Inter Faith Training Workshop and Community Cohesion Conference in England

Solihull, in the West Midlands of England, was again the venue of an Inter Faith Workshop on the Tool-kit for Ethics Education from February 15 to 17, 2008. The workshop was organized by the GNRC Europe, the Council on Ethics Education for Children and the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. The fifteen participants came from England, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark and Romania. The opening of the workshop took place in the Solihull Civic Center at the invitation of Mr. Allport, the Counsellor and Mayor of de city. Rev. John Bradford, Contact Person for England played an important role in the organization of the meeting.

The objective of the workshop was to introduce the tool-kit for Ethics Education through Interfaith Learning to the participants as a way to support community cohesion in the United Kingdom and other European countries. The facilitators of the workshop were Mrs. Agneta Ucko, Mrs. Maria Lucia Uribe and Mr. Vinod Hallan.

One important component of the workshop was the presentation and discussion of the “Community Cohesion”, an initiative of the British Government, and its relevance for other countries as a challenge for building communities of acceptance and understanding. Various proposals for other training activities in other European countries were also discussed.

Through discussions about ethics, interfaith and inter-cultural learning, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the practical experience of using the modules of the tool-kit, the participants in the workshop were able to visualized ways in which the tool-kit can nurture ethical values that contribute to enhance understanding and respect among people.



GNRC - European Regional Meeting

Paris, the Light City of the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel tower, hosted the GNRC Europe regional from May 25 to 27, 2007. The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss, from the experiences of the participants, the situation of children and identify the priorities for the GNRC Europe and possible actions in preparation for the GNRC Third Forum, scheduled for May 2008.



The meeting was led by the European Core Group formed by Ms. Marta Palma, Rev. John Bradford, Dr. Jorge Serrano and Mr. Vinod Hallan. Two young adults from England, Emily Hughes and Arun Hallan —who had participated in the Training Workshop in India organized by the Inter-faith Council on Ethics Education for Children— presented the tool-kit and shared with the group their very positive experiences and learning during that workshop. Key-note speakers included Mr. Vinod Hallan and Mrs Ana Maria Serrano. Four different religious communities participated: Christian (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant), Hindu, Islam and Bahá’í. The eighteen participants came from Belgium, Spain, France, England, Denmark, Romania and Switzerland.



The dynamic of the meeting included small group discussions and a visit to the headquarters of the Bahá’í International Community where the group was received by Mrs. Christine Samandari-Hakim, responsible for Public Relations for Europe. The Paris meeting offered a unique opportunity for dialogue in a spirit of mutual understanding and solidarity. Every day started with prayers led by the different religions represented. Priorities for the region were identified and an Action Plan was elaborated.



Multi-Faith Conference: Towards a more Peaceful School

Thirty five children from three schools and six adults from Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities participated in this Multi-Faith Conference on October 20, 2006. The meeting took place at the Civic Centre of Solihull, a large town with its red sandstone parish church of St. Alphege and timber-framed Tudor style houses, located 14.5 km southeast of Birmingham city centre.

The conference’s main objective was to offer opportunities to religious people and children to meet and reflect on the issue of building a more peaceful school; to look at the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) with a special focus on the right to freedom of thought, expression, conscience and religion and to explore the principle of “understanding the other” using the tool-kit on Ethics Education for Children



The Conference was organized by the GNRC England, Rev. John Bradford and his team, together with the GNRC Europe and the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in collaboration with the Arigatou Foundation– Geneva Office. Speakers and facilitators included the Mayor of Solihull, a representative from UNICEF; Mrs. Marta Palma, Mr. Phil Leivers, Mr. Vinod Hallan, Mrs. Maria Lucia Uribe and two members of the Youth Parliament.

There was a pre-conference school activity in which participants children had to identify their wants and needs or ideas about peace. They also had to bring copies of their schools rules. There was also a photo activity, and sharing of experiences and practical work in small groups. The workshop related to the issues of school’s Citizenship and Personal and Social Development curriculum, as well as to the UK government’s Every Child Matters’ agenda. This was very important for the teachers and student who participated. There were discussions about the future work of the GNRC in the UK. The methodology encouraged common prayer and dialogue and collaboration among different religions, and engaged educational experts and adolescents around the issues of ethics education.




Second Inter-religious Colloquium on Challenges to Consumerism in Brussels

This second colloquium also took place in Brussels, the de facto 'capital of the European Union, from November 23 to 25, 2007. Thirty two youth and adults from Christian, Muslim and Baha’i communities attended. The colloquium was meant to consolidate the GNRC’s network in Belgium and to reflect, from ethical and spiritual perspectives, in one of the biggest problems that affect young people in Europe today: over-consumption and the negative values and alienations associated to it.

The colloquium was organized by the GNRC Belgium led by Mrs. Ana Maria Serrano in close collaboration with the GNRC Europe. Professor Arns Perger, from the University of Louvain, explained the mechanisms within the market economy that artificially create compulsive desires that are not in harmony with human beings’ real needs, but that give people the impression that they are free to chose and decide.



The dynamic of the meeting included three interactive workshops that were led by the same facilitators of the first colloquium. These workshops allowed young people to freely express their own opinions and share their experiences.

After the workshops and the plenary discussions, the youth prepared their own statement that includes an analysis of the consumerist society in which we live and their practical commitments to work for a society that gives real value to the living creatures and to the environment. Words like moderation, justice, simplicity, renunciation and awareness were mentioned during the discussions.




Inter-religious colloquium on ‘Human Dignity’ in Brussels

From January 26 to 28, 2007 forty five participants, most of them under 18, from Christians, Islam, Jewish and Baha’i communities met in Brussels, Belgium for a colloquium on human dignity. The colloquium’s main objectives were to reflect, from ethical and spiritual perspectives, on the dignity of human beings and to start building the GNRC network in Belgium. The colloquium was organized by the GNRC Belgium, Mrs. Ana Maria Serrano, in close collaboration with the GNRC Europe.



The dynamic of the meeting included three interactive workshops facilitated by Jacqueline Delcorps, Roman Catholic; Véronique Demaude, Protestant; Souha Boufaied and Jalel Boufaïed, Muslims, and Samantha Joulain and Shamin Beyraghi, Bahá'ís. All faith communities represented had the opportunity to share their views and reflections about human dignity, and speakers included Grand Rabin Albert Guigui, Michel Deprèay, a priest of the Soto Zen Buddhist School in Belgium and Roman Catholic priest Charles Delhez.

This colloquium represented a unique occasion for the participants to discuss together about human dignity from their own religious beliefs with deep respect for the other’s identity. It fully met the objectives of the meeting and was an enriching spiritual experience for the participants, young people and adults. The need to continue dialogue and collaboration for the wellbeing of children and youth, with respect and appreciation to the differences, was strongly affirmed.



Fostering Mutual Understanding and Respect in Spain

One of the most spectacular Renaissance cities in Europe, Salamanca, nicknamed La Ciudad Dorada (the golden city), hosted the workshop that gathered twenty adults and youth representatives from Christianity, the Baha’i community and the Brahma Kumaris from August 31 to September 2, 2006 to discuss ways to promote mutual understanding and respect in their country, and how to enhance the GNRC in Spain. At the workshop, the toolkit was tested to bring local and regional inputs into the material.



During the workshop participants discussed the situation with immigrants in Spain and the need for respect in a country which is becoming more diverse and pluralistic. Different activities, games and discussions made possible an interactive dialogue among the participants and created an environment to reencounter with themselves while discovering the other.
The young participants organized a cultural evening with dances, stories and role plays, which helped enhancing the synergy among the participants and fostering an environment of mutual understanding and respect. The workshop underlined the need to give more visibility to the aspect of spirituality in the ethics education through interfaith learning.
The workshop was organized by the GNRC Europe and the Council on Ethics Education for Children -Geneva Office. The facilitators were Mrs. Mahal Da Costa and Ms. Maria Lucia Uribe and Mrs. Silvia Holgado, from the Baha’I Community.



Ethics Education for Children for the Nordic Countries

A workshop on ethics education for children was organized for the Nordic Region by the GNRC Europe and the Council on Ethics Education for Children in collaboration with the Ecumenical Institute on the 18th to 20th November 2005. The meeting was held at the Utbildningscentrum in Lidingö, a green island adjacent to Sweden's capital city, located 15 minutes from the centre of Stockholm and one kilometre off the mainland.

GNRC members and participants from the Nordic Countries and Europe were joined by the GNRC Coordinators from Europe, Africa, Latin America, Arab States, Israel, South and Central Asia. The draft resource kit was used as background material for the workshop. Under three themes of Respect, Reconciliation and Empathy, the workshop offered vital spaces in which persons, including children and youth from different faiths came together to enhance their respective religious beliefs and practices through an experience of mutual learning.


The three facilitators were Ms. Maria Lucia Uribe, Mr. Kezevino Aram and Mr. Erling Ericsson. One of the groups worked with animation. The participants expressed satisfaction to work with different methodologies and especially the introduction and work with animations.



Ethics and Spiritual education for children in France

Thirty youth and adults from Christianity, the Baha’i community, Buddhism and Muslim met in Paris from the 21 to 23 October, 2005 at the FIAP Jean Monnet Centre. The main objectives of the meeting were to offer a space for people from different faith to come together and exchange experiences and reflect on issues related to ethics education for children in France.

The programme included work in small groups, a panel on Ethics Education for children involving the various religions represented as well as a presentation on “The Ethics and Spiritual Dimension of the Convention for the Rights of the Child”. A high moment of the programme was a visit to the headquarters of the Baha’i Community, Public Relations for Europe, in Paris. They shared with the group a moving cultural presentation including singing and theatre.



The Conference was organized by the GNRC Europe together with the Council on Ethics Education for Children and the facilitators were Mrs. Homa Kombo, Baha’i and Mrs. Ana Maria Serrano, Christian.

The participants affirmed the need to work together as people of faith for the wellbeing of children and various recommendations were given. It was decided to continue reflecting on ethics education in the French context and creating opportunities to deeper their mutual understanding and solidarity. Prayer and exchange of stories and information was a strong component during the meeting and this was highly appreciated by all participants.