Ágora wins Interculturality Award 2023 in the Public Policy category

On International Mother Language Day, marked on 21 Wednesday, Espaço t and the Bangladeshi Community of Porto handed out annual awards to several organisations and personalities. The municipal company Ágora and the Batalha Cinema Centre, as one of its cultural facilities, was awarded the Interculturality Award in the Public Policy category, highlighting the measures taken to better include diversity in its sports and cultural facilities.

The awards ceremony took place at the Batalha Cinema Centre, after a public ceremony at the Memorial to the Martyrs of the Mother Language, in Rua Chã. The awards are the result of the intense work that the Espaço t association does in this area, working with immigrants from various countries who, through art, make their traditions and customs known, and thus integrate into society. This led to a relationship with the Bangladeshi Community of Porto, which is also dedicated to promoting inclusion and the Interculturality Awards, symbolically presented on International Mother Language Day.

Present at the ceremony, Catarina Araújo, Porto city councillor and president of Ágora's Board of Directors, said that 'we are proud to see Porto today as a multicultural city that welcomes everyone equally'.

'This interculturality is already a mark that is very present in our society and Porto is an example, as this award and the audience that gathered today at the Batalha Cinema Centre clearly show us. It is through the development of a more inclusive, heterogeneous and multicultural city that we are able to build policies that are closer to the different citizens', she emphasised in her award speech.

The ceremony was also attended by Filipe Araújo, deputy mayor of Porto, and councillors Pedro Baganha and Fernando Paulo.

The Interculturality 2023 awards also honoured journalist Catarina Cadavez in the Journalism category, athlete Lorène Dorcas Bazolo in the Sports category, the Mediation Institute of the Universidade Lusófona do Porto in the Education and Training category, the Doctors Without Borders Portugal organisation in the Humanitarian Aid category, and musician Carlão in the Civil Society category; Gondomar, as Intercultural City 2023, and the Aga Khan Foundation, with the Intercultural Merit award.