ENORB Round Table & Reception in Brussels

Come & meet people from across Europe who are doing the kinds of thing LBFN members do – building trust across different religions and beliefs, combating discrimination and prejudice, working locally and with public sector partners for the common good.

LBFN has been actively making links across Europe for a few years and has been part of the European Network on Religion and Belief development group from the start.  We’ve held a couple of gatherings in London – the last at Europe House in Westminster.

The topic for ENORB’s first meeting at the EU Parliament on 29th May is Security in Europe: the contribution of Europe’s diversity of religions, humanist and philosophical traditions to overcoming discrimination, violence and extremism.  The EU Parliament Vice President László Surján will be with us.

You’ll find more info and details of how to apply here ENORB Roundtable & Reception Brussels and the invitation is here ENORB Invitation to Brussels.

The round table has limited places, but the evening reception and workshops the following day will be able to accommodate many more.  Eurostar tickets are cheaper if you book well in advance . .

There’s a short piece ‘Making faith matter in the EU’ in the Economic and Social Research Council’s Britain in 2012 (I can’t find it online, but it’s at newsagents).

European Network on Religion and Belief 29th-30th May

LBFN is one of the groups bringing together a network of Europeans who are working across religious and belief boundaries.  The network has now been registered under the unsurprising name of European Network on Religion and Belief.

Vice-President of the European Parliament, Dr László Surján, has kindly invited us to the EU Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday 29th May at 3pm.

There will be a reception nearby that evening and an intercultural breakfast, workshops and lunch the next day so that groups from across Europe can get together and work out priorities for the first year or two.  A formal launch is planned for the autumn.

The title for discussion at the meeting on 29th May is a bit long-winded but highly topical – SECURITY: the contribution of Europe’s diversity of religions, humanist and philosophical traditions to overcoming discrimination, violence and extremism.

Let LBFN know if you’d like to apply for an invitation.  It promises to be a fascinating afternoon, with the opportunity of meeting multifaith/interconvictional groups and practitioners from across Europe.  Places are limited for the Parliamentary meeting, but there is more space at the subsequent events.

LBFN will be making one of several very short presentations at the EU Parliament – shall we add this topic to the agenda for our next LBFN meeting so that everyone’s views are shared?  Let me know your thoughts.

Countering extremism

A new booklet, Our Faiths and Our Shared Futures, has been produced by Faith Matters and may interest people working in community safety &/or concerned about violent extremism.

It’s been researched locally, in Derby, and supported by Derby’s Community Safety Partnership and the University’s Multi-Faith Centre.