In May 2026, the EU project “RIGHTSCITIES – Localising the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union by operationalising the FRA Framework for Human Rights Cities” was successfully completed. Since 2024, the cities of Vienna, Lund, Utrecht, Sopot, and Gdańsk have been working with research institutions to strengthen the implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights at the local level and to further develop human rights-based municipal governance.

Human rights self-assessment in local governance

The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) contributed as a scientific partner to the development and piloting of a Human Rights Self-Assessment Tool. The instrument supports cities in systematically reflecting on their structures and processes against human rights standards. It is based on the Human Rights Cities Framework of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and also places a particular focus on the rights of persons with disabilities. As part of the project, the five participating cities carried out a self-assessment using the tool and contributed their experiences to its further development.

Drawing on the practical experiences of the five participating cities, a key outcome is the report Human Rights Self-Assessment in Local Governance: Practical Lessons from Five European Cities, authored by Johanna Blimlinger and Katrin Wladasch (LBI-GMR) together with colleagues from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute. The publication is now available for download and is intended for cities and municipalities seeking to introduce or further develop human rights self-assessment processes.

The report synthesises experiences from five European cities and demonstrates how human rights self-assessment can be implemented in municipal practice. Rather than proposing a single fixed model, it offers empirically grounded insights and practice-oriented recommendations on how such processes can be adapted to different institutional and political contexts.

The findings are based on the scientific monitoring of the pilot phase of the developed tool. Drawing on interviews and survey data, the report identifies success factors, challenges, and concrete recommendations for embedding human rights in administrative practice at the local level.

Training and implementation in partner cities

Another key project output is an online training course on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and human rights-based municipal governance, co-developed by the LBI-GMR. The three modules are aimed at municipal staff, decision-makers, and service providers, offering practice-oriented knowledge on applying human rights standards in everyday local governance.

Building on this, local trainings were conducted in all five partner cities to deepen practical application and develop concrete measures. The training formats developed within the project can also be adopted by other municipalities and adapted to local needs.