Mechelen is a city and municipality in Belgium. It is the 5th largest city in Flanders, with 86.900 residents and situated between Antwerp and Brussels. The number of citizens with migration background is 34% and top 5 countries of origin of newcomers are India, Rumania, the Netherlands, Morocco and Syria. Our policy is embracing diversity as a richness and conducting a positive narrative about all minorities.

Why did you choose, as an organization, to join Embrace?

The city of Mechelen believes firmly in citizenship and participation. We would like to encourage the residents with migrant roots to take an active part in the policy initiatives in the city: city councils that deal with various topics (a.o. culture, sport, climate), workgroups (a.o. decolonization, urban planning), the citizens’ panel and so on.

What is your role in the project ?

Mechelen is one of the 11 implementation territories within the EMBRACE project. We will conduct the circles of conversation, the listening sessions, the face-to-face interviews and the co-projecting workshops. We will also train 3-5 residents with migrant roots in leadership skills.

What outcomes do you expect the project to achieve?

At the end of the project we will have effectively engaged 15-20 migrants but we hope to reach many more. This way we will be able to build a network of active and motivated citizens with migrant roots so that they can be engaged in one of the various policy initiatives of the city. We also want to embed the training and the methodology of EMBRACE in the working of our city councils. This project is also an opportunity for the city of Mechelen to start reflecting on its current policy initiatives and specifically their accessibility to residents with migrant roots.