Cities participating in the Intercultural cities programme of the Council of Europe undergo expert and peer reviews of their policies, governance and practice. This review takes the form of narrative reports and city profiles – a form which is very rich in content and detail but is relatively heavy as a tool to monitor progress and communicate results.

The Intercultural Cities Index is a complementary tool, capable of illustrating visually levels of achievement of each city, progress over time, and enabling comparison with other cities. This tool contains a limited number of strong indicators which make it easier to identify and communicate where a city stands in relation to intercultural integration, where effort should be focused in the future and which other cities could be a source of good practice in these particular areas.

One of the cities participating in this programme is Patras, where I am now working, and I hope that this area of activity will interest subscribers concerned with learning city work.