European Diversity Month opening event & European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award
Join us as we reveal the winners of the fourth European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award and open European Diversity Month 2026. Find out which places are champions for inclusion in Europe and how your organisation can harness diversity and inclusion to embrace mental health and well-being at the workplace.
Agenda
21 April 2026, 17:00 – 18:00 CET - Reception 18:00 – 19:30 CET Brussels |
21 April 2026
- 17:00 – 17:10
Opening of the Award ceremony (and opening of the online voting for public vote winner between all the shortlisted)
- 17:10 -17:25
Category cities over 50 000 inhabitants
- 17:25 – 17:40
Category cities under 50 000 inhabitants
- 17:40 – 17:55
Special award
- 17:55 – 18:00
Announcement of the public vote winner and a group photo of all shortlisted cities
- 18:00 – 19:30
Reception
22 April 2026
- 08:30 – 09:30
Welcome coffee
- 09:30 – 09:40
Opening of event and welcome speech
Ana Gallego, Director-General of DG Justice & Consumers
- 09:40 – 11:10
Working session
Participants will be seated in small roundtables, making sure in each table there will be representatives from civil society organisation, local authority, company and diversity charter. The aim is to learn from each other and share promising practices on a topic that is relevant for all of them.
Possible topic: ‘Overcoming communication barriers’
- 11:10 – 11:40
Networking coffee break
- 11:40 – 13:00
Parallel workshops
The participants will be divided into 3 parallel moderated workshops to work on ‘problems’ that are hindering diversity and inclusivity in an organisation.
- 13:00 – 14:15
Lunch
- 14:15 – 14:30
Diversity and inclusion through a personal lens (personal testimony on living as a person with reduced mobility)
- 14:30 – 15:45
Sharing promising practices and working together around the topic of the EUDM and the Award’s special award topic
- 15:45 – 16:00
Closing of the day