EU Diversity Month kicks off with the winners of the 2024 European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Awards

Yesterday, the European Commission announced the winners of the third edition of the European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Awards. The Awards celebrate the towns, cities, and regions across the EU that lead by example in inclusive policies.

This year’s winners are cities and municipalities in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. They have been recognised for their work to build fairer societies by promoting diversity and inclusion on the grounds of sex, racial and ethnic origin, religion and belief, disability, age, and sexual orientation.

The winners of the 2024 European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Awards are:

In the category of “local authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants”:

The Gold Award goes to the city of Zagreb, Croatia for its range of initiatives and dedicated strategies on how to support, protect and include women, persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people, migrants, and Roma.
The Silver Award goes to the municipality of Växjö, Sweden for its comprehensive approach in mainstreaming gender perspectives into its policies and programmes.
The Bronze Award goes to the city of La Laguna, Spain for its broad range of initiatives and the scope of its policies addressing gender, migrants, disability, age, LGBTIQ, ethnicity, and religion.
In the category of “local authorities with less than 50,000 inhabitants”:

The Gold Award goes to the town of Corbetta, Italy for its extensive array of actions and initiatives with an intersectional lens and participative approach, particularly in relation to persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTIQ people.
The Silver Award goes to the city of Miranda de Ebro, Spain for the innovative approach of its House of Equality, a central hub for implementing programmes, and initiatives addressing various forms of discrimination. It offers education and awareness initiatives, cultural events and community initiatives.
The Bronze Award goes to the municipality of Casares, Spain for its commendable ambition and commitment towards promoting equality and inclusion, despite its relative small size of 9,000 inhabitants.
Specific award for authorities enabling safe towns, cities and regions for women in all their diversity, by addressing violence against women:

The Gold Award goes to the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, which supports solidarity efforts, in collaboration with civil society, to establish a comprehensive support system addressing violence against women.
The Silver Award goes to the city of Miranda de Ebro, Spain, which brings policymakers, educators, social services and civil society together with active participation of affected women, for example with an initiative involving law enforcement authorities and social services to provide safe shelter and emergency accommodation to victims.
The Bronze Award goes to the municipality of Växjö, Sweden for its strategic planning in funding, support, and awareness-raising, as well as for its dedicated department addressing violence against women.
The public choice award goes to Corbetta, Italy. The audience voted for it during the ceremony.

Background

Launched within the EU’s Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025, and the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the annual European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Awards are part of the Commission’s work towards a Union of Equality. The Awards recognise the work done by cities, towns, or regions in the European Union to promote inclusion and create discrimination-free societies. They cover initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion in terms of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, and LGBTIQ equality. The awarding jury also assessed the authorities’ attention to intersectionality, the interconnected relationship of different risks of discrimination and disadvantage.

Applications for the third edition were open from 6 December 2023 to 15 February 2024. A jury of experts evaluated the applications based on a range of criteria, including the nature and scope of initiatives, ownership and level of commitment, quality and sustainability of initiatives, and the involvement of people exposed to discrimination in policy-making.

The winners of this year’s Awards were announced during a ceremony held yesterday in Brussels, marking the launch of the 2024 European Diversity Month. The European Diversity Month was first held in May 2020 as part of the 10th anniversary of the EU Platform for Diversity Charters. It celebrates efforts to help build equal and inclusive environments for the benefit of all. This initiative is part of the European Commission’s commitment to fight discrimination and promote diverse and inclusive workplaces.