Introduction

05 January 2009

Religions today are multi-faceted with many different traditions. The goal of this campaign is to build strong coalitions and take the lead on expressing the views and concerns of young people who are proud of their religious identity, in a European context where being religious is associated with extremism and fundamentalism.

This campaign will bring the subject of religion, often controversial, to the table in an atmosphere where students of various perspectives and faiths can feel comfortable and relate to others. Young students, representatives of different faith based organizations, are to be given a forum to discuss and explore alternative solutions to the burning issues in Europe today, such as conflict resolution and prevention, integration challenges, diversity and equality within our societies. Moreover, students will be encouraged and eventually empowered to take a proactive rather than reactive approach in tackling these issues, thus increasing their involvement in civil society and raising the profile that young people play in policy and decision-making processes.

Partner in the ‘Faith Based Expert Group’ of the European Youth Forum:

• EPTO – European Peer Training Organization
• EYCE – Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe
• FEMYSO – The Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisation
• FIMCAP – International Federation of Catholic Youth Organisations
• JECI-MIEC – International Movement of Catholic Students
• Pax Christi International
• WSCF - World Student Christian Federation

History of the Initiative

• January 2004                    Creation of the first inter-religious sub group at the European Youth Forum, composed of 8 European Faith based youth organizations representing all major monoteist faiths.
• January 2004-2006            The Faith based group meets regularly in Brussels to outline the activities and methodology of its holistic approach.  
• May 12-17 2005                  The Faith based group holds its first European Inter-faith Youth Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, entitled Juma-Shabbat-Sunday as part of the Council of Europe Youth Summit and parallel to the Head of State Summit. 
• January 17-23 2006            EUJS holds second inter-faith meeting in conjunction with the European Commission entitled Finding One Voice: Faith Based Education as a Tool for Avoiding Misunderstandings and Overcoming Prejudices in Barcelona, Spain.
• December 6-10 2006          EUJS holds third inter-religious meeting in conjunction with the Council of Europe entitled Sharing our Faith – Sharing our Pride: an inter-religious perspective on religious identity for young people in the new Europe in Brussels, Belgium.

 Following an expert seminar organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 2003 and an event organised by FEMYSO and the European Youth Forum at the European Parliament in Brussels in September 2003, a group of eight faith-based international non-governmental youth organizations begun their work of promoting co-operation in the field of inter-faith dialogue. This informal group was accepted as an official expert group supported by the European Youth Forum during its General Assembly in Madrid, 11-13 November 2004. The aim of this group is “to develop an understanding of the role of religion and inter-faith dialogue, to contribute to the current and future activities of international institutions and to develop actions related to this topic.”