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Symposium "I make the difference - difference in education" - Steering Committee CC, Netherlands |
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By Bart ten Broek (Steering Committee URI Netherlands CC)
"I make the difference - difference in education"
The above is the title of a symposium, held on 17th April in Soest in the Netherlands.
The Conference was organized by five different movements for religious freedom, peace and dialogue. One of them was the CC Steering Committee of the Netherlands.
It is important to say, that the cooperation between the organizations is getting much stronger and they present themselves also more cohesively in Dutch society.
Several speakers explained how you can contribute from your inner inspiration to good social development, especially in education.
Bart ten Broek of URI spoke about interreligious education and (world)citizenship!
He has had the great experience of directing a Christian primary school, which turned into an interreligious school where Muslim and Christian parents sat on the board. Now he is the president of a foundation: WijDeWereldschool (Wide(we)TheWorldschool).This foundation presents a certificate to schools that show how they apply an integrated model of interreligious education, citizenship and working with heart, head and hands.
Rita Ramrooching spoke about how “Top Teachings”(her concept) can come into existence, when in education-innovation you create more time for rest, room and religion (spirituality).
Mijke Jetten of Radboud University Nijmegen is searching for the effects of the interreligious dialogue. Is this “Sense or Nonsense”. The Hindu pandit Sewnath offered very amazing and practical philosophical thoughts.
Anneke Tan (URI) did social work in the interreligious school in Ede (Netherlands). It is very important to build a good relationship with the parents about innovations at the school.
Wil van Meeber, president of the Foundation Oecumenical Women group is studying differences in power between men and women in the religions and how this affects education. How can we work on change in the interreligious process?
It was beautiful symposium with many interesting stories and examples and very inspiring throughout!
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15th Interreligious Prayer in Dortmund, Germany |
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On 14th September, 2010, the 15th Interreligious Prayer was held in Dortmund, Germany. Ari von Buuren (Chair of The Steering Committee URI the Netherlands) and Leo Lebendig participated amongst others in this interfaith prayer.This year’s celebration of the interfaith prayer in Dortmund has been combined with the twin project “The light of peace of the religions”, in which Leo Lebendig and Ari van Buuren were involved. It was this project that provided inspiration to hold the 15th interfaith prayer in the city hall of Dortmund. Being an interfaith project, it inspired the idea of combining it with the interreligious prayer of Dortmund. All the Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Baha’i – were represented in the prayer. Due to this cooperation the interfaith prayer thematically included the meaning of light and the use of the light symbol in the religions. Readings from the different scriptures were given in this context.
The interreligious prayer has always been a prayer for peace: for peaceful and just coexistence, for people of different faith living together in peace all over the world.
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Interfaith Toolkit book for educators to be published |
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By Heidi Rautionmaa (Forum of Religions in Helsinki CC)
I am happy to announce that the first Toolkitbook of Interfaith in the Finnish language is on its way to be published.
There are several articles written by educators, teachers, youth workers from several faiths and spiritual traditions and also there are some training lessons/workshops for practical use in this book.
The name of the book is “Interfaith dialogue - educating to the intercultural encounter”.
I served as the editor and you can just imagine how many photos taken during these 10 years of my interfaith work are in this book.
The book contains many beautiful pictures, it has a very fresh and bright outlook. Raisa Suuronen, the graphic designer has done a great job. There are also some photos taken by her. She is a professional photographer and a follower of Mother Amma.
The cover of the book is very beautiful. I see it as a picture about friendship and the walk that is taken together. My younger daughter´s hand is on the cover.
The oldest person who contributed an artickle to this book is around 85 years and the youngest writers are Paula´s and my daughters, Mina and Tarina, who are 15 and 14 years old.
The grand old lady who wrote about peace education is the humanist Helena Kekkonen who received the first UNESCO peace award in the 1980s.
This book will be presented to the President of Finland as well when we meet her. President Tarja Halonen gave a speech before the panel discussion in New York, at the seminar organized by the Clinton Foundation. Amongst other topics she spoke about the importance of educating teachers.
I agree: education is the key. |
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URI Affiliate participates in a gastronomic intercultural dialogue and shares the peace message on stage |
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by Tatomir Ion-Marius (URI Affiliate, Member of URI World Peace Prayer Society, Representative for Romania and Hungary Global Harmony Board Member)
The annual international event "Kulturen bitten zu Tisch" took place on 17th June 2010 at Vienna’s Sigmund Freud Park, with the participation of people from 19 nations (Argentina, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Greece, India, Israel, Jordan, Croatia, Cuba, La Reunion, Mongolia, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Turkey, and Hungary). Each of these nations had a tent with meals and products specific to their countries, and maps and different things for the attending people. On a stage nearby, traditional dances and songs were performed by dancers and singers from different countries. Every year about 4,000 people attend this gastronomic intercultural dialogue. Also, there is tremendous coverage by the press and television stations. The main organizer of this event was the World Public Forum, an international peace initiative. 
I attended this event and while looking at the tents, each displaying the flag and country name, I had an idea to ask the organisers of this event to allow me to invite people to join in saying “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in their native languages. I was fortunate to find a way to speak personally with Mr. Walter Schwimmer, president of the international committee of coordination of the World Public Forum, a very kind, peace loving person. I introduced myself and told him that I was representing the World Peace Prayer Society and briefly explained its mission, the spreading of “May Peace Prevail on Earth”, the Peace Poles Project, and that we have Representative at the UN. And I asked him for permission to invite people to join in saying May Peace Prevail on Earth. He agreed and was very kind. I was very touched and drank a glass of water before going on the stage. I think there were between 700 and 800 persons in the park at that moment. When my name was announced I greeted the people in English and asked them to join in saying “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in their native languages. Then I said MPPOE in German, English, Romanian, Hungarian, Spanish, Indonesian, Hebrew, Arabic and Italian. I am glad, that I was able to share the Peace Message in Wien during this event. May Peace Prevail on Earth, in Harmony and Unity!   |
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New interfaith group from Hungary plans to join URI |
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Govardhana das, currently a URI Supporting Member, has informed us that the interfaith group from Hungary, to which he belongs, decided to be part of URI Europe and to register as a CC in Budapest. The website of this interfaith group can be found at: http://www.vallaskoziparbeszed.hu and their blog is at: http://vapata.blogspot.com They participate in regular interfaith events and meet every month. They have Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Baha'i, Muslim, Jewish, Brahma Kumaris and Krishna (Hindu) members, occasionally Buddhist also. |
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