Block 3. Local capacity for policy formulation and implementation

As previously mentioned, the tasks of the Municipal Department for Integration and Diversity (MA 17) include a provision of information and advice concerning the implementation of diversity management in all parts of administration and monitoring of all municipal departments in the context of the diversity management measures. Since 2008 this includes assessing whether city services, staff policies and organisational structures have been adapted to mirror the ethnic, social and cultural diversity of Vienna. It analyses 43 departments and institutions observing general improvement over time. In its last analysis in 2016 it observed a positive tendency with a rising number of departments offering multi-lingual services as well as the number of departments embedding diversity management at their strategic level. It also observed that shares of employees of foreign origin in management positions and among youth remain fairly low. MA 17 observed that awareness-raising efforts are key to helping other departments understand the role that their work can play in advancing integration goals, and incorporating concrete targets into their plans. MA 17’s training offered to other municipal departments, combined with the monitoring exercise on diversity and integration, have been instrumental in convincing other practitioners working on diverse policy portfolios to put integration high in priority on their departments’ agendas.