Work method
This focuses on five major dimensions: networking, exchanging, analysing, monitoring and dissemination.
- Networking between human rights cities practitioners, as well as national, European and international institutions
- Exchanging information among city actors on inclusive strategies, dynamics and practices to make human rights a reality for all citizens
- Analysing best practices to advance the methodology, models and tools to support knowledge sharing and equip role-players to respect, protect, promote and realise residents’ rights
- Monitoring and keeping updated on trends and new developments in the human rights cities’ field
- Disseminating expertise and information on human rights cities, through the Excellence Knowledge Centre
Expertise
This network provides access to an Excellence Knowledge Centre, regarding the implementation of human rights cities and development. Two layers of information are available on the website: general information accessible to all, and detailed information available to specialised human rights cities practitioners. Network guest members are reference cities on localisation and mainstreaming of human rights in an urban context. Brainstorming workshops, an exchange of views on specific matters and inter-city dialogue on human rights cities’ concepts, methodology, policies and practices are to be provided to the members.
The Excellence Knowledge Centre aims to further the professionalism of human rights cities. By sustaining practices and policies around human rights at city level, the network explores new dynamics and approaches to citizens’ rights across Europe. It offers a wide range of services from networking to guidance, including:
- information sharing
- exchange of experiences and best practices
- constant dialogue among the cities
- interconnection between key actors on specific expertise
- access to concepts, methodologies, models and tools
- guidance on human rights cities development
Excellence Knowledge Centre
Human rights framework
Publications and resources
Useful links
Associate members
Global CAD (Centro de Alianzas para el Desarrollo)
Through the years, CAD has formed a global network of experts specialised in human and sustainable development. Sharing the conviction that partnerships are essential to find solutions, CAD collaborates with multilateral organisations, private sector companies and NGOs across all continents.
CAD vision is to transform societies towards a more sustainable and inclusive world CAD generate knowledge and innovative solutions with those who want to create social impact, they do this through partnerships development, applied research, capacity building
and strategic advice.
https://globalcad.org//wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BrochureCAD_low.pdf
Useful links:
Raoul Wallenberg Institute
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute is committed to advancing the human rights city movement both in Sweden and worldwide. We combine research with practice to provide academic expertise to the needs and priorities of practitioners, as well as to inform our research based on lessons learned. Such knowledge exchanges have already resulted in a publication http://rwi.lu.se/app/uploads/2017/03/Human-Rights-Cities-web.pdf on the Swedish and international perspectives on human rights cities and regions, as well as a platform https://skl.se/download/18.177cc30c15e0311b6411f947/1503403517094/HR-patform-english-webb-SKL.pdf that lays out criteria for how to develop and perform as a human rights city in Sweden, which we developed together with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. Presently RWI is doing research on 7 Swedish Cities that work with Human Rights and we are starting up a similar research in Asia and is supporting a study by Infid (an Indonesian NGO) on 100 cities working with Human Rights in Indonesia. RWI is also working with researchers and 7 cities in Turkey that work on human rights for specific groups in their country. In addition, we work with direct support to Lund City, the first Human Rights City in Sweden,
in how to work systematically with human rights. RWI is also part of the process to strengthen the policy development on human rights cities in Asia and Europe as well as on the global level.
University College Roosevelt and Utrecht University
Both University College Roosevelt, and Utrecht University, have conducted key research on human rights cities. At University College Roosevelt, UU’s honours college in the small Dutch town of Middelburg, Prof. Oomen lead a pioneering
research program on Human Rights Cities in the Netherlands. She taught a university course which lead to a publication on European human rights cities. In addition, a first gathering of scholars and practitioners working on human rights cities lead to the
edited volume “Global Urban Justice: the rise of Human Rights Cities”. At University College Roosevelt, current research focuses on refugees, and the role of human rights in the way in which cities all over Europe welcome and integrate refugees. In
engaging with the local and regional authorities on local human rights UCR takes inspiration from the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, who pointed out that human rights acquire meaning in “small places, close to home”. UCR forms part of Utrecht University, with its long-standing history in the field of researching and realizing human rights. Like Middelburg, Utrecht is a human rights city. It is also home to the Netherlands Human Rights Institute, which has developed special policies pertaining to municipalities. At the University itself, the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) is a key centre of expertise on human rights research and education. Together with UCR, Utrecht University organizes a summer school on human rights at the local level. In all, University College Roosevelt and Utrecht University are academic partners to the cities of Middelburg and Utrecht, both human rights cities, and to all interested into both researching the relevance of rights, but also realizing them at the local level.
Official websites and useful links
- Cities of Refuge
- University College Roosevelt
- The Netherlands Institute of Human Rights at Utrecht University
- Utrecht Human Rights City
- Netherlands Human Rights Institute (in Dutch)
US Human Rights Cities Alliance
The National Human Rights Cities Alliance is a member-led and organized initiative of the US Human Rights Network, supported by the USHRN Coordinating Center, it works to strengthen relationships among human rights city organizers, including grassroots and local advocates for human rights cities, national and international human rights advocates, scholar-practitioners, and others working to advance human rights in the places where people live. The Human Rights Cities Alliance also works to advance knowledge about effective models and practices for local implementation of human rights and to improve methods for reporting and sharing this information.
Official websites and useful links
https://www.ushrnetwork.org/our-work/project/national-human-rights-cities-alliance
https://www.ushrnetwork.org/our-work/project/national-human-rights-cities-alliance
Human rights city organizers in the United States have convened two national gatherings Human Rights Cities, in Pittsburgh in 2015
in Washington, DC in 2016. <http://wiki.pghrights.mayfirst.org/index.php?title=Washington_DC_2016_Human_Rights_Cities_Convergence_Documentation>
A national human rights city steering committee was formed after the 2016 meeting in Washington DC, and that group has been charged with developing a coordinating structure for the National Human Rights Cities Alliance in the United States. In 2018, the Alliance convened meetings in Washington DC
in Greenville, SC
<http://wiki.pghrights.mayfirst.org/index.php?title=File:Greenville_SC_November_2018_Program.pdf>.
Plans are underway to host Human Rights Cities convergences in the U.S. south over coming months and to consider thematic issues including the effects of corporate power on human rights in cities.