The EU Diversity Month was launched with the 2025 European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award ceremony. It took place in Brussels on 29 April.  That was the fourth edition of the Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award.

The cities of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Bilbao in Spain and Kraków in Poland were awarded in the category of local authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Among local authorities with less than 50,000 inhabitants the recognition was given to the city of Mariehamn in Finland; the town of Usurbil in Spain and Settimo Torinese in Italy. This year the specific award was for inclusive housing. The city of Braga in Portugal; the town of Gualdo Tadino in Italy and the city of Zaragoza in Spain received the awards. The public choice award, for which the audience voted during the Awards ceremony was win by Zaragoza.

This year again Maria Petkova from Tulip Foundation was a member of both the General Award Jury and the Special Award Jury that assessed all applications. The opening of the EU Diversity Month was followed by a special forum for best practice sharing and networking event for local authorities, civil society organisations and business.

The European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award is open to all local authorities in the EU who are building fairer societies by promoting diversity and inclusion in terms of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age. It is an opportunity for a town, city, or region to get the recognition it deserves for building an environment that allows everyone to feel safe and fulfil their potential.