Innovative local policymaking practices for preventing and solving ethnic conflicts as well as pursuing multicultural politics in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics are in high demand. In early 1997 the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) decided to initiate an in-house research project, "Managing Multiethnic Communities," in order to identify best practices and disseminate them to community leaders, local and regional governments, NGOs, and educational institutions.

A large database was built, containing more than 100 case studies describing methods for improving community relations in multiethnic environment and settling ethnic conflicts. The database allows researchers, activists, and public officials to share their experiences. The case studies—collected from 20 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet republics, and Southeast Europe—are available in Russian and English. They are searchable by country, minority group, and topic, including conflict resolution, participation and representation of minorities, the socioeconomic empowerment of minorities, minority education, and use of the mother tongue.