Palmerston North gave me so much after I came here — a sense of home — and now I want to give back to the community.

My cultural awareness has grown a lot just through meeting people and visiting those different places, immersing myself in different cultures.

Many municipalities that had been focusing on refugee integration for the last four years felt a need for reflection – they wanted to widen their focus towards a broader cross-community approach.

Work around integration and inclusion has to be a shared responsibility. Our strategy is to encourage long-term change in practices and policies.

Creating a World Where Everyone Feels at Home

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Who we are

Welcoming International is a coalition of initiatives advancing inclusion and belonging in localities worldwide.

What we do

Welcoming International supports and connects civil society and government institutions that are advancing inclusion at the local level, around the world. We support members with technical assistance, tools, and connections to a global network of practitioners.

Our founding members

Welcoming International’s Founding Members are those who have played an important role in the establishment and early development of the initiative.

Welcoming International’s Founding Members are those who have played an important role in the establishment and early development of the initiative.

United States

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Australia

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New Zealand

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Germany

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United Kingdom

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United States

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Australia

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New Zealand

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Germany

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United Kingdom

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I want to get involved. How can I . . . 

Learn more about what you do?

Get more information about our vision, approach, and our global reach.

Get involved as an organization?

Learn how your organization can advance welcoming at the local or national level.

Get involved as a government?

As a representative of government, learn how you can advance welcoming at the local or national level.

Get involved as an individual?

Discover how you can play a role in promoting community-level welcoming wherever you live.

Recent blog posts

Here are some highlights from the welcoming movement that will inspire and inform your own community’s welcoming movement.

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"Many municipalities that had been focusing on refugee integration for the last four years felt a need for reflection. They wanted to widen their focus towards a broader cross-community approach."

Claudia Walther – Senior Project Manager in the LebensWerte Kommune program at Bertelsmann Foundation

"Last year was the first time we celebrated [Holi] with other New Zealanders. It's such a good way to bring all the communities together to understand each other's cultures. I did Henna on the hands of people who I hadn't met before; I watched performances that come from my culture with them. There were heaps of activities and I felt really happy that someone was thinking about me, embracing my culture, and showed it to other communities in New Zealand. It felt really good!"

Priyanka – Community Volunteer at the Palmerston North City Council

"It’s nice to know that other people are doing similar work to us, and sometimes you get a heartening moment when someone else says ‘I’m also struggling with that’ or thinking about the same problem. I think it's very beneficial to learn what's going on in an international sense, and to spread these stories."

Sebastian Geers – Manager of Welcoming Cities at Welcoming Australia

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