What works to build welcoming and inclusive communities?

Numerous interventions to build welcoming and inclusive communities are available, with varying degrees of evidence of effectiveness.

• Strong evidence supports the effectiveness of structured, facilitated contact-based interventions and bystander interventions in reducing ethnic prejudice and improving well-being of people targeted by racism. Suggestive evidence specific to foreign-born groups is consistent with these findings.
• Strong evidence supports the effectiveness of child and youth programs in reducing prejudice toward outgroups in general. However, suggestive evidence specific to foreign-born groups finds mixed results.
• Moderate and suggestive evidence indicates that message framing impacts attitudes toward refugees and immigrants.
• Suggestive evidence indicates that employer-based and law enforcement interventions may promote welcoming and inclusive communities for immigrants.
• Suggestive evidence further indicates that intentional community efforts promote welcoming and inclusion.

The evidence has clear implications for practice and research.

• Contact-based and bystander interventions appear most promising for building welcoming and inclusive communities.
• Child and youth interventions appear promising but require further evaluation.
• Messaging that draws on race-neutral shared values, such as fairness and prosperity for all, can create support for welcoming and inclusion.
• Employers, law enforcement, and other community actors should be engaged in welcoming and inclusion coalitions.