This proposal outlines the organisation and strategic activities of a social platform, ‘Social Polis’, for the development of a research agenda and scientific dialogue addressing the role of cities and social cohesion. Its central purpose is to engage significant stakeholders from the scientific, civil society and governance sectors in establishing key scientific and policy issues for the agenda, informing focussed and coherent FP7-SSH calls for proposals on this theme in March 2008 and June 2009. Social Polis will mobilise a wide range of relevant findings, recommendations and scientific/practitioner networks from previous research projects under Framework Programmes 4, 5 and 6. Building on these experiences, Social Polis will organise consultation with a wide network of researchers and other stakeholders, including two workshops and one large-scale conference. Coordination and support activities will include: • surveying relevant literature, starting from the conclusions of FP4, 5 and 6 projects, for findings, recommendations, missing topics and methodological shortcomings, to define a future research agenda on ‘Cities and Social Cohesion’ in Europe and the world; • meetings and other forms of consultation with different groups of significant stakeholders; • synthesising research agendas and set priorities; • preparing two draft call texts on ‘Cities and Social Cohesion’ (for FP7-SSH-2008 and -2009) • organising a semi-permanent ‘meeting room’ between significant stakeholders, which will ultimately lead to the establishment of a Social Platform; • following developments in international research, stakeholder and policy debates relating to cities and social cohesion; • dissemination and provision of educational resources.