On January 19th, the Cities of Migration and the Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) joined the cities of Chicago (US) and Turin (Italy) to explore how public / private partnerships can help cities achieve their integration goals. The event had a fantastic online turn-out and we were joined by participants from the cities of Austin, LA, Philadelphia, San Jose, Budapest, London, Madrid, Calgary, Dublin and others.

The speakers included Daranee Petsod, the Executive Director of GCIR, Clare O’Shea, Senior Planner from the Village of Mount Prospect, Chicago, and Luca Cianfriglia, Director, “The Gate Project” of Turin.

For the complete city success story, see their Good Idea profiles at CitiesofMigration.ca:

Chicago: The Chicago Community Trust partnership involved three municipal governments within the larger Chicago region. The funding model was designed to address the needs of growing newcomer communities while securing wider investment from both community and private sector stakeholders to build local capacity for the long-term.

Turin: The Gate Project at Porta Palazzofrom the City of Turin is an urban regeneration initiative that uses a flexible, participatory approach to community development. With a wide platform of public and private participation and support, the city of Turin has transformed The Gate from a pilot project into a local development agency that integrates a committment to poverty and crime reduction to the primary goals of social inclusion and sustainable urban renewal

To view the complete webinar including the Q&A portion, visit: Municipal Action on Integration or access just the power point presentation.

Highlights from the discussion included:

• What are the benefits and risks of partnering with local government ? Some of the benefits discussed include: leveraging government infrastructure, longevity, credibility and reach. Some of the risks? The political agenda driving the decision, the risk of a change in leadership (and accompanying shift in the political agenda) and accountability.

• Tips for effective public/private partnerships from the City of Chicago included:open communication, cultivating a network of relationships, the importance of credibility, sustainability and the need to educate elected officials and community.

• Porto Palazzo shared their multi-stakeholder success story; highlights included: the importance of mixing the formal with the informal, including reaching out to informal networks and community leaders ; and creating the opportunity and space for casual programming; for example, Sunday language classes in the piazza in Italian, Arabic, Chinese , Romanian …and Italian!

For more Good Ideas on Public and Private partnerships, see also:

• Boston (US): From Boston’s Back Streets to Mainstream Success; and
• Stansted (UK): Bringing People to Jobs: Runways to Work Programme