The European Policy Dialogue Forum (EPDF) brings religious actors, policymakers and other experts together to establish and strengthen channels of communication, listen to one another’s concerns, identify opportunities to support and cooperate, and to develop recommendations. Interreligious and intercultural dialogue are central to addressing Europe’s current divisions and strengthening social cohesion by promoting equal rights, human dignity and respect for diversity.
Under the motto “Inspire, Connect, Engage”, around 130 participants from Europe – one third between 18 and 30 years of age – are expected to gather in Rotterdam on 13-15 November: religious leaders and faith-based actors, local and national policymakers, civil society and international organizations including Network for Dialogue members as well as migrant and refugee-led organizations active in the field of social inclusion, migrant and refugee integration, youth and urban policies, including countering discrimination and hate speech.
Our colleague, Gabriel Brezoiu - General Manager at GEYC and President of the PRISMA European Network was invited as a Speaker for the Inspirational Talks "Words that heal". Gabriel presented 4 key good practices developed by GEYC in the field of solidarity and social inclusion in cities:
- #DiscoverEUwithGEYC - an initiative powered by Erasmus Plus, DiscoverEU Inclusion Activities that was an accelerator of trust and self esteem for 15 vulnerable young people. They travelled together through Europe, 2 weeks by train, explored their history & totalitarian regimes, learned how to live together, be independent from their parents, but also share their experiences on the social media through a daily coverage.
- Campina YOUthART Festival - powered by the European Solidarity Corps. We brought 20 ESC volunteers that linked nicely to the local community and designed "Campina YouthART Fest" - a 3 days festival promoting arts, creativity and social inclusion in their city. Our hope: can we make it an annual tradition?
- RAISE - Young Refugee AI Student Empowerment Program - powered by Erasmus Plus aims to support the young migrants and refugees new to the European Union to better integrate into the labour market by developing an AI assessment and coaching tool.
- The Rights Hero - co-funded by Erasmus Plus provides free access to an educational game on children's rights, along with 17 lesson plans and instructions for organizing activities on this subject.
Gabriel BREZOIU: It was inspiring to discover initiatives all around Europe both from the youth organisations and religious institutions. However, dialogue takes time and I think we should see this encounter as a first step from many more to come. Thank you KAICIID for the excellent organisation and engagement int intercultural dialogue.