ID Talks: Interfaith Dialogue for Community and Peace Building

This series of the ID Talks will take you on a journey through faith, belief and how to build projects to encompass different perspectives in your youth & community projects.

Religion and interfaith dialogue are interconnected with every aspect of life. If religion is not part of the solution, it risks being part of the problem. It is important to look into the psychological, social and political dynamics of religion and its role in nowadays societies and politics.

By perceiving interfaith dialogue as a positive resource and engaging in it meaningfully, we can build bridges across diverse communities, promote understanding, respect and peace. Therefore, we should explore diverse forms of faith, spiritual and religious beliefs, and the practice of interfaith dialogue.

With this series, we want to delve into the realms of community and peace building through the lens of interfaith dialogue. We will be looking into ways to build constructive dialogue and discussing the role of youth work in fostering positive interactions among individuals with different religious, faith or spiritual beliefs.

We will analyse the intersections of religion with pressing topics such as war, conflicts, polarisation, racism, migration, civil society and politics, and how interfaith dialogue helps in mitigating challenges faced by policymakers and practitioners.

The ID Talks are a series of 5 online workshops on 5 major topics to form a general understanding of interfaith dialogue and its link to community building and quality youth work. They feature youth workers, professionals and volunteers from all over the world to share insights, research findings, food for thought, good practices or inspirational stories. They will guide participants through the pressing matters and challenges affecting interfaith dialogue and inspire them to make their programmes and organisations more inclusive, embrace human differences, look ahead and picture how the future of youth work and Inclusion & Diversity might be.

Each workshop begins with an input from a guest speaker. Afterwards, participants have the opportunity to engage in the discussion, ask questions and share about their own realities and experiences.

When? 

Every other Wednesday at 13h CET, from 14 February until 10 April 2024. 

• 14 February (13h CET) > ID Talks Understanding Interfaith Dialogue – Are you wondering what is interfaith dialogue and what we can  learn from it? Why it is important and what is its value and relevance today? Let’s discover together the various concepts (such as inter-conviction dialogue, religion, faith, spirituality…) and differences between those, and have a closer look at the basic elements of interfaith dialogue, its potential and limits. Guest speaker: Meg Villanueva, Philippines 
•  28 February (13h CET) > ID Talks Interfaith Dialogue and Identity – Ready for some introspection? In this session you’ll discover what is identity and the role religion and faith play in its creation. How do the religious identities of and individual and a community interrelate? Knowing that our religious and cultural narratives are as important to us and theirs to different other communities, is the clash of narratives inevitable? Let’s talk about the power of storytelling, its impact on young people and possible (mis)use in (interfaith) dialogue. Guest speaker: Fouad Lakbir, The Netherlands
• 13 March (13h CET) > ID Talks Interfaith Dialogue and Community – It is undoubtedly important to foster dialogue and exchange between people and communities living side by side. But what does it really entail and how do you conduct it? What makes “good” interfaith dialogue, what conditions enable it and who should be involved? Let’s analyse how complexity of diversity affects interfaith dialogue and community building, and discover the role of the city and the EU youth programmes can have in this process. Guest speaker: Fien Ingelbrecht, Belgium
• 27 March (13h CET) > ID Talks Interfaith Dialogue and Reconciliation – How can we create bridges between people? This session zooms in on reconciliation and the role of interfaith dialogue in this process. As religion and faith can be forces of cohesion instead of division in the society, let’s find out about possibilities to bring together different religious communities in post-conflict areas and the role of the youth work and youth programmes like Erasmus+ in reconciliation processes. Guest speaker: Nadežda Mojsilović, Bosnia and Herzegovina 
• 10 April (13 CET) > ID Talks Interfaith Dialogue and Peace: Peace and conflict are very often addressed in non-formal learning and youth work. But what sets interreligious conflicts apart from other types of conflict? Let’s see what is the role of interfaith dialogue in conflict prevention, conflict transformation and peace building, and how youth work and youth programmes like Erasmus+ support the work on intercultural learning and peace building. Guest speaker: Mamoun Khreisat, Jordan

For whom?

For all those interested in fostering positive dialogue, understanding diverse perspectives and contributing to community and peace-building initiatives: believers, atheists, doubters, seekers, young people, youth workers, youth leaders, professionals and volunteers involved in ID in the EU youth programmes, as well as all those interested in youth work and Inclusion & Diversity topics.

How to register?

Fill in and submit the registration here!

IMPORTANT NOTE: although there is a deadline, it’s always possible to register at any time for the sessions that will still take place.

All registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting a week before each session takes place.

For more info, check here!