A Lesson from Belgium in How to Deradicalize Your Town - The Atlantic

…Somers sponsored what he jokes is Mechelen's "speed dating" program, in which every foreign newcomer is matched with a Mechelen native, choosing a potential friend from a panel of five volunteers. The matched pairs sign a contract to meet weekly for six months, so that the newcomer can practice their Dutch and learn the basics of Belgian life. In the program, Mechelen old-timers tutor newcomers in skills such as opening a bank account and shopping. But sometimes, on a stroll or over a coffee, the migrant will confide to his teacher about the mother he misses or his loneliness, "and it's a human moment," said Somers. "And people come together, and there's change." Migrants learn about Belgian culture, and Flemish Belgians are taught to embrace Europe's 21st-century reality…

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/lesson-belgium-how-deradicalize-your-town/619992/