network. FRA’s conclusions and opinions are expressed in the 
relevant chapter of the Report. No mention of any authority, organisation, company 
or individual shall imply any approval as to their standing and capability on the 
part of FRA.  

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Acknowledgments

Table of contents

Table of contents

Foreword 

Acknowledgments 

Executive Summary 

1. Introduction 

2. Situation of Muslim communities  and local level 

policy making 
2.1. Diversity within diversity 
2.2. Variety of policies: bringing communities together 

3. Mainstreaming anti-discrimination  in policies:  
local practices in the  areas of employment,  
public  services and education 
3.1. Employment 

3.1.1. Promoting employment of in the public sector 
3.1.2. Promoting employment in the private sector 

3.2. Public services 

3.2.1. Care for the elderly 
3.2.2. Inclusion of the views of young people 
3.2.3. Allowance for religious clothing 

3.3. Education 

3.3.1. Pre-school education and involving parents 
3.3.2. Elementary education and parenting support 
3.3.3. Addressing equity and efficiency in schools 
3.3.4. Religious education in public schools 
3.3.5. Facilitating contact between teachers of Muslim 

and non-Muslim background 

3.4. Cooperation with self-organisations 
3.4.1. Co-operation models 
3.4.2. Constructing Mosques and Houses of Prayers 
3.4.3. Engaging young Muslims in communal life 

3.5. Community cohesion 

3.5.1. Community cohesion as a strategy 

3.5.1.1. Bradford Vision – the district’s local strategic partnership 
3.5.1.2. Islam and integration – the Rotterdam Programmes  

and Debates 

3.5.1.3. Integration policy in Aarhus 
3.5.2. Residential-area oriented projects 
3.5.3. Community cohesion through sports 
3.5.4. Community cohesion through inter-faith dialogue 

3.6. Monitoring, indicators and evaluation of policies 

3.6.1. Informed policy making 
3.6.2. Monitoring criminal justice 

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4. Continuous Challenges 
4.1. New urban identities 
4.2. Accessing education, training and work 
4.3. Under-representation in public service employment 
4.4. Mainstreaming equalities in all aspects of service delivery 
4.5. Political representation and participation 
4.6. Consulting Muslim communities/ the search for 

a new balance of responsibility 

4.7. Criminal justice system: Monitoring racial discrimination, 

harassment and racist incidents 

4.8. Leadership and action 

5. Conclusions and Opinions: moving from  

principles to practice 
5.1. Conclusions 
5.2. Opinions 

Opinion 1: Action Plan 
Opinion 2: Accountability of the local authority 
Opinion 3: Better education outcomes 
Opinion 4: Employment and equal opportunities 
Opinion 5: Dialogue and participation 
Opinion 6: Evaluation and monitoring of policy implementation 

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Executive Summary

Executive Summary

In this report we set out practical proposals for building integration and 
community  cohesion  at  the  local  level.  The  report  cites  examples  of  how  main-
streaming non-discrimination can contribute to community cohesion and equality 
in  a  given  community  and  shows  that  diversity  and  equality  can  reinforce  each 
other within one community cohesion policy vision. Integration does not neces-
sarily mean cohesion, there is a useful approach that cities have developed in order 
to bridge possible gaps between these two policy concepts: the cities have moved 
from a policy of integrating immigrants to a policy concept of addressing the needs 
of city residents. Each resident of a city is seen as having rights and responsibilities 
and  an  important  role  to  play  in  improving  inter-community  relations  and  thus 
strengthening  social  cohesion.  The  examples  that  have  been  discussed  with  the 
Local  Communities  Network  bring  to  life  some  key  findings  that  underpin  the 
understanding of community cohesion.  

Key Findings

The report demonstrates that mainstreaming certainly does not mean a 
one size fits all model of service provision; rather the awareness of different needs 
and consequently of different models of service provision becomes central to the 
operational priority of the local authority.  In addition, mainstreaming equalities 
means primarily consulting people about how to meet their needs in order to be 
inclusive.    The  local  authorities  should  take  the  lead  in  developing  an  equality 
strategy that is aimed at combating racism and discrimination, with the active in-
volvement of all ethnic communities concerned, including Muslim communities, 
civil society, and other relevant key partners. The basis for such a strategy should 
be a strong commitment to non-discrimination, equality and social cohesion and 
to  ensuring  that  all  are  able  to  participate  in  the  social,  economic,  cultural  and 
political life of the city. 

In the area of education the report proposes the principle of equity and 
efficiency  that  both  work  towards  mixed  schools,  while  reducing  the  drop-out 
rates.  In the area of employment the report suggests that the local authority takes 
the lead in promoting non-discrimination and supporting a diverse workforce, fa-
cilitating  company  traineeships,  fast-tracking  qualified  employees  with  a  diverse 
background and other relevant measures.  In the area of public services the report 
draws attention to care for the elderly and the need for language provisions.  In the 
area of consultation with self-help organisations, the report proposes close coop-
eration with Muslim organisations and highlights the benefits that can derive from 
engaging in consultation and cooperation with the civil society sector.  Examples 
in the report further highlight a pragmatic approach with regard to dress-code and 
religious needs. In the area of access to health care, issues such as communication 
difficulties due to language barriers, better targeted information, as well as dietary, 
burial, and religious needs of people of Muslim background are recognised. 

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Equality policies and policies promoting diversity must be accompanied 
by rigorous and on-going monitoring and evaluation procedures.  Unless data is 
disaggregated by as many categories as necessary, the data gathered will not pro-
vide insights into how effective a policy has been and what needs to be improved.  
While providing equal access to various areas of life remains a challenge for cities, 
there is a task for the local government to develop a dialogue with all communities 
about the consequences of integration for everyone.  

Continuous Challenges

The report acknowledges that despite policies, initiatives and the devel-
opment of structures at the local level, continuing challenges remain to commu-
nity cohesion and integration, particularly in relation to urban identities, accessing 
education, training and work, under-representation in public service employment, 
mainstreaming  equalities  in  all  aspects  of  service  delivery,  political  representa-
tion and participation, consulting local Muslim communities  and balancing out 
responsibility, the Criminal Justice System and in leadership and action. The local 
authorities  themselves  have  engaged  in  a  further  series  of  initiatives  to  address 
these challenges and will assess them over regular periods.

Conclusion

The report concludes that the situation of Muslim Communities is a spot-
light issue not necessarily because Muslims require particular attention or a special 
set of policies, but rather because Muslim communities require mainstreaming of 
their needs within the wider scope of integration, equality, anti-discrimination and 
social/ community cohesion policies. With the systemic inclusion of Muslim com-
munities in all areas of life, FRA believes that visible improvements will appear in 
better integrated neighbourhoods, cities and more participatory societies.

Given  the  negative  experiences  that  many  Muslim  communities  have 
with the institutions, trust still needs to be built up. However, it is important that 
institutions guard against a mindset of special initiatives for Muslim communities 
per se. The real challenge is to change mainstream activities, services and budgets 
to respond to the city’s or the region’s diversity.

Moreover, local authorities and their institutions should openly acknowl-
edge if there are structural or institutional issues related to racism as a first step to 
addressing the issues in this report. They must examine their policies and practices 
to assess how these may be reinforcing inequalities and take remedial action. This 
should  be  a  collective  exercise.  Racial  and  ethnic  inequality,  as  well  as  religious 
prejudice cannot be tackled in isolation: it requires the efforts of all of the key in-
stitutions to work together to ensure long-term change.

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Executive Summary

Needless to say, the report reaffirms that the problem is a shared one and 
does not belong to a particular community or set of policy makers – whether it be 
the local community, the residents, the city or the region all have a shared respon-
sibility  in  combating  racism  and  Islamophobia,  supporting  community  cohesion 
and integration.

Selected Opinions:

Opinion 1: Action Plan

•   The  local  authorities  in  collaboration  with  other  institutions  should  take  the 
lead in producing a strategy and an action plan on creating community cohe-
sion, with measurable targets, clear time scales and responsibilities assigned to 
individuals or organisations for implementing the recommendations. The basis 
for such an action plan should be a strong commitment to non-discrimination, 
equality and social cohesion and to ensuring that all are able to participate in the 
social, economic, cultural and political life of the city.

•   The local authorities should also consider building databases of good practice 
projects  and  policies  that  have  proven  to  be  effective,  in  order  to  share  them 
horizontally with other cities and regions.

Opinion 2: Accountability of the local authority

•   Within  a  framework  for  cohesive  communities  set  by  acts  and  policies  there 
must be greater management accountability of the local authorities for achiev-
ing clearly defined racial equality targets in the district, underpinned by effec-
tive performance management arrangements and regular appraisals.

•   The local authorities might consider celebrating all faiths’ festivals as the city’s 
public celebrations and promote projects that aim at strengthening inter-faith 
dialogue.

•   The local authorities should promote the idea of monitoring and data collection 
on racist crime. Where collecting mechanisms exist, the local authorities should 
take into account the fact that figures could still represent underreporting and 
undertake action to build trust in the community to support better reporting of 
incidents. For example, some Muslim communities might not be ready to come 
forward to complain about racist incidents, in part because of language barri-
ers.

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

Opinion 3: Better education outcomes

•   The  School  authorities  should  develop  an  action  plan  to  engage  with  parents 
from  Muslim  communities  with  medium  to  long-term  aims,  indicators  and 
benchmarks.

•   The School authorities should continue to develop an expanded programme of 
mentoring for pupils from Muslim backgrounds, together with robust monitor-
ing  to  ensure  that  additional  resources  are  reaching  the  most  disadvantaged 
children.

•   Special inspections should be commissioned of the schools that have dispropor-
tionate levels of exclusion or truancy among Muslim communities and particu-
larly the groups at the greatest risk.

•   The School authorities should set and monitor targets for recruiting, training, 
retaining and promoting teachers from Muslim and other ethnic minority back-
grounds in all schools.

•   The pre-school education should be used more as a form of enhancing the pu-

pils’ capacity to better integrate in elementary schools.

•   The School authorities should develop databases of good practice on enhancing 
participation  of  pupils  in  pre-school  education  and  share  it  horizontally  with 
different school districts.

•   Segregation  in  education,  whether  unintentional  or  as  a  result  of  social  and 
housing factors, represents a barrier to the development of diversity and cross-
community interaction at local level. The local authorities should devise policies 
which increase the broad participation of all the diverse communities in their 
schools.

Opinion 4: Employment and equal opportunities 

•   The local authorities should develop a dialogue with the private sector at the lo-
cal level in order to develop public-private partnerships with private companies 
as part of a city plan to increase employment of ethnic groups.

•   The local authorities in cooperation with the local business community should 
formulate codes of conduct for businesses that take on a diverse workforce or 
that support business opportunities for ethnic minorities. 

•   The local authorities should adopt plans and targets for ensuring equal oppor-
tunities for ethnic minority groups, including Muslims, employed in the public 
sector at local level as well as promote their employment in private enterprises, 
too. These plans can include positive action measures.

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Executive Summary

•   The  local  authorities  should  target  projects  aimed  at  youth  in  particular  ad-
dressing their situation with regard to access to education, employment etc.

Opinion 5: Dialogue and participation

•   In its policy making, the local authority should reconcile the need to treat people 
equally, the need to treat people differently and the need for a shared sense of be-
longing. There should be a strong commitment to cohesion and equality in order to 
ensure a common sense of belonging and that all communities are able to partici-
pate in the social, economic, cultural and political life of the city.

•   Political parties should encourage the political participation of Muslim commu-
nities, in particular women and youth. Muslim communities themselves should 
engage  more  actively  in  the  political  process  and  support  the  participation  of 
women and youth. 

•  The local authorities should develop new kinds of cooperation and processes, 
as well as try to integrate consistent dialogue, consultation with all actors, task 
forces involving civil society, media, local authorities, national authorities and 
European level.

Opinion 6: Evaluation and monitoring of policy  
implementation

•  The local authorities should collect and analyse anonymised data on the ethnic-
ity of their residents for the purposes of highlighting possible gaps and inequali-
ties and answer questions about beneficiaries of the service, and outcomes for 
various communities and most importantly identify if any group is not able to 
benefit from a given public service.

•  Appropriate local authority structures or processes should be set up in order to 
monitor the implementation of equal opportunities policy. Monitoring systems 
should  be  independent,  transparent,  well-coordinated  and  sufficiently  funded, 
and  they  should  involve  senior  officials  as  well  as  representatives  of  different 
ethnic minority communities, including Muslim communities, selected by the 
communities  themselves.  Gender  balance  should  be  monitored  on  a  basis  of 
pre-set indicators and benchmarks.  

•  The local authorities should undertake regular evaluation within a multi-annual 
programme or strategy, for example twice every five years, and after its com-
pletion, in order to identify long-term impacts and outcomes for the range of 
intended beneficiaries.

•  The local authorities could consider using an instrument of peer review with other 

cities in order to assess their equality and community cohesion policies.  

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1. Introduction

1. Introduction

The  objective  of  this  report  is  to  highlight  the  lessons  learned  from  the 
experiences of addressing the situation of Muslim communities at the local level in 
the fields of education, employment and public services, as well as to draw attention 
to current and upcoming challenges. The publication follows on an earlier report by 
the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) entitled Situ-
ation of Islamic Communities in five European cities – examples of local initiatives, 
which examined the measures in place aimed at promoting equality and tolerance at 
the local level in relation to Muslim communities.

Between  2005  and  2007,  the  European  Union  Agency  for  Fundamental 
Rights (FRA), which replaced the EUMC in 2007, held a series of Roundtables with 
its Local Communities Network (LCN), bringing together policy officers from the 
cities of Aarhus (DK), Antwerp (BE), Bradford (UK), Genk (BE), Mannheim (DE), 
Nantes ((FR) in 2007), Sheffield (UK), Rotterdam (NL) and Turin (I), and with the 
Committee of the Regions, in order to facilitate policy dialogue and the exchange 
of good practice in addressing racism and discrimination, as well as issues specific 
to  the  situation  of  Muslim  communities.2  EUMC/FRA  has  also  published  reports 
entitled Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia and Per-
ceptions of discrimination and Islamophobia – voices from members of the Muslim 
communities in European Union and aspects of this report draw on some of the in-
formation contained in those reports.

Local Communities Network

1	

2	

See	Situation	of	Islamic	Communities	in	five	European	Cities	-	Examples	of	local	initiatives	(2001)	http://fra.
europa.eu/fra/index.php?fuseaction=content.dsp_cat_content&catid=3fb38ad3e22bb&contentid=3fb4f9a90c
f05.	
See	http://fra.europa.eu.	For	more	information	about	the	Local	Communities	Network

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

This  report  brings  forward  the  practical  experiences  of  the  cities  in  ad-
dressing  racism  and  discrimination  and  working  towards  social  and  community 
cohesion  through  policy  measures  aimed  at  providing  equal  access  to  employ-
ment,  education  and  public  services.    Policy  focused  dialogue  held  in  the  context 
of the FRA Roundtables with the LCN was further supplemented by reports from 
the cities submitted on the basis of reporting guidelines provided by FRA.  These 
guidelines  were  to  provide  a  basic  format  allowing  for  comparability  between  the 
local reports, while being flexible enough to reflect differences in national and local 
contexts, in terms of demography, the socio-economic situation, and the legal and 
policy framework.

This  report  consists  of  an  introduction  and  four  chapters.  The  opening 
chapter makes reference to relevant developments at the global, European and na-
tional levels and illustrates the degree of impact at local levels. It also identifies areas 
that became subject of concern for policy making at the local level and points out 
lessons  learned  from  the  process  of  policy  implementation.  The  next  chapter  de-
scribes practical approaches adopted by the cities and further policy developments 
in different areas of life. The penultimate chapter identifies issues related to Muslim 
communities that represent continuous challenges for local authorities. The closing 
chapter  of  the  report  outlines  FRA  Opinions  on  social  cohesion,  integration  and 
equality policies at the local level.   

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2. Situation of Muslim communities and local level policy making

2.  Situation of Muslim  

communities and local level  
policy making

In recent years, the situation of Muslim communities in Europe has be-
come  a  subject  of  wide-ranging  debate  among  policy  makers,  civil  society,  politi-
cians, the media and Muslim communities. Local authorities have been confronted 
with European and/ or national level political and policy related considerations. 

Social cohesion, addressing racism and Islamophobia, in as much improv-
ing integration of immigrants have been policy priorities for the EU for some time.  
The European Council at Thessaloniki in 2003 revisited the open call given at the 
Tampere Council in 999 to develop a comprehensive and multidimensional policy 
on ‘how to efficiently manage the integration of migrants.’3 The multi-annual pro-
gramme on freedom, security and justice (the Hague Programme 2005-2010), which 
was  adoppted  by  the  European  Council  in  November  2004,  placed  integration  of 
migrants  among  the  most  relevant  policy  areas. The  reconfirmation  of  a  need  for 
greater coordination of national integration policies and European initiatives in this 
field was underlined in the Common Basic Principles on Integration (CBPs) by the 
European Council in 2004.  This was followed by the recommendation to exchange 
information and good practice between regional, local and urban authorities through 
networks operating at EU level, which the Commission made in its Communication 
A common Agenda for Integration: Framework for the Integration of Third-Country 
Nationals in the European Union (COM(2005)389). Further to that the EU frame-
work and policy on integration includes inter alia annual reports on migration and 
integration and a Handbook on integration for policy-makers and practitioners.

The Treaty of Amsterdam inserted in Art. 3 EC Treaty	a new legal base, 
which allows for secondary legislation combating ‘discrimination based on sex, racial 
or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.’ The adoption 
of the Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC put discrimination based on racial or 
ethnic origin squarely on the EU’s agenda.  Similarly, the Employment Equality Di-
rective 2000/78/EC has made equality and the principles related to protecting work-
ers in a diverse workplace a focus of the EU. Despite challenges in the transposition 
process, the directives have a very wide personal as well as material scope and they 
ban discrimination against all persons in both the public and the private sector. 

Local authorities play an essential part in mainstreaming anti-discrimina-
tion measures into policies, in facilitating integration of migrants and in delivering 
equality and thus building cohesive and prosperous cities and regions.  In 2006, the 
role of local authorities in addressing racism and discrimination and in protecting 
minorities was further emphasised in the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions 

3	 Thessaloniki European Council Conclusions, paragraphs 28-35, under the heading “The development of a policy 
at European Union level on the integration of third-country nationals legally residing in the territory of the Euro-
pean Union.”

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

on the European Parliament’s Resolution on the Protection of Minorities and Anti-
Discrimination Policies in an Enlarged Europe.4 The role of local level policy mak-
ers  in  facilitating  the  process  of  integration  and  reinforcing  existing  mechanisms 
between the European community and cities in the area of integration policies was 
further emphasised at the conference on Integrating Cities: European policies, local 
practices, held in Rotterdam in October 2006.5 Mayors, speaking at the event, em-
phasised the importance of tailor-made solutions that take into account the diver-
sity of the population and the local urban experiences. They have also highlighted 
that  authorities  need  to  learn  from  practices  across  Europe  on  how  to  best  adapt 
European legislation and policies to the local context. The importance of adequate 
policy  responses  to  racism  and  discrimination  as  part  of  the  strategy  for  building 
secure and cohesive communities and a precondition for integrated cities was ex-
pressed in the Zaragoza Manifesto, that resulted from the conference Security, De-
mocracy, Cities, organised by the European Forum for Urban Security and held in 
Zaragoza in November 2006.6

Following the  September terrorist attacks and the bombings in Madrid 
and London, security concerns have influenced debates about fundamental rights, 
concepts used for defining integration policy and more specifically the relationship 
between the state and Muslims.  Equally, much publicised events such as the screen-
ing of the film Submission Part I written by former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali and 
the subsequent murder of its director, the Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, or the 
international  situation arising from the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad7 and 
the remarks attributed to Pope Benedict XVI8 further impacted on the relations be-
tween Muslim communities and the majority population in many cities and towns 
across Europe.9 Muslims of various backgrounds living across the EU have experi-
enced  increased  levels  of  anti-Muslim  prejudice,  discrimination  and  vilification.0 

4	 OPINION of the Committee of the Regions of 5 June 2006  on the  European Parliament Resolution on Protec-
tion  of  Minorities  and  Anti-Discrimination  Policies  in  an  Enlarged  Europe  T6-0228/2005.  http://coropinions.
cor.europa.eu/CORopinionDocument.aspx?identifier=cdr\const-iv\dossiers\const-iv-00\cdr53-2006_fin_
ac.doc&language=EN.  
http://www.integratingcities.nl/introduction.php. 
For Manifesto, please see link: http://zaragoza2006.fesu.org/IMG/pdf/manifeste/Manifeste%20de%20Saragosse%
20-%20ANGLAIS.pdf.

5	
	

	 The	 Jyllands-Posten	 Muhammad	 cartoons	 controversy	 began	 after	 twelve	 editorial	 cartoons,	 most	 of	 which	
depicted	 the	 Islamic	 prophet	 Muhammad,	 were	 published	 in	 the	 Danish	 newspaper	 Jyllands-Posten	 on	 30	
September	2005.	The	newspaper	announced	that	this	publication	was	an	attempt	to	contribute	to	the	debate	
regarding	criticism	of	Islam	and	self-censorship.		Danish	Muslim	organizations,	who	objected	to	the	depic-
tions,	responded	by	holding	public	protests	attempting	to	raise	awareness	of	Jyllands-Posten’s	publication.	The	
controversy	deepened	when	further	examples	of	the	cartoons	were	reprinted	in	newspapers	in	more	than	fifty	
other	countries.		This	led	to	protests	across	the	Muslim	world,	some	of	which	escalated	into	violence	(more	
than	100	deaths,	altogether),	including	setting	fire	to	the	Norwegian	and	Danish	Embassies	in	Syria,	storming	
European	buildings,	and	the	burning	of	the	Danish	and	German	flags	in	Gaza	City.		Danish	Prime	Minister	
Anders	Fogh	Rasmussen	described	the	controversy	as	Denmark’s	worst	international	crisis	since	World	War	
II.		See	http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article31005.ece.	

8	 The	Pope	Benedict	XVI	and	Islam	controversy	arose	from	a	lecture	delivered	on	12	September	200	by	Pope	
Benedict	XVI	at	the	University	of	Regensburg	in	Germany	when	a	passage	was	quoted	from	the	“Dialogue	Held	
With	A	Certain	Persian,	the	Worthy	Mouterizes,	in	Anakara	of	Galatia”,	written	in	1391	as	an	expression	of	the	
views	of	the	Byzantine	emperor	Manuel	II	Paleologus,	one	of	the	last	Christian	rulers	before	the	Fall	of	Con-
stantinople	to	the	Muslim	Ottoman	Empire,	on	such	issues	as	forced	conversion,	holy	war,	and	the	relationship	
between	faith	and	reason	See	http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5353208.stm.	

9	 As	reported	in	Interim	report	of	the	Special	Rapporteur	on	contemporary	forms	of	racism,	racial	discrimina-
tion,	xenophobia	and	related	intolerance	See	United	Nations	A/2/30	http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UN-
DOC/GEN/N0/490/48/PDF/N049048.pdf?OpenElement.	

10	 As  reported  in  the  FRA  Report  Muslims  in  the  European  Union:  Discrimination  and  Islamophobia,  pub-
in  December  2006.  See  http://fra.europa.eu/fra/material/pub/muslim/EUMC-highlights-EN.pdf  
lished 
As reported in Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, 
xenophobia and related intolerance See United Nations A/62/306 http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/
N07/490/48/PDF/N0749048.pdf?OpenElement 

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2. Situation of Muslim communities and local level policy making

These  developments  affected  community  relations  at  the  local  level  in  cities  and 
regions.  Muslims were increasingly looked upon as a group and their loyalty to the 
state was, at times, questioned, while at the same time local authorities were con-
fronted with a need to address issues related to discrimination and inequality and a 
need to facilitate the development of social cohesion in inter-community relations.

2.1. Diversity within diversity 

The position of Muslim communities in Europe differs enormously from 
country to country, due to different political cultures, demographics, legal frame-
works, relative numbers of Muslims, as well as the social and political institutions 
in place. The following table provides some elementary figures, identifying relevant 
characteristics in the Local Community Network cities.

City

Total  
population

Percentage 
of ethnic  
minorities/ 
migrants

Percentage of 
Muslim 
groups/ total 
population

Country 
of Origin of 
largest 
Muslim group

Aarhus* (DK)

295,513

12.4%

unknown

Lebanon,	Turkey,	
Somalia,	Iran

12%	(estimate) Morocco,	Turkey

Antwerp (BE)

40.044

Bradford (UK)

491,000

Genk (BE)

3,	0

Mannheim (D)

320,000

2%

20%

85.%

21.3%

18%	

23.1%	

9.4%

Rotterdam (NL) 00,000

50%

15%

Turin (I)

904,11

3.31%

1.48%

Pakistan,	India,	
Bangladesh

Turkey,	Morocco

Turkey,	Bosnia	
and	Herzegovina,	
Iraq

Morocco,		
Turkey,	Surinam,	
Pakistan

Morocco,	Iran,	
Egypt,	Tunisia,	
Senegal,	Somalia,

2.2. Variety of policies: bringing communities together

The wide ranging status of Muslims led the LCN cities to develop tailored 
policy responses and implement appropriate approaches.  While some cities have 
tackled the situation of Muslim communities in the framework of addressing the 
needs of immigrants, using integration policies, others developed broader strate-
gies for managing diversity for a target group of city residents on an equal basis, 
regardless of the resident’s legal status. Muslim communities form one of the larg-
est faith groups while representing a wide mix of ethnic groups in many localities.  
While  religion  has  not  been  central  to  local  level  policy  making,  it  still  plays  an 

*	As	of	1st	January	200

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

implicit part of a larger strategic framework 
in facilitating equal treatment.11 Cultural or 
religious Muslim-specific issues, such as re-
cruitment and training of Imams, burial ac-
cording  to  Islamic  rites,  developing  school 
guides  giving  awareness  of  understandings 
of Ramadan, Muslim religious education in 
public schools, wearing of religious clothing 
(Hijab, niqab etc.), halal meals for children 
in schools and medical care for women and 
the elderly have, in some cities, become sub-
ject of additional policy consideration.

Market, Rotterdam copyright: city of Rotterdam

No specific policy on Muslims has been put in place, and would be seen 
under such circumstances as counterproductive.  Rather the needs of the Muslim 
communities  have  been  integrated  in  generic  community  cohesion  programmes 
that tackle the underlying inequalities, promote interaction between communities 
and  accommodate  specific  needs  through  reasonable  adjustments.    Policy  mak-
ing  has  changed  pace  from  being  reactive  to  pro-active  and  involving  all  people 
concerned in a structured dialogue with an aim to ensure that all individuals and 
communities can feel a sense of belonging to the city and to the country.  Bringing 
together partners from the private, public, voluntary and community sector, the 
cities reached out and addressed a number of issues concerning access to employ-
ment,  public  service,  education,  cooperation  with  Muslim  organisations,  social 
cohesion,  and  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  policies  and  measures.  While  some 
cities set up permanent advisory bodies (employment and education committees 
or integration councils), which brought together relevant partners to regular meet-
ings and consultations with the local governments, others introduced initiatives of 
structured dialogue with city residents.  

With the change in policy direction, strategy and vision, the cities showed 
a strong political commitment by developing a sense of citizenship, participation 
and mutual trust. This has been done in a response to recognition of “errors of the 
past”: (1) lack of mainstreaming of anti-racism and anti-discrimination measures 
in  all  public  policies;  (2)  lack  of  dialogue  and  leadership  of  the  city  on  issues  of 
community cohesion and non-discrimination and (3) lack of responsibility of each 
community to take active part in building social cohesion.

The cities have moved from a policy of integrating immigrants to a 
policy concept of addressing the needs of city residents. Each resident of a city 
is seen as having rights and responsibilities and an important role to play in 
improving inter-community relations and thus strengthening social cohesion.  

11	 Situation of Islamic Communities in Five European Cities, FRA, November 200, p. 53.

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3. Mainstreaming anti-discrimination in policies: local practices in the areas of employment, public services and education

3.  Mainstreaming anti-discrimina-
tion in policies: local practices 
in the areas of employment, 
public services and education

The  active  role  of  the  city  councils  and  rejection  of  discrimination  on 
any  grounds  by  city  councillors  have  been  a  pre-requisite  for  building  trust  and 
addressing some of the pressing issues. Stressing a link between delivering rights 
and  compliance with rules and obligations, the cities can promote ideas of active 
citizenship,  harmony,  ‘community  pride,  not  prejudice’,  dialogue  between  differ-
ent  faiths  and  addressing  issues  of  safety  for  all  residents.    This  section  of  the 
report highlights examples of good practice in mainstreaming anti-discrimination 
in policy areas: (1) Employment; (2) Public service; (3) Education; (4) Cooperation 
with self-help organisations; (5) Community cohesion; (6) Monitoring indicators 
and evaluation of policies.

3.1. Employment

Cities  have  a  growing  labour  force,  particularly  from  ethnic  minority 
communities.  Employment is a major driving force for integration and social in-
clusion. The local authorities, as a service provider and as an employer, have the 
possibility to set a good example by diversifying city work force not only to reflect 
ethnic  and  cultural  composition  of  its  residents  but  to  improve  service  delivery 
that meets the needs of all its residents.  Targets must be set in order to underpin 
the strategy for increasing the representation of ethnic minority staff at all levels. 
However, the setting of targets is not simply about numbers. A goal is to ensure 
that the workforce profiles reflect composition of the communities they serve and 
to achieve appropriate representation of ethnic minority communities throughout 
the institutions at all relevant positions (junior, middle, senior management). The 
aim is better service provision that meets the needs of all the residents. This form 
of  positive  action  is  also  fully  in  compliance  with  the  EU  legislation,  the  Racial 
Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive.

To take initial steps towards workforce diversification, the local council can:

•  Adopt fairness and inclusion strategies in order to address under-representation 

•  Provide development opportunities for current employees through staff devel-

opment initiatives

Creation  of  adequate  and  appropriate  employment  opportunities  for  a  growing 
number of young people, particularly from ethnic minority communities, is a fun-
damental issue. The local council can:

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

•  Offer  traineeships  within  the  council  for  external  applicants,  which  enables 

them to compete for posts in the future

3.1.1. Promoting employment in the public sector

In Genk, the municipality trains city guides and seeks out young people 
from Muslim communities to lead tourist groups on tours of multi-ethnic Genk. 
This way, the city can create a distinct profile for itself and for its Muslim youth. 

In Antwerp, the total number of regular employees within the city au-
thority is 7,805.  The number of employees with ethnic minority background has 
risen from  2.23 percent in 1998 to 5.85 percent in 2005.

Similarly,  Bradford  City  Council  employed  public  service  employees 
with Muslim background in order to mirror the ethnic break-down of their district 
population.  The  City  of  Bradford,  for  example,  has  14%  of  its  employees  with  a 
diverse background.

Moreover, the City Council in Bradford developed a fast track manage-
ment programme, called Black People into Management (BPIM).  The aim was to 
improve the representation of existing Black and Asian staff members at the senior 
management level in the Council. The programme allowed the participants to un-
dertake rigorous work tasks to broaden their skills and knowledge in core areas. 
Each participant was mentored by a director and was given opportunities for work 
shadowing.

Bradford  City  Council  has  also  created  the  Fairness  and  Inclusion  in 
Employment  and  Learning  Development  Scheme  (FIELDS)  in  order  to  facilitate 
the  Council’s  Equality  and  Diversity  in  Employment  agenda.  This  strategy  that 
addresses the under-representation of certain groups enables the City Council to 
increase the access to equality in employment and at the same time to promote the 
message of the need and usefulness of such policy in the district. The programme 
has received a specific budget allocation, which ensures the practical implementa-
tion of the adopted measures. In this context, the City Council set up a Corporate 
Equality Steering Group and made it responsible for overseeing the allocation and 
monitoring of the FIELDS budget.

The placement of fresh graduates from ethnic minority backgrounds has 
also become a policy priority for the City Council in Bradford in order to avoid the 
movement  of  graduates  to  the  unemployment  register.  In  this  context,  Bradford 
Council successfully developed an initiative through which ethnic minority grad-
uates  gained  relevant  managerial  experience.  The  two-year  pilot  programme  of-
fered eight graduates the opportunity to acquire the necessary vocational and soft 
skills. Following the completion of the course, six out of eight graduates (75 per 
cent)  entered  managerial  positions.  In  addition,  this  programme  provided  Brad-
ford Council with better understanding of the barriers for graduates from ethnic 

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3. Mainstreaming anti-discrimination in policies: local practices in the areas of employment, public services and education

minority background that can be generated by its own practice, which is likely to 
be reflected in employment policies in the long term.

In  Aarhus,  the  municipality  has  adopted  a  programme  for  emerging 
leaders  among  ethnic  minorities.    The  programme  for  emerging  leaders  among 
ethnic minorities aims at building leadership skills

The Bradford City Council continues to provide opportunities via Posi-
tive  Action  Traineeships  (PATs),  which  aim  at  recruiting  persons  from  minority 
groups in those organisations where there is evidence that these groups are under-
represented either within the institution as a whole or only at certain levels or in 
certain  types  of  jobs. This  scheme  helps  individuals  to  reach  a  level  from  where 
they can compete on equal footing (with the majority population) for future job 
opportunities.

In  Bradford,  the  City  Council  and  most  employers,  both  public  and 
private,  maintain  a  flexible  approach  to  dress  codes,  which  allows  most  Muslim 
women and men to work wear certain religious clothing.  In addition to this Brad-
ford City Council have specific policy guidelines to cater for specific needs such as 
requests for leave to perform Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) or for religious festivals 
of Eid and Ramadan.

Aarhus municipality aims to make a campaign of attention for woman 
carrying headscarves. The aim of the project is to remove prejudices among others 
and attract a group of well educated women who would like to work, but have dif-
ficulties getting a job matching their qualifications, because of the prejudices and 
barriers they meet due to the fact that they wear headscarves.

Bradford City Council, through the B-EQUAL project, funded by the Eu-
ropean Social Fund, enabled the development of an interactive toolkit called, Faith: 
Seeking an Understanding.  The toolkit has been specifically designed to inform and 
educate about religious practices and beliefs within the workplace.  The aim is to 
inform of the positive benefits of the improved staff interaction and contentment as 
well as gaining a greater understanding of the diversity of religious beliefs.

3.1.2. Promoting employment in the private sector

In Genk, those with a higher educational degree are pro-actively promoted 
in the labour market. On the basis of an understanding between the integration serv-
ice of the municipality and the employment agency they can follow a short and intense 
course in diction and application training, as well as engage in working practice.

Since  2000,  the  city  of  Aarhus  held  an  initiative  with  the  objective  to 
increase the level of employment for refugees and immigrants by three percentage 
points per annum for the next 10 years, until the employment rate for this group 
in Aarhus will have reached the same level as for the rest of the population. The 

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

employment rate for the total population in Aarhus is 70 per cent, while for the 
immigrants it is 42.8 per cent.  

A  regular  review  of  this  scheme  is  done  through  the  Employment  and 
Education  Committee,  which  represents  and  brings  together  interests  of  com-
panies,  of  the  Integration  Council,  of  public  institutions  and  of  job  seekers. The 
committee provides ideas and helps to promote employment and to retain young 
refugees and migrants in secondary education.  

In Aarhus the municipality in cooperation with private businesses has 
developed a programme that enables the unemployed to seek direct traineeships in 
private companies.  The idea behind the “Well box model” is to increase the share of 
training of the unemployed in private companies by 25%, while reducing the share 
of training of the unemployed in public sheltered programmes by 25%.  Training 
and education takes place in private companies and not in public projects.  It gives 
a more realistic training and easier transition to a job.  While the unemployment 
centre makes agreements on training and education with different companies and 
only training with a real possibility of future employment is supported.  The in-job 
training  consists  of  various  steps,  but  allows  a  “fast-track”  option,  designed  for 
those who have the minimum need of training.  The Well-box model is a long-term 
and efficient cooperation between private companies and the municipality.  While 
the local council covers the programme financially, the job centre is in charge of 
cooperation with the companies in order to find a best match for a job seeker.  

In  Bradford,  innovative  ways  of  combating  and  eliminating  discrimi-
nation  and  inequality  in  the  labour  market  and  overcoming  barriers  to  employ-
ment for ethnic minorities were developed by the City Council in a project called 
Bradford Equality in Employment Partnership (BEQUAL). The project piloted 20 
innovative projects within the district with the aim of promoting a workforce that 
reflected the rich diversity of the Bradford district. The projects developed many 
products, including diversity management toolkits, interactive CD-ROMs, under-
standing  of  faith,  projects  promoting  diversity  in  the  workforce,  helping  ethnic 
minority women access and progress in training and employment.12

In  2006,  in  Rotterdam,  businesses  offered  250  young  people  with  no 
training or job an opportunity to gain some work experience. About 10 businesses 
are each taking on a group of 25 young people. They are following the example of 
the Rotterdam Airport, which in 2004 offered 25 young Moroccans a temporary 
training place at the airport (a scheme called Marok’kans). The City Council has 
been  actively  promoting  these  traineeships  in  order  to  raise  awareness  about  a 
need to address the lack of qualifications or work experience of young people in 
Rotterdam. By being enabled to work in business, the youngsters can gain a great 
deal of experience in a short time, which in turn helps them either to go back to 
school or to find work. The Rotterdam Airport, in cooperation with the City Coun-
cil, has also addressed the wider private sector in Rotterdam suggesting to adopt 
their approach to training of young people.

12	 A	full	range	of	products	can	be	viewed	on:		www.b-equal.com	and	www.b-diverse.com.

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3. Mainstreaming anti-discrimination in policies: local practices in the areas of employment, public services and education

DAAD, the special organisation in Rotterdam, develops direct contacts 
with employers in the harbour in order to facilitate jobs for young unskilled peo-
ple. This direct contact is an essential element for the successful approach. Mainly 
young unemployed persons are involved from an ethnic minority background.

A  similar  project,  Carrier  or  Barrier,  also  implemented  in  Rotterdam, 
addressed unemployment among highly-qualified female asylum-seekers who of-
ten have had to wait many years for a residence permit and employment permit. 
While the asylum seeking procedure is underway, asylum-seekers are not allowed 
to work, unable to keep up to date in their field or to gain work experience. As a 
result they finally come onto the labour market with poorer qualifications.

The Rotterdam municipality, vocational training institutions and busi-
nesses have been working together to reduce the shortage of training places through 
a scheme of ‘work placement’. Special training centres aim to find a quick match 
between businesses and trainees, the purpose being to prevent the trainees from 
‘falling between two stools’ as a result of an inappropriate placement. In the sec-
ond half of the 2005/2006 academic year there was still a shortfall of 2,300 places, 
particularly at secondary vocational education.

In  Mannheim,  the  German-Turkish  Trade  and  Industry  Centre,  which 
was founded under the auspices of the workers’ welfare organisation Arbeiterwohl-
fahrt Mannheim in April 2004, aims to support the Turkish community’s effort of 
establishment  in  business.  While  promoting  the  entrepreneurial  potential  of  the 
Turkish community and young start-ups in particular, the centre provides facilities 
such  as  business  advice,  contacts,  training  opportunities  and  office  space.    As  a 
cooperation partner of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Craft Trades 
Chamber,  the  Retail  Association  and  the  Trade  and  Industry  Promotion  Office, 
the Centre acts as an interface between these institutions and its target group. The 
overriding objective of the Centre is to create new training places and jobs in Man-
nheim, as well as to establish and expand business contacts and opportunities for 
collaboration between German and Turkish enterprises and economic institutions, 
both locally and in the context of foreign trade with Turkey.  In the Centre’s first 
three years of operation, eleven young enterprises created new jobs, and forty-five 
firms were helped to establish themselves, creating 101 new jobs.

In Antwerp, steps to enhance the “managing diversity” initiative have been 
taken since February 2007. The City council department for personnel development 
established a Diversity and personnel development working group, whose task is to 
make sure that where relevant, diversity is included in training and in the long run 
the city council can recruit a larger number of ethnic minority personnel in order to 
reflect the working population of Antwerp, a memorandum was produced.13 

13	

	Memorandum	on	Socially	Conscious	Antwerp	(MVA	maatschappelijk	verantwoord	antwerpen),	200.

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

3.2. Public services

The local authorities play a broad role as a service provider to all resi-
dents. The wide-ranging spectrum of services varies from city to city, but it gener-
ally includes urban planning, health care, social care for the young and for the eld-
erly, housing, public safety and environmental issues. Much emphasis has been put 
on  using  efficient  communication  tools  and  appropriate  language,  on  providing 
suitable information channels, as well as on understanding the interests and needs 
of the public. Cultural or religious Muslim-specific issues such as recruitment and 
training  of  Imams,  burial  according  to  Islamic  rites,  Islamic  education  in  public 
schools, hospitals and medical care for women and the elderly, or halal meals in 
public institutions, wearing religious clothing while working for the public service, 
have, in some cities, become the subject of additional policy making. In addition, 
employing bilingual staff, cultural mediators, consultants or Muslim organisations 
has served as effective outreach to the ethnic and cultural minorities concerned.

In Antwerp, the City Council has its communications reviewed by vari-
ous population groups in order to double check that the tone of the communica-
tion is adequate to diverse audience. The input from various population groups is 
then incorporated into a manual that forms a basis for communications for city’s 
staff.  The city of Antwerp also subsidizes a number of non-governmental organi-
sations to render certain parts of these services to ethnic-cultural minorities.  This 
is realised throught grant schemes linked to city’s budget.  

3.2.1. Care for the elderly

The new pattern that seems to emerge is one where the traditional role of 
the family as the sole provider of informal caretaking is changing. The cities have 
witnessed a considerable shift to formal caretaking provided by the public sector. 
Therefore the local authorities are working closely together with volunteer organi-
sations to bridge some gaps, such as the language barrier, which is deemed to be 
one of the greatest obstacles for outreach to ethnic minority elders. The cities have 
devoted additional resources to raise awareness on the needs of ethnic minorities’ 
elders.

In Genk, when drawing up a policy plan for senior residents, the local 
authorities involve all senior residents and associations. The city therefore counts 
on the collaboration of migrant federations. As a result, all senior (with or without 
Muslim  background/  or  migrant  background)  residents  interact  now  more  than 
before.

Aarhus has been actively promoting its health and care services to ethnic 
minority elders in several languages in order to raise awareness of the many free 
public  services  provided  to  senior  residents.    Providing  equal  access  to  nursing, 
practical assistance, meal service, transport, cleaning and personal caretaking has 
been  the  main  objective  of  this  effort.    Since  1999  an  increasingly  large  propor-

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tion of senior citizens belonging to ethnic minority groups in Aarhus have gained 
knowledge of – and access to – public services.  Aarhus is also offering housing for 
the elderly in a way that takes into account their inability to speak Danish and thus 
to communicate with other elderly people and the staff. The Health and Care De-
partment has 4000 houses or flats, including sheltered and residential care housing 
for those who can not manage in their own homes any longer. One and two room 
flats with shower and toilet facilities are offered and support assistance is available 
on  a  24  hours  basis.  Aarhus  is  coordinating  its  efforts  so  that  –  where  possible 
– the elderly will receive a flat close to others who speak their language and Aarhus 
recruits staff able to communicate in the language of an elderly person. 

In  Bradford,  a  commitment  to  fairness  and  inclusion  is  central  to  the 
way the Council delivers its services. The diversity of the district is considered to 
be  one  of  its  strengths  and  Bradford  Council  is  committed  to  creating  a  society 
that is fair and which acknowledges that each community has both rights and re-
sponsibilities. Bradford Council has devised the Fairness and Inclusion Plan, which 
forms  the  core  of  the  district’s  2020  Vision,  an  ambition  to  create  a  prosperous 
district where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy that prosperity, to which they 
have all been able to contribute.

3.2.2. Inclusion of the views of young people

In  order  to  facilitate  the  inclusion  of  the  views  of  young  people  on  city 
policies, Bradford City Council set up a Youth Parliament, which brings together 
youth between 11 and 18 years and gives them a platform where they can interact 
with  key  decision  makers  and  policy  experts  to  express  their  views  on  services  of 
various agencies, including the City Council. In addition to this, Bradford has seen 
the formation of the Centre for Politics and Public Participation. This organisation 
aims to improve opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds to be-
come engaged in political, civic and public life.  The key objective is to tackle the un-
der representation of ethnic minority communities in the political arena by engaging 
young people in the workings of political organisations and public institutions.

3.2.3. Allowance for religious clothing 

Standards of dress and personal presentation are relevant to most em-
ployers and having a policy on dress code is important. A formal dress code cre-
ates clarity for both employer and employee. Bradford City Council has a policy 
on Cultural and Religious Needs that allows the observance of religious dress, but 
taking into consideration service needs. Employees who meet customers are effec-
tively the first point of contact with the public, however equally important to cor-
porate image, is essentially the dress or uniform. However, Bradford City Council 
recognises the importance of the need for religious observance and therefore mak-
ing  reasonable  adjustments  in  the  production  of  uniform.  Other  employers  also 
adopt this method of good practice. An example of this is when Muslim staff mem-

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bers  who  wish  to  observe  the  wearing  of  a Hijab,  are  provided  with  a  corporate 
headscarf.  The Hijab is made from the same material as the corporate uniform and 
the logo of the company is sewn at an appropriate and visible part of the scarf. 

3.3. Education

Far  more  emphasis  is  now  placed  on  educational  qualification  as  a  re-
quirement for accessing jobs and the labour market, which in turn helps to sustain 
people’s quality of life. Local authorities have recognised that ensuring equal access 
to quality education as well as maintaining the equity and efficiency of the systems 
helps to reduce drop out rates and facilitates the transition from school to finding 
employment  opportunities.    Some  cities  have  taken  steps  in  acknowledging  the 
variety of cultural backgrounds of students and in setting up structures which pro-
vided students with homework supervision or familiarised parents with the school 
system. Other cities have recognised a need for increasing equity and effectiveness 
in the educational system in order to address the educational underachievement of 
young people from Muslim backgrounds. Contact between teachers from Muslim 
backgrounds and teachers from other minority or majority backgrounds has been 
a  valuable  tool  for  facilitating  mutual  understanding  and  interaction.  However, 
teachers from Muslim backgrounds are still rare within the educational systems.

3.3.1. Pre-school education and involving parents

In  the  Neckarstadt-West  district  of  Mannheim,  the  Rucksack  Project 
aiming  for  the  promotion  of  bilingualism  for  nursery  and  primary  schools  has 
been  implemented;  building  on  the  international  Youth  Empowerment  Partner-
ship  Programme  (YEPP)  and  on  the  results  achieved  in  the  Netherlands  and  in 
North-Rhine-Westphalia. The aim of this project, which comprises the elements 
of language support and parental education, is to promote language skills in four-
to-five-year-olds  of  Turkish  descent  both  at  home  in  their  native  language  and 
at the nursery school in German, while also involving the parents (especially the 
mothers).  The parallel assistance given to children, to whom the same material is 
taught in both languages (in this case, Turkish and German), is showing favour-
able  results.    For  instance,  the  interaction  between  teachers,  children  and  par-
ents is strengthened, the children experience the learning process as an important 
component of the everyday life of the family, the participating parents are able to 
exchanges experience, and the personal educational competence of the mothers is 
enhanced as a result of their involvement. 

As an evidence of its effective outreach, the project was followed by an-
other project, Reading Shop for Turkish Mothers and their Children, ran by Mus-
lim women. The significance of the Rucksack Project and the establishment of the 
Reading  Shop  lies  in  the  important  link  established  between  the  language  train-
ing that children receive (their mother-tongue skills are strengthened, hence their 
cultural  identity  is  acknowledged,  and  in  the  same  time  their  German-language 

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competences improve) and the reinforcement of the educational orientation and 
competence of the mothers. Both of these results perform an important integrative 
function, enabling the mothers to develop an open relationship with the nursery 
school  staff.  Coordination  and  exchanges  between  the  mothers  and  the  nursery 
schools represent a significant step on a way to a system of support and assistance 
in line with the needs of each child.

In Bradford, underachievement of young people of Pakistani and Bang-
ladeshi  origin  is  a  significant  factor  in  the  alienation  of  many  of  them  not  only 
from  the  local  situation,  but  also  from  themselves. The  problems  of  these  disaf-
fected young people, particularly the boys, are therefore at the heart of the policies 
designed to create a high standard of education and training facilities in the city. 
Over the past few years there has been a steady progress by parents who have rec-
ognised the need to take proactive steps towards enhancing their child’s education.  
In Bradford there are many supplementary schools which, in addition to Islamic 
education, incorporate additional teaching.

Similarly, addressing underachievement in Aarhus has become a priority 
for the city. A Drop-in programme (Vejledningscentret i Gellerup) aimed at giving 
guidance  to  young  people  without  clear  ideas  about  what  they  would  like  to  do 
once they finish elementary school was set up with a close working relationship to 
the Youth Education Guide, to prepare joint action plans for education or work as 
early as possible after leaving elementary school.

3.3.2. Elementary education and parenting support

In Genk, a team of the city education department sets up regularly a table 
in cafés or canteens where Turkish fathers gather, in order to raise awareness about 
education. The team discusses and responds to their ideas concerning education. 
This  scheme  has  helped  to  brake  down  perception  of  the  top-down  prescriptive 
participation in the educational system, while building trust from bottom-up.

In  Genk,  a  combination  of  individualised  and  group  approaches  was 
chosen  to  familiarise  Turkish  and  Moroccan  communities  with  the  importance 
of  education  as  a  step  towards  broader  employment  opportunities.  The  city  de-
veloped  the  Babbel’ma’s  [Let’s  talk  about  it]  scheme  and  took  a  step  to  employ 
semi-professional  Turkish  and  Moroccan  women  to  work  several  hours  a  week 
as “hands-on” expert mothers. The women conduct weekly or fortnightly visits to 
homes and people discuss their needs for emotional and social support and receive 
answers to everyday questions. For parenting questions, coaches are available to 
help in the city educational and parenting service. 

In  Antwerp,  the  policy  of  support  for  educational  engagement  has  in-
volved  childcare  services,  schools  and  ethnic  minorities’  organisations.    In  2006 
the collaboration between the Antwerp integration service and the smaller educa-
tional support service resulted in a call for activities and projects on this matter.  

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Rotterdam has started a discussion in community houses, schools etc. at 
the district level about the role of the parents regarding the education of the chil-
dren. It is not only to get the parents involved in the education process in schools 
but also about norms and values.  

3.3.3. Addressing equity and efficiency in schools

The Danish Parliament decided in 1999 that all municipalities were to of-
fer language instruction in Danish to bilingual children aged four and five in order 
to enable them to start schooling in an ordinary class. The act was later adopted 
to  apply  to  children  aged  three  to  six.  The  scheme  has  had  a  positive  effect  in 
Aarhus.14 For example, in 1999, 41 per cent of the children in kindergarten classes 
started their schooling in a reception class for immigrants because of their inad-
equate Danish language skills. However, by 2005/ 2006, only 7 per cent of children 
with Danish as a second language started kindergarten class in a reception class.  
The others have now become competent in Danish via language stimulation offered 
in ordinary kindergarten.

The city of Aarhus has been focusing its attention on the development of 
a number of schools with high concentration of children with a need for support of 
Danish as their second language. This is partly because Danish families have opted 
out of the school or moved-out from the areas with high concentration of ethnic 
minorities. The subsequent policy response in Denmark to the high concentration 
of pupils with ethnic backgrounds with a need to support their proficiency in Dan-
ish as second language has been twofold: first, the city council of Aarhus decided 
that dispersing the pupils was not the solution. Instead, the plan was to strengthen 
the quality of education in eight schools with a high number of bilingual pupils. A 
scheme for magnet schools focused on providing additional resources in order to 
improve the quality of teaching and on linking the schools to a number of initia-
tives that would enable children from these schools to enjoy the same opportuni-
ties as children from other schools in the municipality, both in commencing and in 
completing secondary education.

The central focus in the magnet school plan is:

•  A focus on skills (inter alia via increased hours, specialist subjects, strengthen-

ing of IT in teaching and the formation of groups);

•  Extended  homework  assistance  arrangements  (with  both  employed  teachers 

and volunteers);

14	

	Act	48,	July	1998:	Enhanced	integration	of	children	of	refugees	and	immigrants	(L	48	af	1.	juli	1998:	For-
stærket	 integration	 af	 børn	 af	 flygtninge	 og	 indvandrere.	 Ændring	 af	 folkeskoleloven).	 Act	 4,	 June	 2004:	
Compulsory	language	stimulation	of	preschool	children	with	Danish	as	a	second	language	(Lov	nr.	4	af	9.	
juni	2004:	Obligatorisk	sprogstimulering	af	tosprogede	børn,	der	endnu	ikke	har	påbegyndt	skolegangen)

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•  Strengthening  of  the  school-home  partnership  (e.g.  parents’  meetings  in  lan-

guage groups led by bilingual teachers with special training);

•  Continuing and further training for management and teachers (especially with 
regard to the use of Danish as a second language in all teaching and other activi-
ties, and the implementation of cross-cultural education);

•  Greater coordination between school and leisure (to make pupils more active in 

their leisure time via increased cooperation with clubs and associations).

The second focus of the policy approach came with the adoption of an 
Act of the Parliament ensuring a free choice of schools across school districts and 
municipal borders, with effect from 1 August 2005.15 As a result of this Act, bilin-
gual parents are able to enrol their children in schools where there is a majority of 
pupils whose native language is Danish. Many of the children who have changed 
schools moved away from the magnet schools. This School Act has thus contrib-
uted to promoting a greater mix of pupils within a given educational district. 

In the same spirit of strengthening the education in Danish as a second 
language, including easier access to refer pupils with a need for support of Danish 
as their second language to a school other than the district school, the Parliament 
passed another act, with effect from 1 August 2006.16 This Act has also promoted a 
greater balance in school population as far as the ethnic background of the pupils is 
concerned. Although the act is optional, Aarhus City Council has decided to com-
ply with it and promote legal means of achieving a diverse distribution of pupils 
with a need for support of Danish as their second language in municipal schools. 
Extensive in-service training of staff in the recipient schools is being undertaken 
in order to comply with the Act’s specification of ‘a better offer to the pupil’. The 
Act argues that it is better for bilingual pupils in need of language support to at-
tend a school where there is a greater Danish influence from fellow pupils whose 
native language is Danish. The Act also applies to bilingual pupils with a need for 
language support who move from a different municipality or who wish to change 
schools within the municipality. So far the language test of pupils from other mu-
nicipalities has shown a need for language support and generally these pupils are 
referred to a school other than the magnet schools concerned.

While pursuing a policy of dispersal of pupils with a need for support of 
Danish as their second language to schools with a greater number of pupils whose 
native language is Danish, in order to achieve a greater balance of diversity within 
classroom, the City Council in Aarhus has decided to modify the magnet school 
concept by transforming three of the magnet schools with the highest proportion 
of bilingual pupils (80 per cent, 99 per cent and 100 per cent) into full day schools 

15	 Act	335,	May	2005,	A	freer	choice	of	primary	school	across	school	districts	and	across	municipalities	(Lov	nr.	

335	af	18.	maj	2005:	Mere	frit	skolevalg	inden	for	og	over	kommunegrænser)

1	 Act	 594,	 June	 2005:	 Enhanced	 teaching	 in	 Danish	 as	 a	 second	 language,	 including	 a	 wider	 option	 to	 refer	
pupils	with	Danish	as	a	second	language	to	a	non-district	school	(Lov	594	af	24//05:	Styrket	undervisning	i	
dansk	som	andetsprog,	herunder	ved	udvidet	adgang	til	at	henvise	tosprogede	elever	til	andre	skoler	end	dis-
triktsskolen)

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as of 2006/2007 school year. This enables the schools to offer pupils teaching and 
other activities from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and assist a substantial group of children who 
have not previously had access to after-school facilities.  

Bradford City Council developed the School Linking programme17 in or-
der  to  bring  together  pupils  from  different  schools  and  backgrounds  together  in 
a range of activities aimed at developing co-operation and awareness of cultural 
diversity. Some schools are almost 100 per cent white and some are 100 per cent 
ethnic minority. This has resulted in a number of schools developing school linking 
projects through the British Council, which have gone beyond local and regional 
levels and have resulted in links with schools in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.  

The city council in Bradford has also made efforts to address segregation 
within schools, responding to the finding that within some educational institutions 
there  is  little  or  no  interaction  with  ethnic  minority  communities.    At  the  same 
time, the policy of access to quality education has been further developed in the 
context of a Muslim girls’ school. Feversham College was the first Muslim school 
to be opened in 1984, after Muslims raised concerns about the lack of girls-only 
education in Bradford. The all-girls school serves one of the most deprived com-
munities  in  England  and  has  been  ranked  as  the  best  state  secondary  school  in 
the country.  This has led to the further establishment of girls-only education i.e. 
Clayton Girls College and recently Corel College.

A similar project of increasing inter-ethnic contact between pupils has 
been implemented in Aarhus.  Bringing together pupils, teachers and parents with 
different cultural, social and bilingual backgrounds, the project “Friendship across” 
has involved fourteen schools in Aarhus.  The participating schools have worked 
on a basis of suggestions for joint activities and visits, in order to give the classes 
some shared experiences.  In addition to visits of museums and theatres, children 
have a possibility to visit each others’ schools and exchange letters.  Involvement 
and sharing experiences have been important elements in the planning for inter-
cultural  and  international  teaching  and  the  municipality  will  extend  the  project 
“Friendships across” to all fifty-one schools in the municipality.

In Rotterdam, the City Council has taken steps to address segregation in schools, 
drop out rates and underachievement. Through the programme Keten Onderwijs, 
Jeugd en Integratie [Education, Youth and Integration Chain], the City Council aims 
to interlink all the schemes and adjustments in the field of education, youth, eman-
cipation, integration and participation, and thus to create facilitate a stable district 
with a solid economic basis, healthy educational climate and social cohesion. In the 
context of education and youth schemes, the Rotterdam City Council aims at:

•  Reducing the number of school-leavers in the age group 17-23 who do not have 
any qualifications by establishing the Jongerenloket [Youth Counter], a munici-
pal access point for education, work and income for young people;

1	

	Further	information	can	be	obtained	from	http://www.schoolslinkingproject.com/.

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•  Creating the Nieuwe Brede School [New Broad School], a collaborative project 
involving schools and essential education services and services like sport, thea-
tre/music, language training institutes, social work, and improving the involve-
ment of the parents who play an essential role in the education. The motto is: it 
takes a whole village to raise a child.

In addition, the city of Rotterdam has invested in school infrastructure and the 
quality  of  books,  school  programs  and  teachers  in  poor  areas.    Preventing  the 
emergence  of  segregated  schools  is  done  by  variety  of  measures  on  a  voluntary 
basis, such as:

•  a  double  list  whereby  a  school  tries  to  balance  an  equal  representation  of  the 
whole population in the neighbourhood. If there are too many of one group the 
director can decide to stop that registration list, to make it possible for others to 
register themselves.

•  some “white” indigenous parents decide as a group to move to a so called ”black 
school.“ They want their children to grow up in a multicultural school environ-
ment. And these so called “black schools” have much better facilities. 

In Antwerp, equal ac-
cess to quality education for all 
is a key tenet of the city’s gen-
eral education policy. A greater 
focus on groups deserving spe-
cial attention, combating truan-
cy  and  child-rearing  assistance 
for parents are main objectives. 
Special attention is also paid to 
promoting  knowledge  of  the 
Dutch language.

School children, Rotterdam, copyright: city of Rotterdam

3.3.4. Religious education in public schools

In Mannheim, Sunni instruction is provided at two primary schools and 

Alevi education at one primary school.

As  of  the  2006/2007  academic  year,  Muslim  religious  education  is  on 
offer  at  twelve  primary  schools  in  the  Baden-Württemberg  Land.  This  initiative 
which will run for an initial period of four years is an innovation in terms of the 
subjects  taught  at  the  schools  in  Baden-Württemberg.  Two  lessons  a  week  are 
given in German by teachers belonging to the relevant faith community. At present 

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they  are  attended  by  235  pupils  of  both  genders.18 The  necessary  skills  were  im-
parted  to  both  the  Sunni  and  the  Alevi  teachers  in  a  six-month  training  course. 
The religious education project, initiated  on a trial basis, will undergo  academic 
monitoring and evaluation by the same two colleges of education which have also 
trained the teachers.  

3.3.5.  Facilitating contact between teachers of Muslim 

and non-Muslim background

In Mannheim, the Institute of German-Turkish Integration Studies and 
Inter-Faith Work has implemented a project centred on the opening and integra-
tion of the Association of Islamic Cultural Centres Mosque as the body in charge 
of a hostel for Muslim schoolchildren. The objective has been to facilitate contacts 
and to conduct regular working meetings between the teachers from the Humbold 
General  Secondary  School  and  the  Mannheim-Herzogenried  Integrated  Compre-
hensive School on the one hand and the hostel’s teaching staff on the other.

3.4. Cooperation with self-help organisations

The process of communication and consultation between city authorities 
and Muslim communities helps to strengthen community cohesion policies which 
are aimed at improving their situation. The involvement of Muslim communities in 
policy making is important for the effectiveness of policy design and implementa-
tion. The local level policy makers have to ensure that policies respond adequately 
to  the  needs  of  the  Muslim  communities.  Active  and  direct  involvement  of  the 
Muslim communities can be one of the ways of achieving this. While there is no 
clear  line  on  what  constitutes  a  best  structure  for  interaction,  there  are  several 
models available. Different types of participation can exist in parallel and mutually 
reinforce each other.

3.4.1. Co-operation models 

For example, the Bradford City Council has worked in partnership with key part-
ner agencies from the private, public, voluntary and community sector, bringing 
together relevant actors and ensuring their input in the policy development and 
implementation process: 

•  The Bradford Business Ethnic Forum is an organisation that brings together ethnic 
entrepreneurs of different age, gender and background from across the city. Their 
advisory capacity strengthens the dialogue between the local government and the 

18	 While	Sunni	religious	education	is	offered	at	ten	schools,	Alevi	instruction	is	offered	at	two.	In	the	absence	
of	an	appropriate	cooperation	partner,	it	was	not	possible	to	establish	a	curriculum	for	Shia	instruction.	The	
particular	feature	of	the	Baden-Württemberg	model	is	that	the	teaching	is	based	on	syllabuses	drawn	up	by	the	
relevant	faith	communities	themselves.

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black ethnic minority (BEM) communities on policies and services which affect the 
ability of BEM entrepreneurs to start and successfully grow their businesses. 

•  The Pakistan Society of West Yorkshire, with a membership of over four hundred 
Pakistani families from West Yorkshire, puts efforts into building better under-
standing  of  multi-racial  and  multi-cultural  awareness.  It  holds  regular  events 
with people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds, in which they commemorate 
and celebrate religious and cultural occasions. 

•  The Consortia of Ethnic Minority Organisations [COEMO], an umbrella organi-
sation of community organisations from the black and ethnic minority volun-
tary sector, aims to provide a platform for this sector to develop collectively.19 

•  The Quest for Economic Development [QED] works towards educational, social 
and economic advancement of people of South Asian origin, many of whom are 
Muslims,  as  well  as  provides  services  to  these  communities.  QED  has  under-
taken a number of initiatives in recent years to break down the barriers faced by 
people of South Asian origin to integrate into society.20

•  The Asian Trades Link [ATL] represents and promotes the ethnic minority busi-
ness sector in Yorkshire and provides services to socially excluded communities.  
ATL works for the economic regeneration and development of BME businesses 
in the region by engaging with private and public sector partners. 

•  The  Council  for  Mosques  [CfM]  is  an  organisation  made  up  of  two  members 
of each mosque in Bradford.  They provide support and guidance for Muslims 
in relation to Schools, Education, Social Services and the Health of the Muslim 
community.

In Aarhus, involvement of the citizens is a very important issue. Both in 
general but in particular regarding developing and implementing a new integration 
policy, which has among others been inspired by involvement processes in a de-
prived urban area in the western part of the city called Gellerup. The City Council 
has also invited Imams to open discussions on the integration agenda.  

The Mannheim’s Officer for Foreign Residents plays an important part 
as a proactive contact and mediator between the city and the mosque-based as-
sociations.  In  the  last  three  years  direct  approaches  to  and  involvement  of  the 
mosque-based associations have borne fruit in the shape of greater participation 
of the Muslim communities, and women and youth in particular, in the life of the 
city. Practical results have included the active involvement of the Arab Al Faruq 
mosque  from  the  Neckarstadt-West  district  in,  for  example,  the  Köprü  citizens’ 
conciliation  service,  in  certain  working  groups  of  the  local  district  management 
organisation,  in  the  district’s  Picco  Bello  street  cleaning  programme  and  in  the 
Festival of Cultures held in the district in 2006.

19	 http://www.coemo.co.uk/html/about_us.html.	
20	 http://www.ledis.co.uk/abstract.php?id=A848.	

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In  Mannheim,  the  direct  involvement  of  Muslim  organisations  has 
proved to be particularly efficient in the process of integration policy implementa-
tion.  The example of the women’s section of the local Turkish Islamic Union of the 
Institution for Religion [DITIB] mosque clearly demonstrated the importance of an 
inter-personal approach within Muslim organisations in order to ensure participa-
tion in the integration courses. An anonymously distributed information leaflet in 
native languages was accompanied by a meeting with Muslim women of the DITIB 
mosque, providing an introduction in the Turkish language to the range of cours-
es  available.  Following  on  the  information  session,  both  the  organisers  and  the 
women agreed on conditions for the best-suited course. As a result, three women’s 
courses (with childcare) took place. An essential element in the achievement of this 
outcome was the offer to hold the first (100-hour) course module in the familiar 
environment of the mosque. A second important factor in the successful establish-
ment of these women’s courses was the provision of a Muslim contact person by 
the course provider, to offer guidance and support to those attending the courses. 
There can be no doubt that better practical results are obtained in a class of mixed 
ethnic or cultural backgrounds.  A mixed class is also more effective in achieving 
integration.  However,  for  some  target  groups,  the  familiar  group  situation  is  an 
essential prerequisite for taking part in such courses.

In  Antwerp,  the  Integration  Service  manages  a  fund  that  gives  grants 
for activities that promote the idea of living together in diversity.  At this moment 
there  are  three  educational  projects  presented  by  associations  and  supported  by 
the Integration Service.  

The Rotterdam City Council has supported the establishment of the civil 
society based Foundation Platform of Islamic Organisations in the region of Rijnmod 
[SPIOR].21 Today, about 42 organisations of various backgrounds (Moroccan, Turk-
ish, Suriname and Pakistani) are members of SPIOR.  The foundation offers participa-
tion in joint projects and runs language courses.  Moreover, it runs religious classes in 
30 public schools. There are 18 teachers of religion working for SPIOR. In the sphere 
of education, SPIOR organises courses for Imams on how to make them more effec-
tive in society, as well as courses aimed at the emancipation of Muslim women.  These 
courses have been subsidised by the Ministry of Social Affairs. SPIOR runs a project 
on addressing the issue of “forced marriages”, which is based on a proper explanation 
of the Koran that emphasises the consent of both parties.  In addition, SPIOR devel-
ops courses on Islam, which explain aspect of teaching to the majority society, and 
differences among various ethnic Muslim groups. 

3.4.2. Constructing Mosques and Houses of Prayers 

Since the 1990s, LCN cities have been confronted with requests for per-
mits  to  build  mosques.    Applications  for  construction  permits  have  had  varying 
degrees of success in different regions and municipalities.  Such projects have of-

21	

	See	http://www.spior.nl/	

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ten met with opposition, mainly from local residents.  A solution of granting per-
mission to build mosques in industrial areas has been considered politically less 
controversial  and  therefore  adopted  by  a  few  city  councils.  However,  industrial 
areas have hardly been appropriate settings for a religious and socio-cultural insti-
tution. In order to promote inter-faith and cultural contacts between the Muslim 
and non-Muslim populations, the locating of mosques in residential surroundings 
is a much better approach in terms of integration and community cohesion.

The  Mannheim  DITIB  community’s  Yavuz  Sultan  Selim  mosque  was 
opened in 1995 and is Germany’s largest mosque. The policy decision of the city to 
grant permission for the construction of this mosque in the highly populated cen-
tre of Mannheim was based on the City Council’s effort to highlight that Muslims 
form an integral part of society in Mannheim. The mosque, which is built next to a 
Catholic Church symbolises the changes that have taken place in the demography 
of Mannheim in the last few decades, while confirming that Islam has become es-
tablished as a permanent element of the religious culture of Germany and Europe.  
It is recognition and affirmation of the needs of the city’s Muslim population.  The 
Turkish Muslim community has made an appreciable contribution to securing this 
permanent recognition through their support for the “open mosque” idea, which 
grants access to the mosque to a non-Muslim public.  The City Council insisted on 
the idea of the Open Mosque as a factor of an integrated city. Over 250,000 of visi-
tors have so far taken guided tours of the Mosque. In this way, the DITIB mosque 
has now established itself as a magnet for the public, partly in the context of the 
Long Night of the Museums organised at the Federal level (with over 30 000 visitors 
in Mannheim), and partly also through the district’s Night-time Stroll event, which 
has attracted several thousand people over a period of several days.

Turkish Mosque next to Catholic church, Mannheim, copyright: city of Mannheim, Section 19

Turkish Mosque in Rotterdam

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Young people, Rotterdam, copyright: city of Rotterdam

3.4.3. Engaging young Muslims in communal life

In Rotterdam, an umbrella NGO SPIOR has developed a project to ad-
dress discrimination in access to employment and has also engaged in negotiation 
with the boards and committees of mosques to involve more Muslim youth in the 
establishment.  

Mannheim  has  more  than  a  dozen  active  Muslim  organisations.  Con-
scious  of  the  large  proportion  of  youths  among  the  Muslim  residents  of  Man-
nheim,  the  City  Council  has  developed  the  project  Creating  Prospects  for  Young 
Muslims.    Assisted  by  the  Federal  Interior  Ministry,  this  project  has  established 
structures and facilities for youth work in selected mosque-based associations in 
accordance with the needs of the  young people concerned. Over 18  participants 
of both sexes from five mosque-based associations received 100 hours of training 
in  the  organisational  planning  and  implementation  of  measures  and  small-scale 
projects as well as in the essentials of educational work with children and adoles-
cents. Those who passed the course qualified for a Youth Leader Card. 

Another  vital  aspect  of  this  experimental  project,  which  is  unique  in 
Germany,  was  the  collaboration  with  those  in  charge  of  the  individual  mosque-
based associations, with a view to obtaining their support in the establishment of 
structures whereby the young people could undertake youth work in the mosques 
on their own responsibility and link up with existing networks in the district and 
with youth welfare groups in general. Practical results achieved by the project are 
the  Alevi  youth  group’s  membership  of  the  Stadtjugendring  [City  Youth  Circle], 
the establishment of a DITIB youth group with a constitution and premises of its 
own that organises own-initiative events, the contacts forged between all partici-
pating  mosque-based  associations  and  non-Muslim  youth  groups,  and  activities 
not  confined  to  a  single  association  undertaken  with  players  from  the  relevant 
districts. The openness encouraged and attained by the project has now, two years 

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after its conclusion, proved to be a foundation for further eventual expansion of 
the mosque-based associations’ participation in the communal life of the city.

3.5. Community cohesion

The issue of social and community cohesion is closely linked with diversity 
management. Diversity does not relate only to Muslim communities. Rather, the city 
must reconcile equality, diversity and cohesion – treating people equally and differ-
ently and ensuring a shared sense of belonging. The transformations taking place in 
the demography of the cities have major implications for the notions of identity, di-
versity, belonging and social cohesion. The cities are becoming more mixed culturally, 
ethnically with realistic expectations that ethnic minority communities will make up 
a majority of the population of several cities within the next two decades.

The  consequences  of  not  effectively  addressing  the  prevalence  of  dis-
crimination, inequality and social exclusion of Muslim communities are potential-
ly disastrous for the city, both socially and economically. Socially, because cohe-
sion could be undermined if a significant section of the community felt alienated, 
disenfranchised and with no sense of belonging. Economically, because the lack of 
inclusion of all undermines the city’s ability to sustain competitiveness with other 
cities nationally and internationally, since the potential of a substantial proportion 
of its people is not fully utilised. Multi-agency partnerships involving all relevant 
actors, such as city council, police, religious or community institutions, entrepre-
neurs and sports organizations are essential in building community cohesion. 

While  in  many  instances  it  was  the  city  that  took  the  lead  in  propos-
ing strategic developmental programmes and that brought all the relevant actors 
on board, at other times, cities also responded to calls for a need to address in-
equalities  through  an  overall  strategic  approach,  followed  up  by  concrete  steps 
and  policy  measures.    Experience  from  the  Local  Community  Network  suggests 
that  religious  divisions  within  some  communities  hinder  effective  co-operation 
and support in dealing with matters of common concern. Some cities undertook 
research  and  consultation  in  order  to  find  out  to  what  extent  Muslim  organisa-
tions, such as council or committees of mosques or Imams can play a positive role 
in the integration and participation of Muslims in society.

Community  cohesion  aims  of  putting  equality  and  non-discrimination  in 
practice needs to be based on aims, targets and indicators together with op-
erational action, monitoring and evaluation of implementation. 

Aims: Living together positively; Active participation in society; Building links 
and relationships; Being proud of the city.

Once aims are identified, they need more concrete form as targets and indica-
tors, which would benchmark the actual progress of policy implementation. 

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Indicators: Perceptions of safety in the community; Unemployment; Perceptions 
of  harmony  in  the  community;  Satisfaction  levels;  Hate  crime  levels;  Educa-
tional achievement differentials; Democratic process engagement;

Targets and indicators are reached through corresponding action. The following 
set of actions could guide policy makers in achieving community cohesion: 

Action:  Removing  structural  disadvantage  and  discrimination;  Engaging  the 
community;  Encouraging  active  citizenship/  “residentship”;  Linking  people; 
Managing  neighbourhoods  and  urban  infrastructure;  Reducing  hate  crime; 
Service innovation; Balancing the workforce; Improving rapid response; Devel-
oping leadership; Reducing crime and disorder; Preventing conflict; Introduc-
ing dialogue and promotional campaigns; Managing information; Cooperation 
with the Media.

3.5.1. Community cohesion as a strategy

3.5.1.1.  Bradford Vision – the district’s local strategic 

partnership

In Bradford, race and community relations particularly in the inner city 
area have been poor and deteriorated with the inter-mixing of other social prob-
lems, such as prostitution, crime, drugs, gang fights etc. At the same time, those 
living in the suburbs increasingly believed that these are the ‘problems of the mi-
nority communities’. While the existence of serious racial inequalities in the city 
is adequately documented and is widely acknowledged, the high concentration of 
“underclass” minority communities in central Bradford is most likely to remain an 
issue for some decades to come. For a variety of social, cultural and economic rea-
sons, even the younger generations of Muslims are unlikely to move away from the 
cluster of their communities. Despite the fact that the Muslim communities in the 
city suffer considerably more from racial inequalities and from the social disorder 
issues, other communities, such as South Asian, Chinese, African and Caribbean, 
also have a stake in race relations.

In response to the structural problems and urgency of the situation, the 
Bradford  Vision  -  District’s  Local  Strategic  Partnership  was  adopted  by  the  City 
Council as a serious attempt to bring all ethnic minority communities in the city 
to a common platform for the future of good race relations in the district. Its main 
aim is to achieve the goals set out in the district’s long term Vision for the year 
2020 - to be a high skilled, high waged economy where people from all communi-
ties are justifiably proud of living, working, investing and playing in the District. As 
the Local Strategic Partnership, the Bradford Vision provides strategic leadership 
in ensuring that effective partnership is working  in  the  district, which promotes 
community cohesion and community harmony.  

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Under the Bradford Vision, a number of partnerships were set up. The 
Bradford  Diversity  Exchange,  a  district-wide  partnership,  operates  with  the  aim 
of being  flexible and adaptable to changes  affecting the way  communities  across 
the district live, learn, work and play. It aims to promote learning about citizen-
ship throughout all communities. Another multi-agency strategic cooperation has 
been  the  Bradford  District  Safer  Communities  Partnership,  chaired  by  the  West 
Yorkshire Police and the Bradford Council. This is a multi-agency partnership of 
organisations working to make the district safer. It brings together many different 
organisations and communities from across the district with the aim of improving 
the quality of life for everyone living, working or visiting Bradford.

3.5.1.2.  Islam and integration – the Rotterdam  

Programmes and Debates

In Rotterdam, there have been three strategic programmes:

In  1993,  the  Rotterdam  City  Council  launched  the  programme  People 
Make the City as a form of assertive social policy. It is a programme through which 
residents  are  asked  and  encouraged  to  take  steps  to  bring  about  social  cohesion 
in their street. This approach is aimed at improving the social climate in deprived 
areas, with a major side effect being that residents who normally consider politics 
as something far removed from their lives are involved. In this regard, the scheme 
acts as a school of active citizenship and gives concrete substance to ideals (citi-
zenship, involvement, diversity) which are often abstract.

The “street approach” in particular has been further developed in the last 
four years. There are now 1,600 streets in which one or more social activities take 
place.  However,  it  is  not  the  quantitative  change  that  Rotterdam  is  interested  in 
here, since these 1,600 streets including about 90 streets where intensive support 
is given as part of the new People Make the City programme. The purpose is not 
simply to facilitate processes, but to start them for instance by calling on inhabit-
ants door-to-door or by making agreements with the parties concerned. The City 
Council  has  taken  an  assertive  and  active  approach  in  areas  where  the  citizens 
themselves do not take the initiative.

At street level, the programme has four components:

•  Organisation of activities by the community;

•  Agreements to improve the quality of life;

•  Agreements between residents and services on the management of public spaces;

•  Training of management personnel involved in the street approach.

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In  the  course  of  preparing  the  Community  vision  and  strategic  plan,  the  city  of 
Rotterdam organised public debates on the role of Islam in Rotterdam. This bot-
tom-up  approach,  involving  Muslims  and  non-Muslim  residents  of  the  city,  has 
addressed the integration of Muslims and the tensions existing between Muslims 
and non-Muslims. The public debates were organised in six steps. First in February 
2004, the city organised expert meetings that identified issues of concern, such as 
value systems and norms, living together in diversity, situation of Muslim women, 
role of NGOs, educational and economic situation of Muslims, equal rights and 
the role of the media.  The public debates took place in March and April 2005 and 
brought together 1500 Muslim of Turkish, Suriname, Moroccan and other back-
grounds who took part in these debates. While the city organised the debates for 
Muslims, Muslim umbrella organisation SPIOR organised debates for non-Mus-
lims. The conclusions of the public debates informed the Community Charter of 
Rotterdam and provided a basis for the Rotterdam strategic vision.22

The third strategic programme “Join in or stay behind”, which was devel-
oped in response to the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, in order to 
address the violent radicalisation of youth. The programme Join-in or Stay Behind has 
become the subject of wide ranging debate and criticism in the Muslim communities. 
Its  objectives  are  (1)  prevention  of  radicalisation,  (2)  surveillance  of  Muslim  youth 
who are likely to become radicalised and (3) suppression of radicalised individuals.  

3.5.1.3. Integration policy in 
Aarhus

In  June  2007  the  city  of  Aarhus 
adopted a new integration policy for all eth-
nic minorities.23 The objective of the policy is 
to demonstrate that integration concerns all; 
not  only  the  municipality,  but  everyone,  by 
making citizenship, social cohesion and anti-
discrimination its central focuses.  Therefore 
a very important element in the whole process 
of defining and realization of a new integra-
tion  policy  has  been  the  involvement  of  the 
citizens both during, and after the adoption of 
the new policy.  The aim of the policy has been 
strengthening cohesion in Aarhus and ensur-
ing that everyone – irrespective of ethnic and 
cultural background – participates as an ac-
tive  city  resident  and  respects  fundamental 
values and democratic principles. 

22	

Islam	 and	 Integration:	 Social	 Integration,	 April	 2005	 http://www.rotterdam.nl/Rotterdam/Internet/Overig/
rdm/Bureau%20sociale%20integratie/Analysis%20of%20public%20debates%20def.pdf	

23	 More	information	on	the	integration	policy	in	Aarhus	is	available	at	www.aarhuskommune.dk	

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3.5.2. Residential-area oriented projects

In  Mannheim,  the  district-based  and  residential-area-oriented  ap-
proaches  adopted  by  the  City  Council  are  assuming  increasing  importance  for 
achieving greater integration and involvement of migrants in communal life. The 
project Immigrants in the City, which was coordinated by the Schader Foundation 
and brought together eight major German cities, illustrates the success of this ap-
proach.24

In Antwerp, the city services and non-governmental actors are looking 
for events and symbolic actions that develop the sense of community. The Integra-
tion Service has joined the neighbourhood schemes and other partners to look for 
ways to shape a neighbourhood-oriented urban infrastructure policy that creates 
intercultural meeting opportunities.  The Integration service is using subsidies to 
associations in more targeted way in order to facilitate meetings and contact be-
tween sections of the population. 

In  Aarhus  the  Urban  project  in  a  deprived  area  of  the  western  part  of 
Aarhus Geelerup took place between 2001 and 2007 and brought on board a large 
number of youngsters and elders. 

3.5.3. Community cohesion through sports

Sport  plays  an  important  role  in  building  community  cohesion.  The 
Bradford City Council has worked closely with the Bradford Bulls Rugby Club, the 
Bradford City Football Club and the Yorkshire Cricket Club with an aim to pro-
mote cohesion between communities though a mutual interest – sport.  Bradford 
Bulls  Rugby  Club  and  Bradford  City  Football  publicly  launched  and  promoted, 
Kick Racism Out and Give Racism the Boot campaigns. Yorkshire County Cricket 
Club has equally sent out positive messages to encourage cohesion.

The  City  Council  promotes  Asian  sports  such  as  Kabaddi,  Beeni  (wrist 
wrestling), Basant (kite festival) and field hockey in order to encourage community 
cohesion and bring on board the elder generation of Asians.  In addition to these Asian 
sports, traditional British sports such as football, cricket and rugby are played. 

The use of role models is equally vital to promote cohesion in the district.  
Imran Khan former captain and winner of the 1992 cricket world cup for Pakistan, 
and  recently  appointed  Chancellor  of  Bradford  University  has  become  an  iconic 
figure and role model in the District.  He has championed the cause of cohesion 
through his role at the University and his previous role as a sports star.

Yorkshire  County  Cricket  Club  has  equally  recognised  the  importance 
of using roles models to encourage cohesion and break down barriers.  They have 

24	 The	documentation	on	the	outcomes	(in	English	as	well	as	German)	are	available	at	www.zuwanderer-in-der-

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signed players from Pakistan and India, most notably the recent signing of former 
Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.  This has resulted in Yorkshire County 
Cricket  Club  adopting  a  wide  range  of  measures  to  identify  and  develop  young 
ethnic minority players around the county in order to give them every opportunity 
of going on to play for the county at the highest level.  

In 2006 in Mannheim, the Association of Islamic Cultural Centres par-
ticipated for the first time in a city-wide youth football championship, in a school 
trip to Berlin that included a tour of the German Parliament Bundestag, and work-
shops on the prevention of violence organised by the city’s youth assistance agency 
youngsters and teachers. 

3.5.4. Community cohesion through inter-faith dialogue

In  order  to  facilitate  dialogue  about  faiths,  the  Bradford  City  Council 
has recently supported an independent initiative of the Faith Forum, which brings 
together people of all religions and no religions with the aim of promoting under-
standing, open debate and co-operation between people of different faiths.

Following  on  the  establishment  of  the  Yavuz  Sultan  Selim  mosque  in 
Mannheim,  the  Institute  of  German-Turkish  Integration  Studies  and  Inter-Faith 
Work  was  set  up  with  an  objective  to  provide  information  about  the  religion  of 
Islam  and  to  further  promote  inter-faith  dialogue  in  the  city.  The  establishment 
of the Institute resulted from citizens’ meetings prior to the construction of the 
mosque,  and  meets  the  demand  for  openness  and  information  about  the  new 
mosque  and  its  ‘internal  life’.  Since  1995,  the  work  of  the  Institute  has  concen-
trated on guided tours of the Yavuz Sultan Selim mosque and on the conduct of 
inter-faith celebrations together with schools.  A range of activities has been ex-
panded to include specialised events and seminars, Muslims and Christians alike 
attend the Institute’s regular evenings of Sufi music and dance, which also facilitate 
intra-Islamic contacts between Alevis and Sunnis. In recent years, the Institute’s 
work has administered inter-faith youth projects, such as the Wert-All [Universe 
of  Values]  dialogue  project,  which  brought  together  young  Christians,  Muslims 
and Jews. The aim was to compare the values of the different faiths and to discuss 
their significance in the young people’s lives.

The city of Mannheim, in cooperation with the Muslim community, has 
opened the Yavuz Sultan Selim mosque to the wider public. Another aspect of the 
mosques’ growing interest in opening up to a wider public comprises ‘invitations 
to fast-breaking’ Ramadan to representatives of Christian and Jewish community 
of Mannheim, and representatives of the city politics and administration.  Moreo-
ver, the invitations at the occasion of Ramadan are no longer confined to DITIB’s 
Yavuz Sultan Selim mosque. Other Islamic communities, such as the Fatih mosque 
(Milli Görüs), the Bosnian Mosque, Turkish-German Educational Association and 
the  Ahmaddiyya  community  now  also  extend  invitations  to  others  to  come  to-
gether on this occasion.

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As part of Mannheim’s quarter-century celebrations in 2007, the Mile of 
the Religions was held in the city centre in May. The Jewish community, the Protes-
tant and Catholic churches and four Muslim communities (DITIB, Milli Görüs, the 
Alevis and the Bosnian mosque) invited people to join in a festive meal and talk to 
each other on benches set up at over 100 tables. In addition, local sacred buildings 
and prayer houses of all three religions were open to visitors.

In Rotterdam, Bradford and Mannheim the City Council has support-
ed introductory courses for Imams who come to serve the Muslim communities 
from abroad.

3.6. Monitoring, indicators and evaluation of policies

Equality policies and policies promoting diversity must be accompanied 
by rigorous and on-going monitoring and evaluation procedures. It is impossible 
to  measure  improvements  without  monitoring.  Implementation  of  policies  and 
projects  requires  effective  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  measures,  projects  and 
policies on a continuous basis and has to be built from the outset.  If such action 
is not undertaken, this means that the needs of various communities are not ef-
fectively planned for.  In the course of monitoring it is essential to use all relevant 
definitions and categories to capture the full picture of the various communities.  
Unless data is disaggregated by as many categories as necessary, the data gathered 
will not provide insights into how effective a policy has been and what needs to be 
improved.  The cities could, for example, as is the case of Bradford and Aarhus, 
engage in collaboration with universities in order to pursue monitoring and pol-
icy evaluation. This could be done through a system of grants to pursue research 
on  policy  implementation.  In  addition,  sharing  expertise  and  knowledge  gained 
is crucial for future policy cycles and a process of mutual learning. For example, 
Genk participates in building an on-line database of best practice in Flanders.  

3.6.1. Informed policy making 

In order to show progress on each target, policy action needs to be ac-
companied by monitoring and data collection. It is important for informed policy 
making  to  establish  indicators  and  set  targets  and  incorporate  policy  evaluation 
within the implementation of a given strategy and the respective policy areas such 
as employment, education, and public services.  While there are diverging tradi-
tions as far as data collection is concerned, the objective of city councils to serve 
all  residents  of  the  city  should  guide  policy  makers  in  using  all  available  means 
for informed policy making.  While Bradford reported that people do not feel in-
timidated when asked for personal information, in Mannheim, the Council is fac-
ing resistance when trying to collect ethnically and religiously disaggregated data.  
Aarhus has been operating a model for the evaluation of the integration policy’s 
effectiveness since 2000. The model is directly linked to the establishment of goals 
for  the  specific  policy  areas  and  respective  departments  share  responsibility  for 

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formulating quantitative and qualitative goals for their work for the coming year. 
The model is forward-looking, focusing both on goals in individual areas and on 
the overall outcome and is considered to be a good management tool, which ena-
bles the City Council to work with hard quantitative data. The model also provides 
a good overview of what is being planned. 

3.6.2. Monitoring criminal justice 

Bradford City Council monitors incidents of racial harassment and thus 
actively  works  towards  tackling  incidents  of  racial  harassment  that  are  reported 
to the Council. These may cover any aspect, from employment to customer com-
plaints and to service delivery.

The main aim is:

•  To eliminate unlawful discrimination;

•  To promote equality of opportunity;

•  To promote good relations between persons of different racial groups.

Bradford  City  Council  uses  various  powers  through  government  leg-
islation  to  enforce  its  duty  to  actively  and  proactively  work  towards  eliminating 
any form of discrimination, including on the grounds of religion or belief. Since 
government  legislation  introduced  the  Employment  Equality  (Religion  or  Belief ) 
Regulations  in  December  2003,  prohibition  of  discrimination  in  employment  on 
grounds  of  religion  or  belief  is  applicable  not  only  to  the  normal  employer/em-
ployee  context,  but  also  to  office  holders,  police,  barristers  and  advocates,  part-
nerships, trade organisations, qualifying bodies, providers of vocational training, 
employment agencies and higher education institutions.

As part of the Safer Communities Safer Cities Initiative, Bradford Coun-
cil, together with the West Yorkshire Police and its partners, set up the Bradford 
Hate Crime Alliance (BHCA).25 The BHCA is a partnership comprising key agen-
cies and voluntary organisations across the district, which have come together to 
tackle crime, including racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. The primary aim is 
to challenge hate crime. It is vitally important that people are able to report hate 
crime incidents. The BHCA is an integral part of the district’s crime and disorder 
strategy to help build greater community cohesion across the district. It is part of 
the wider network of Report-it, which is promoted nation-wide and involves local 
authorities across the country.

25	 http://www.hatecrimealliance.co.uk/.

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4. Continuous Challenges

4. Continuous Challenges 

There are no easy, readymade and quick fix solutions to the problems that the cities 
face. There are some real impediments in the way of lessening discrimination on 
the grounds of race, ethnicity and religion and thus improving inter-community 
relations at the local level. Despite a raft of integration/equality policies, initiatives 
and structures in place in many of the key institutions at local level, inequality and 
discrimination are still persistent features in the lives of large sections of the Mus-
lim communities.  The following key areas pose a continuous challenge:

•  New urban identities 

•  Accessing education, training and work;

•  Under-representation in public service employment;

•  Mainstreaming equalities in all aspects of service delivery;

•  Political representation and participation;

•  Consulting  local  communities  also  Muslim  Communities/  balancing  out  re-

sponsibility;

•  Criminal Justice System: monitoring racial discrimination, harassment and rac-

ist incidents;

•  Leadership and action.

4.1. New urban identities

The awareness that communities are changing rapidly and that the old 
national homogeneity will not return is taking hold.  The absence of interpersonal 
interaction, particularly interethnic and inter-faith interaction, is a major problem. 
Today we live in societies, which have tendencies towards segregation not only in 
the cultural or ethnic field.  Local governments must have the courage to start a 
search for a new urban identity in order to avoid a risk of lack of shared community 
objectives. Interaction creates chances and possibilities and helps the recognition 
of common characteristics and builds shared values. Rendering the common char-
acteristics  visible  and  highlighting  them  is  an  important  aspect  of  this  process.  
Creativity  and  an  eye  for  new  forms  of  expression  and  urban  activity  can  result 
in the emergence of truly original concepts. In important areas – culture, sport, 
leisure, public services, urban planning– progress has been made in this search for 
what residents see as their new identity. 

Rotterdam is putting a lot of effort to have all residents of the city closely 
involved in the process of policy consultation. Realising the scale on which gov-

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

ernments work, at a local, regional or national level, the pressure exerted on them 
by  the  complexity  of  the  problems  that  they  have  to  deal  with  is  creating  a  gap 
between  the  real  world  that  citizens  live  in  and  that  of  the  decision-takers  and 
their procedures and organisation. Therefore, through a series of public meetings, 
the Council has discussed with the citizens of Rotterdam what the city needs and 
how  they  can  contribute  to  it.  It  is  foreseen  that  pro-active  dialogue  with  city 
residents on an equal basis, such as Rotterdam’s People Make the City programme 
will  certainly  be  expanded  and  deepened  in  future.  Today  the  concept  of  Urban 
Citizenship has been developed out of all these discussions as a central concept in 
which participation of all and dialogue play a crucial role. Central in this concept 
is to improve the quality of life for everyone.  A concrete example is the day of the 
dialogue in which almost 2000 people from different backgrounds come together 
and share their everyday experiences and challenges with other citizens in almost 
200 “tables” organised by very different institutions like restaurant holders, banks, 
welfare institutions, companies etc. 

Similar developments have taken place in Genk, Aarhus, Bradford and 

Mannheim. 

4.2. Accessing education, training and work

Most significant issues concerning education that cities are confronted 
with are under-achievement in school education, tendencies to segregated school-
ing, and drop out rates. Keeping young people from Muslim backgrounds in sec-
ondary education and on the labour market is a central focus of strengthening the 
areas of education and employment and the relationship between these areas.

In response to these  major challenges,  the  cities of Aarhus, Bradford, 
Mannheim and Genk developed a number of initiatives to prevent drop-out and 
to provide young people with language skills and training so that they can com-
plete secondary education. The new integration policy in Aarhus has established 
an education and employment committee, in which the relevant parties would be 
represented. The  committee’s  objective  will  be  to  discover  problems  and  oppor-
tunities, establish joint goals and action plans, develop new initiatives, and enter 
into partnership agreements between City, educational institutions, the business 
sector, representatives of ethnic communities and other relevant parties.

4.3. Under-representation in public service employment

It is not only unacceptable, but counterproductive when part of the pop-
ulation is deprived of equal opportunities, rights and responsibilities. Policy mak-
ers are particularly aware of the unemployment of young people and of a need for 
training and educational programmes for a later stage of life. A high percentage of 
young people among the Muslim residents of cities make an obvious target group 
for the employment policy area. Fast tracking of ethnic minority employees within 

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4. Continuous Challenges

public  institutions  is  also  one  possibility  of  increasing  number  of  Muslims  em-
ployees. However, increasing employment of Muslims in public spheres is not just 
about numbers. It is of crucial relevance to ensure adequate and balanced place-
ment in various positions within an organisation and its hierarchy. 

4.4.  Mainstreaming equalities in all aspects  

of service delivery

Another significant challenge is to provide service delivery to all groups 
on  an  equal  footing.  This  challenge  is  posed  by  the  continuing  concentration  of 
Muslim communities in particular parts of the city and by the initiatives in rela-
tion to long-term recipients of social benefits.  For example, in the area of access 
to health care a new way of providing traditional general practice care has to be 
identified in order to meet the needs of communities, who might have diverging 
health needs and understanding of health. In connection to access to health care, 
issues such as communication difficulties due to language barriers, lack of infor-
mation translated into a format that can be understood, as well as dietary, burial, 
and religious needs of people of Muslim background have to be further recognised. 
Mainstreaming  certainly  does  not  mean  that  there  is  one  mainstream  model  of 
service  provision  of  the  one  size  fits  all;  rather  the  awareness  of  different  needs 
and consequently of different models of service provision becomes central to the 
operational priority of the local authority.  In addition, mainstreaming equalities 
also  means  primarily  consulting  people  about  how  to  meet  their  needs  in  order 
to be inclusive. The cities of Mannheim, Antwerp, Bradford, Aarhus, Genk and 
Rotterdam have realised the need to increase efforts and make the already existing 
policies more inclusive of their residents.

4.5. Political representation and participation

Political participation and representation of Muslim communities at the 
local level is an important tool in facilitating their feeling of inclusion and belong-
ing in society. Muslims remain underrepresented as councillors and have limited 
visibility in decision-making positions. In a context of a widespread disenchant-
ment with the agencies of government, Muslim communities re-evaluate the ways 
in  which  they  should  seek  to  gain  political  influence.    In  Bradford,  the  number 
of  elected  councillors  from  Muslim  communities  is  24%  and  this  figure  is  likely 
to increase over the next few years as participation in the election process within 
the district has become an attractive proposition.  The population increase in the 
ethnic minority community has resulted in all major political parties looking to-
wards taking on more councillors to win the votes of ethnic minority communi-
ties.  There has been high profile appointments in the Conservative party with the 
appointment of Baroness Sayeeda Warsi as the first Muslim female to be elected as 
the Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion.  She is seen as a good role model 
for future Muslim females. Mannheim reported a general lack of representation 
at the level of the City Council of Muslim communities. Aarhus has reported that 

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

six out of thirty one Councillors have ethnic minority background.  Political par-
ticipation has been a specific focus area in the former integration policy and is still 
essential in achieving democratic citizenship and social cohesion.  The point here 
is that increasing the participation of Muslim communities in the political process 
would support their integration as full citizens. Setting up Youth Parliaments has 
also proved useful in bringing in a voice of the younger generation of residents.  

4.6.  Consulting Muslim communities/ the search for  

a new balance of responsibility

Local governments are increasingly seen as the main problem-solver by 
citizens and governments, on the regional and national level alike. However, resi-
dents of cities have a major role to play as well. Giving trust and accepting respon-
sibility  are  a  crucial  challenge  for  all  the  participants  in  the  local  community  of 
tomorrow.  For the purpose of social cohesion at the local level there should be a 
kind of agreement in which city residents declare to treat each other with respect. 
Local  government  should  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  immigration  is  not  always  a 
painless process for the indigenous population. Hence it is not only a challenge for 
improving the results for example in the fields of the education and employment, 
housing etc. but also  there is a task for the local government to have a dialogue 
with all communities about the consequences of integration for everyone.  

The cities of Bradford, Rotterdam, Mannheim and Genk instigated a 
frank  and  open  debate  on  community  cohesions  and  integration  isues.  Minority 
communities’ involvement in the debate has to go beyond superficial consultation. 
Consideration on the part of the city authorities has to be accompanied by con-
sideration on the part of Muslim communities as they accepted the ownership of 
some of the problems that are internal to them and accept the responsibility to play 
their part more vigorously in resolving them. 

The parents and the community as a whole must become partners with the 
official agencies in addressing the poor level of educational attainment and participa-
tion in training by those who need it the most and are already at the bottom of the so-
cial scale. Consulting the voluntary sector also means to allocate adequate resources 
in order to enable meaningful consultation. While there is no “the model” of reaching 
out and including Muslim communities in the consultation process on policy mak-
ing, nonetheless, approaches and efforts to reach Muslim communities applied in the 
LCN cities have brought positive results in improving community cohesion.  

4.7.  Criminal justice system: Monitoring racial 

discrimination, harassment and racist incidents

Many local authorities have highlighted racial discrimination in the criminal jus-
tice  system,  from  the  sentencing  of  policies  by  the  Courts  to  the  over-represen-
tation of people of ethnic minority backgrounds in prisons and the treatment of 

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4. Continuous Challenges

ethnic minority prisoners. Several people highlighted concerns with poor policing 
practice.  Among  the  issues  that  arose  were  poor  policing  in  relation  to  tackling 
crimes  against  ethnic  minority  communities  and  dealing  with  racist  crime  and 
discrimination  in  the  policing  of  ethnic  minority  communities.  Good  relations 
with the communities are essential to effective policing and this was acknowledged 
in  the  statements  from  the  police  and  representatives  of  various  cities.    Several 
proposals were made to create better understanding and trust between ethnic mi-
nority communities and the criminal justice institutions, which the LCN broadly 
supports. These include:

•  Involving Muslims in police training and raising police awareness of racial is-

sues;

•  Greater promotion of Muslim police officers to senior level 

•  Where relevant, better monitoring of ‘stop and search’ to address the over rep-

resentation of ethnic minority people in ‘stop and searches’.

4.8. Leadership and action

Local authorities face a number of crucial issues in relation to establish 
good community relations in the city and in providing equal opportunities to all.   
Recent issues around terrorism and extremism, as well as questions about the for-
eign policies of national governments have raised many fears within the Muslim 
communities. At present time, the local governments are trying to work together 
with the Muslim communities through communication and consultation in order 
to  overcome  these  difficulties.  While  many  challenges  remain,  there  are  several 
that have to be dealt with immediately, such as engaging the silent minority (com-
munities that are hard to reach), engaging women who tend to distance themselves 
from  any  public  discussion,  and  engaging  with  Imams.    It  is  fair  to  say  that  one 
of the most emerging challenges for Bradford is the winning of hearts and minds 
including strengthening governance in mosques to make them less susceptible to 
people of extremist views.  To do this there needs to be extended provisions for 
citizenship education and measures to support communities, strengthen Muslim 
and theological leadership to better connect with young British Muslims.  

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5. Conclusions and Opinions: moving from principles to practice

5.  Conclusions and Opinions: 
moving from principles to 
practice 

5.1. Conclusions

This  section  draws  together  the  key  conclusions  from  the  preceding 
chapters  and  highlights  the  responses  that  are  required  from  the  major  institu-
tions  of  the  municipality  and  region. The  situation  of  Muslim  Communities  is  a 
spotlight issue not because Muslims require particular attention or a special set of 
policies, rather Muslim communities require mainstreaming of their needs within 
a wider scope of integration, equality, anti-discrimination and social/ community 
cohesion policies. With the systemic inclusion of Muslim communities in all areas 
of  life,  it  improves  the  ability  to  achieve  integrated  neighbourhoods,  cities  and 
participatory societies.

The involvement of Muslim communities in all aspects of public life is 
crucial if we are to create a society free of racial discrimination and prejudice in 
the future. Moreover, this lack of inclusion is one of the reasons why Muslim com-
munities  are  often  disenchanted  with  and  consequently  do  not  trust  the  public 
institutions and their leaders. Given the negative experiences that many Muslim 
communities have with the institutions, huge steps will have to be made to build 
up  trust.  However,  it  is  important  that  institutions  guard  against  a  mindset  of 
special initiatives for Muslim communities per se. The real challenge is to change 
mainstream activities, services and budgets to respond to diversity.

Moreover,  institutions  should  openly  examine  whether  institutional  or 
structural racism exists as a first step to addressing the issues in this report. They 
must examine their policies and practices to assess how these could be reinforcing 
inequalities and take remedial action. This should be a collective exercise. Racial 
and ethnic inequality, as well as religious prejudice cannot be tackled in isolation: 
it requires the efforts of all of the key institutions to work together to ensure long-
term change.

5.2. Opinions 

This  section  outlines  policy  and  action,  some  generic  in  nature,  others 
more specific, which the FRA recommends in order to make a real impact in the 
pursuit of addressing the situation of Muslim communities.  They stem from the 
discussion  with  the  Local  Community  Network  and  should  be  seen  within  the 
context of mainstreaming within the broader policy framework. The opinions are 
aimed primarily at local authorities and their institutions, but others are addressed 
including School authorities and political parties.

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

Opinion 1: Action Plan

1.1 

 The local authorities in collaboration with other institutions should take 
the lead in producing a strategy and an action plan on creating community 
cohesion,  with  measurable  targets,  clear  time  scales  and  responsibilities 
assigned to individuals or organisations for implementing the recommen-
dations. The basis for such an action plan should be a strong commitment 
to non-discrimination, equality and social cohesion and to ensuring that 
all are able to participate in the social, economic, cultural and political life 
of the city.

1.2 

 The local authorities should also consider building databases of good prac-
tice projects and policies that have proven to be effective, in order to share 
them horizontally with other cities and regions.

Opinion 2: Accountability of the local authority

2.1 

2.2 

2.3 

2.4 

2.5 

2.6 

 Equality policies in all public and private institutions must take account of 
the changing contours of discrimination and seek to address all aspects of 
possible discrimination of Muslim communities.

 Within  a  framework  for  cohesive  communities  set  by  acts  and  policies 
there must be greater management accountability of the local authorities 
for achieving clearly defined racial equality targets in the district, under-
pinned  by  effective  performance  management  arrangements  and  regular 
appraisals.

 Within all institutions, the heads of departments should be champions of 
equality  and  non-discrimination.  Stronger  emphasis  should  be  given  to 
the development of equality programmes and anti-discrimination training 
for all supervisors and managers in public and private institutions.

 The local authorities might consider celebrating all faiths’ festivals as the 
city’s public celebrations and promote projects that aim at strengthening 
inter-faith dialogue.

 Media coverage of equality and diversity should be championed in a force-
ful and positive way. 

 The  leadership  of  the  local  authorities  and  the  alliances  built  with  local 
police  forces  under  the  objective  of  combating  racially  motivated  crime 
have proven to be beneficial to Muslim communities. The local authori-
ties should therefore promote the idea of monitoring and data collection 
on racist crime. Where collecting mechanisms exist, the local authorities 
should take into account the fact that figures could still represent under-
reporting and undertake action to build trust in the community to support 

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5. Conclusions and Opinions: moving from principles to practice

better  reporting  of  incidents.  For  example,  some  Muslim  communities 
might not be ready to come forward to complain about racist incidents, in 
part because of language barriers.

Opinion 3: Better education outcomes

3.1 

3.2 

3.3 

3.4 

3.5 

3.6 

3.7 

3.8 

 The School authorities should develop an action plan to engage with par-
ents from Muslim communities with medium to long-term aims, indica-
tors and benchmarks.

 The  School  authorities  should  continue  to  develop  an  expanded  pro-
gramme of mentoring for pupils from Muslim backgrounds, together with 
robust  monitoring  to  ensure  that  additional  resources  are  reaching  the 
most disadvantaged children.

 Special inspections should be commissioned of the schools that have dis-
proportionate levels of exclusion or truancy among Muslim communities 
and particularly the groups at the greatest risk.

 The  School  authorities  should  set  and  monitor  targets  for  recruiting, 
training, retaining and promoting teachers from Muslim and other ethnic 
minority backgrounds in all schools.

 The pre-school education should be used more as a form of enhancing the 
pupils’ capacity to better integrate in elementary schools.

 The School authorities should develop databases of good practice on en-
hancing participation of pupils in pre-school education and share it hori-
zontally with different school districts.

 Segregation in education, whether unintentional or as a result of social and 
housing factors, represents a barrier to the development of diversity and 
cross-community  interaction  at  local  level.  The  local  authorities  should 
devise  policies  which  increase  the  broad  participation  of  all  the  diverse 
communities in their schools.

 The  School  authorities  should  monitor  and  review  the  strategies  for  re-
cruiting  and  retaining  school  governors  of  ethnic  minority  origin  in  all 
schools and support schools to enhance quality education.  

Opinion 4: Employment and equal opportunities 

4.1 

 The local authorities should develop a dialogue with the private sector at 
the local level in order to develop public-private partnerships with private 
companies as part of a city plan to increase employment of ethnic groups.

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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

4.2 

4.3 

4.4 

 The  local  authorities  in  cooperation  with  the  local  business  community 
should  formulate  codes  of  conduct  for  businesses  that  take  on  a  diverse 
workforce or that support business opportunities for ethnic minorities. 

 The  local  authorities  should  adopt  plans  and  targets  for  ensuring  equal 
opportunities for ethnic minority groups, including Muslims, employed in 
the public sector at local level as well as promote their employment in pri-
vate enterprises, too. These plans can include positive action measures.

 The  local  authorities  should  target  projects  aimed  at  youth  in  particular 
addressing their situation with regard to access to education, employment 
etc.

Opinion 5: Dialogue and participation

5.1 

5.2 

5.3 

5.4 

5.5 

5.6 

 In its policy making, the local authority should reconcile the need to treat 
people  equally,  the  need  to  treat  people  differently  and  the  need  for  a 
shared sense of belonging. There should be a strong commitment to cohe-
sion and equality in order to ensure a common sense of belonging and that 
all  communities  are  able  to  participate  in  the  social,  economic,  cultural 
and political life of the city.

 Political  parties  should  encourage  the  political  participation  of  Muslim 
communities, in particular women and youth. Muslim communities them-
selves should engage more actively in the political process and support the 
participation of women and youth. 

 Political parties should strive for the fair representation of Muslim com-
munities  at  each  party  level,  with  a  special  responsibility  for  the  party 
leadership to stimulate and support the recruitment of candidates for po-
litical functions as well as for membership.

 The local authorities should develop new kinds of cooperation and proc-
esses, as well as try to integrate consistent dialogue, consultation with all 
actors, task forces involving civil society, media, local authorities, national 
authorities and European level.

 An invitation for the involvement of Muslim communities in the process 
of  community  cohesion  policy  making  through  public  debate  should  be 
initiated by the council leaders or mayor, in order to demonstrate political 
leadership and responsibility on the part of the local authorities.

 The local authorities should aim for the strong recognition of the role of 
the Muslim communities in identifying and setting up policies for reduc-
ing a feeling of non-belonging.  

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5. Conclusions and Opinions: moving from principles to practice

Opinion 6: Evaluation and monitoring of policy 
implementation

6.1 

6.2 

6.3 

6.4 

6.5 

6.6 

6.7 

 The local authorities should collect and analyse anonymised data on the 
ethnicity of their residents for the purposes of highlighting possible gaps 
and inequalities and answer questions about beneficiaries of the service, 
and outcomes for various communities and most  importantly identify  if 
any group is not able to benefit from a given public service.

 The local authorities should set targets and benchmarks for measuring the 
integration of Muslim communities, taking into account the wider ethnic 
composition of the district and broader community objectives.

 Appropriate  local  authority  structures  or  processes  should  be  set  up  in 
order to monitor the implementation of equal opportunities policy. Moni-
toring systems should be independent, transparent, well-coordinated and 
sufficiently funded, and they should involve senior officials as well as rep-
resentatives of different ethnic minority communities, including Muslim 
communities,  selected  by  the  communities  themselves.  Gender  balance 
should be monitored on a basis of pre-set indicators and benchmarks.  

 The local authorities should undertake regular evaluation within a multi-
annual  programme  or  strategy,  for  example  twice  every  five  years,  and 
after its completion, in order to identify long-term impacts and outcomes 
for the range of intended beneficiaries.

 The evaluation should enable the authorities at national, regional and/or 
local  level  to  use  its  results  as  input  for  assessing  the  need  to  prepare  a 
further strategy/policy.

 The local authorities could make use of an independent body to carry out 
an evaluation and monitoring of the actions taken and improvements se-
cured, such as local universities or colleges. 

 The  local  authorities  could  consider  using  an  instrument  of  peer  review 
with other cities in order to assess their equality and community cohesion 
policies.  

-  -

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Community cohesion at local level:
addressing the needs of Muslim Communities
Examples of local initiatives

FRA 2008

Design & Typesetting: red hot ’n’ cool, Vienna

Budapest, Printer: Elanders Hungary Kft.

2008	-	0	pp	-	21	x	29.	cm
ISBN-13:	98-92-9192-203-1

DOI:	10.2811/2284

A great deal of information on European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights  
is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the FRA website (http://fra.europa.eu).

© European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2008
Reproduction is authorised, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged.

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Aarhus Municipality

Anne Marie Larsen 

Borgmesterens Afdeling

Aarhus Municipality

Raadhuset

DK- 8000 ÅRHUS

Tel. +45 8940 2147 

Fax +45 8940 2121

al@borg.aarhus.dk 

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Antwerpen

Anissa Akhandaf

Stad Antwerpen

Burgerzaken

Dienst Integratie

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Bradford metropolitan District Council 

Qudrat Shah, Head of Equalities

Equalities Unit

Bradford metropolitan District Council

Jacobs Well

Van Immerseelstraat 11-23

BD 1 5RW BRADFORD

B-2018 ANTWERPEN

Tel. +44 1274 434832

Tel. +32 3 222 36 82

Fax +32 3 226 94 21

Mobile +44 7767 244 354

qudrat.shah@bradford.gov.uk

Anissa.Akhandaf@stad.Antwerpen.be

Rizwan Rehman

Rizwan.rehman@bradford.gov.uk 

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Stadtverwaltung Mannheim

Claus Preißler

Office of the Commissioner  
for Foreign Residents

Project Manager

Rathaus

E 5

D- 68159 MANNHEIM

Tel : +49 621 2939437

Fax. +49 621 293 9471

Claus.preissler@mannheim.de 

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Genk

Gert Philippeth

Dienst Sociale vernieuwing

Germeente Genk

Dieplaan 2

B – 3600 GENK

Tel. +32 89 654242

Fax +32 89 356455

Gert.Philippeth@genk.be 

Vanessa Broux

Integration Service

Vanessa.Broux@genk.be 

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Gemeente Rotterdam

Harrie Van Onna

Dienst Sociale zaken en  
werkgelegenheid,

Willem Ruyslaan 225,

PO box 1024, 

NL-3000 BA ROTTERDAM  

Tel. +31 10 4533324/4533

Fax +31 10 453 33 51

hjf.vanonna@sozawe.rotterdam.nl

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EU Agency for  
Fundamental Rights (FRA)

Eva Sobotka

Rahlgasse 3

A-1060 Wien

Tel +43 1 580 30 634

Fax +43 1 580 30 693

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Sheffield/ Committee of  
the Regions 

Peter Moore, 

Councilor

Sheffield City Council 

Town Hall 

Sheffield S1 2HH, 

Eva.sobotka@fra.europa.eu

Tel: 0044 114 2588486 

peter. moore@sheffield. gov.uk

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Torino

Aurora Vitagliano

Immigration Office: Social Services and  
Relations with the Local Health Service

Ufficio Stranieri - DEPARTMENT  
FOR FOREIGNERS

Via Cottolengo 26, 10157 Torino

Tel. +39-011.4429411, fax +39-011.4429400

aurora.vitagliano@comune.torino.it

 
 
 
 
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FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
A-1060 Wien, Rahlgasse 3
Tel.: +43 1 580 30 - 0
Fax: +43 1 580 30 - 693
E-Mail: information@fra.europa.eu
http://fra.europa.eu