21
1stCenturryWelcom
mingCom
mmunitiessProject
TheN
Need‐GlobalCommunitiesinaGlo
obalEconom
my
mtheirabilittytoharnessdiversity,
“Thegrowthanddevelopmenttofgreatcitiescomesfrom
omenewcomeersandturntheirenergyandideasinttoinnovation
nsandwealth
h.”
welco
‐ RichaardFlorida1
21stcentury,g
globalecono
omy,prosperrouscitiesan
ndcommunittieswillbeth
hosethat
Ina2
welco
omenewcom
mers.Infact,m
manypolicymakersand cityleadersonbothsideesofthe
Atlan
ntichavealreadyrecognizzedthattheirrimmigrant populationiisavitalasseet.The
mayo
orsofNewYo
orkandChicaagoandmun
nicipalleaderrsinCopenh
hagenhaveallltalked
abouttmakingtheircitiesthem
mostimmigrrant‐friendly intheworld
d.
Ascittyleadersinccreasinglyseeewelcominggnewcomerssasavitalpo
olicyconcern
n,anumber
ofkey
yquestionsh
havebeenan
ndwillcontin
nuetoberaissed:




Whatdoesitm
W
meantobeawelcomingp
place?
Howcancomm
H
munitiesidentifywhenth
heyhavebeccomewelcom
ming,anddeffinethesteps
neededtogetthere?
Howdopolicy
H
ymakersand
dcityleaderssensurethattthepublicaandothersecctors
understandan
ndaccepttheevalueofbeingwelcomin
ngandcontrributetoachiievingit?
Howcancomm
H
munitiesimp
plementandsustainwhaatworks?
providethat
Aroaadmapforwardtoanswerrthesequesttionsisneed ed;thisProjeectseekstop
roadm
map.
Opportunity
y‐Creatinga
a“Racetoth
heTop”
TheO
Welco
omingAmericarecognizeesthatthere isasignificaantopportun
nitytohelpth
hosecities
andccommunitieswhohaveallreadyrecogn
nizedthevallueofbecom
mingwelcomiingplaces,
andseekaclearp
pathforwardtowardsucccess.Equallyyimportant,however,isthe
d
opportunitytotraansformthecurrentdynaamictoward simmigrantsintheUniteedStatesand
1Sour
rce:Forum:Pitttsburgh’sprossperitydepend
dsondiversity,
y,RichardFlorrida,Pittsburgh
hPost‐Gazettee,
October15,2000.
1
Europ
pe.Currentlly,manycom
mmunitiesintheUnitedSStates–inArrizonaandAllabama,mostt
notab
bly–are“raccingtothebo
ottom,”invesstingeffortan
ndresourcessincreatingunwelcomin
ng
climaatesandpolicciesthatmin
nimizecontributions,diveersity,andcrreativity–th
hekey
elemeentsofa21sttcenturyeconomy.WelcomingAmerricaseekstochangethisd
dynamicby
insteaadpromotinga“racetotthetop”–enccouraging,su
upporting,an
ndpromotingcitiesand
comm
munitiesthattmovealongaclearspecttrumtoward
dbecomingm
morewelcom
mingplaces.
Many
ypolicyleadeersinEuropee,forexamplleinGerman
ny,havealsoidentifiedth
heimportance
ofdev
velopingwellcomingcultu
uresinorderrtoensuresoocialcohesio
onandvitalitty.
ectGoals
Proje
omingAmericaisdevelop
pingthe21sttCenturyWeelcomingCom
mmunitiesprrojectin
Welco
partn
nershipwiththeGermanMarshallFun
nd,andwithsupportfrom
mCommunittyScience
andaavarietyofpaartners,inclu
udingthecitiiesofNewY ork,ChicagoandHouston.
gdevelopedtoencourageeamorepossitivedynamiicandtopro
ovideaclear
Theeeffortisbeing
roadm
mapandencouragementforcommun
nitiesthatwaanttobecom
memorewelccomingplacees.
Thisiinitiativeish
highlyrelevan
ntforcommu
unitiesonboothsidesofttheAtlantic,aastheyface
comm
monchalleng
gesastheyseeektoincorp
porateandweelcomenewccomers.Theepossibilitiess
fortransatlanticeexchangeand
dlearningon
nthistopicprromisesignificantbenefiitsforthose
osteringsociallyandecon
nomicallyvittalcommunitties.
conceernedwithfo
WelcomingIn
ndicatorsPro
ojectwouldb
bethefirstefffortofitskindto:
TheW
 Identifyth
henecessary
ycoreelemen
ntsofawelcoomingcomm
munity;
 Establishthoseelemen
ntsasstandaards;
 Encourage
ewidespread
duseofthosestandards;;and
 Recognize
eandsupporrtcitiesandccommunitiessastheyworrktoachievethose
standardss.
ndmostfundamentalleveel,theprojecctseeksto:
Atitsbroadestan
 Clarifythe
eelementsoffwhata“wellcoming”com
mmunityisin
ndifferentco
ontextsin
boththeU
UnitedStatessandEurope(urban,ruraal,olderimm
migrantreceivving
communitties,newgateways,largeeandsmallcoommunities,forexamplee);
eofbeingweelcomingasaacommunityy;
 Demonstrratethevalue
 Createap
positivedynaamicaroundb
beingwelcom
mingandgen
neratewidesspread
recognitio
onofitsvaluee;and
mechanismsfforincentivizzingwholec ommunitiestotakestepsstobecome
 Developm
morewelccomingplacees.
mately,Welco
omingIndicattorswillnotbeusedtom
measuretheo
outcomeorrresultsofanyy
Ultim
singleeprogramorrservice,buttratherserveeasguidepo stsandtoolssforcivicleaadersand
practtitionerstodemonstratettheirprogresssandsuccesssatacollecctive,commu
unity
level.Welcoming
gIndicatorsw
willnotfocusaroundfacttorsthatadd
dressimmigrrantsuccess
mresults,buttratheronth
hereceptivityyofthebroaader
alonee,noronspeccificprogram
comm
munityasaw
whole.
2
Forexample,indicatorsmightrelateto:
·Processesandpracticesamonglocalgovernmentalandnon‐governmentalinstitutions
thatproactivelywelcomenewcomers,andensureavenuesforthereceivingcommunity
tocontinuetowelcomenewcomersovertime.
·Mutualunderstandingandrespectbetweenlong‐timeresidentsandimmigrants.
·Intentionalinteractionsandsocialcapitalbetweenlong‐timeresidentsandimmigrants,
bothatthegrass‐topsandgrassrootslevels.
·Positivemessagesaboutimmigrantsdominatingformalandinformalcommunication
channels
Oncedeveloped,theindicatorswouldbeusedtoestablishasetofstandardsormilestones
thatcouldbeusedtocreateaprogramofcertificationorrecognition(followingthe
successfulexampleofLEEDcertificationinthedomainofgreenorenvironmentally‐
responsiblestandards),throughwhichcommunitiesofdiversesizeswouldberecognizedat
varyinglevelsfortheirabilitytodemonstrateresultsinaccordancewiththeindicators.This
modelwouldapplytolocalcommunitiesinboththeU.S.andEurope,encouraginga
transatlanticmovementtowardlocalwelcomingpractices.
3