Focus area 05 / Foreigners and locals
Arrive in a place.
Become part of it.
Build hospitality with reciprocity between foreign residents and local communities: feel welcome, get to know the place and contribute to the life you share.
Explore actions01 / The relationship we want to nurture
Foreign residents, migrants and host communities
What separates us
Some neighborhoods may experience tensions around housing, living costs, language, culture and changes in local commerce. Listening means recognizing different experiences and avoiding generalizations about newcomers or existing residents.
What we want to build
Support cultural integration and neighborhood collaboration so newcomers recognize and contribute to the community that receives them.
Who can take part
Foreign residents, migrants, digital nomads, neighbors, shopkeepers, local workers and community organizations.
Our guiding principle
Hospitality with reciprocity.
Newcomers should be able to feel welcome while recognizing a place’s history and priorities. Agreements require the host community’s participation and respect for the different circumstances of people who migrate.
02 / From conversation to practice
Practical ways
to come together.
These are possibilities to develop with the people involved. Every action should be adapted to their context and include their participation.
- 01
Get to know the place
Organize language, local history and cultural exchanges with people who live and work in the community.
- 02
Contribute locally
Encourage local purchasing, volunteering and projects defined with neighbors and neighborhood organizations.
- 03
Agree on coexistence
Hold neighborhood encounters to hear concerns and build voluntary agreements around shared spaces and practices.
03 / A practical example
Neighbors get to know each other.
Residents from different countries and neighborhood shopkeepers want to understand each other’s needs.
- The shared action
- Prepare a bilingual encounter, get to know local businesses and choose an improvement to a shared space together.
- How to follow up
- Review which agreements were kept, whether local voices participated and whether collaboration continued after the encounter.
For a clearer understanding
Questions that matter.
Can one encounter solve housing problems?
It can help people understand experiences and reach concrete agreements. Housing and living-cost problems also require responses from other actors; a community activity has a limited scope.
Do I need to speak Spanish to participate?
Language can be part of the shared learning. A proposal can include interpretation or bilingual encounters so local residents and newcomers can express themselves.
04 / Foreigners and locals
Let’s take
the first step.
Think of a relationship around you that needs attention. You can propose an action, work through your organization or contribute your voice and experience.
More than one way to come together