From October 23–24, 2025, the City of Zürich hosted the General Assembly of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR). The event brought together over 190 participants from 86 cities across 15 European countries. The General Assembly served as a vibrant exchange platform, celebrating progress and strengthening collective efforts to combat racism in Europe’s cities.
Presentation of the Cities’ Reports
The UNESCO Centre played an important role in the programme by presenting the Global Evaluation of all ECCAR member cities’ reports submitted in 2025. Klaus Starl, the Centre’s Director and member of the ECCAR Scientific Advisory Council, shared insights into the general observations drawn from city submissions throughout the year and encouraged cities to report and access the ECCAR City Reporting Tool. Isabella Meier, the Centre’s Senior Expert in Social Sciences, presented the Centre’s annual evaluation, which for the first time included an in-depth analysis of narrative data, covering 66 actions against racism. Together, Starl and Meier showcased findings that shed new light on cities’ successes, challenges, and needs in advancing anti-racist policies.
ECCAR Award 2025: Celebrating Excellence in Anti-Racism Initiatives
The ECCAR Award recognizes outstanding anti-racism initiatives from member cities submitted through their reported actions. Each year, six cities – three with populations under 50,000 and three with populations over 50,000 – are shortlisted by the ECCAR Scientific Advisory Board, the ECCAR Board, and the Office. These cities present their initiatives during the General Assembly, where the final winners are selected through voting.
This year, the ECCAR Award was proudly presented, among others, to the City of Graz in recognition of its outstanding human rights election campaign monitoring initiative. This initiative, established in 2007, reflects Graz’s identity as a Human Rights City. It is based on the consideration, that election advertising must not be conducted ‘at the expense of people’ and human dignity must be respected under all circumstances. For the 2021 municipal elections the Human Rights Advisory Council of the City of Graz was commissioned to monitor the elections from a human rights perspective. As council office the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC Graz) hosting the International Centre was highly involved in this effort.
Election of the new ECCAR Steering Committee
The General Assembly also elected a new Steering Committee to guide ECCAR’s strategic directions for the coming years. Graz renewed its membership on the Committee, while new member cities – including Innsbruck – were warmly welcomed to the „ECCAR family“, strengthening ECCAR’s growing network of cities committed to equality and a racism-critic society.
The Steering Committee plays a crucial role in shaping ECCAR’s future, ensuring that cities across Europe continue to work together to implement innovative anti-racism policies and initiatives. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the newly elected Steering Committee and member cities, and we look forward to seeing the transformative impact of their work in the years to come!
Photos: Joe Pohl (LinkedIn and Instagram @joeisavailable)
