With several existing partners, along with new partnerships, Defend International is on track to contribute to the building of inclusive communities.
We are pleased to inform our members and supporters that Cities of Migration is providing an opportunity to attend a webinar entitled Building Inclusive Cities: What is a Welcoming Standard? to learn about the Australian Standard for Welcoming Cities.
The webinar will explore the change-making work behind Welcoming Cities, the design and implementation of welcoming benchmarks, and the strategic engagement of city and community leaders in the Standard’s bid to ensure that immigrants thrive in the social, economic and civic life of their cities.
The webinar will take place on October 30th and 31st, 2017 at the following times:
October 30 (in North America)
4:00 pm PDT Vancouver, San Francisco
5:00 pm MDT Calgary, Denver
7:00 pm EDT Toronto, New York
October 31 (in Australia, New Zealand)
9:00 am AEST Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney
11:00 am NZST Auckland
The invitation reads: “Efforts to crack the code for welcoming communities demand our attention. Advancing the art of welcome: the Australian Standard for Welcoming Cities is a new framework for helping local councils benchmark their cultural diversity and inclusion policies and practices, identify gaps, set goals and assess their progress over time. Looking to the future, the Standard challenges city and community leaders to work collaboratively towards a shared vision of a welcoming and inclusive nation.”
The panelists are (1) Aleem Ali, Welcoming Cities (Brisbane, Australia), and (2) Darren Reedy, Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (Edmonton, Canada).
Launched in March 2016, Welcoming Cities facilitates a growing national network of inclusive, vibrant communities in Australia, and internationally, that supports local government leaders and communities to be more effective, open and resilient. The Australian Standard adapts elements of the U.S. Welcoming Standard, as does the pilot New Zealand Welcoming Standard. In Canada, the Welcoming and Inclusive Communities initiative at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association builds on the seminal work of the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination (CCMARD).
You can register to participate here!