EYCE Interreligious Campaign Against Fundamentalism: Living Faiths Together – Tool Kit on Inter-religious Dialogue in Youth Work Christmas 2008 turned out to be a special birthday: Living Faiths Together saw the light of the world. The brand new publication is a tool kit on inter-religious dialogue in youth work. EYCE and its inter-religious partners combined their expertise in the pioneer field of inter-religious youth work and wrote this special hand book in a unique, consensus-based process. Living Faiths Together is now available for download. Living Faiths Together is being published thanks to the support of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) and is the work of the members of the European Youth Forum's Faith-Based Expert Group. EYCE's partners in this group are the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS), the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO), the International Young Catholic Students â₏‵ International Movement of Catholic Students European Coordination (JECI-MIEC), Pax Christi International, World Student Christian Federation â₏‵ Europe (WSCF-E). Further contributions to the Tool Kit came from the European Peer Training Organisation (EPTO) and the International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements (FIMCAP). Download the Tool Kit, spread it and make use of it:  Download "Living Faiths Together" (PDF) Aims And Target Group Living Faiths Together aims to contribute to improved interaction between young people of different faiths, to promote free religious expression, to strengthen solidarity, to promote learning about the religious diversity of Europe and to encourage cohesion in Europe. In the current European political context that faces escalation of Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, intolerance (also directed towards Christianity), and religious tensions, this Tool Kit comes as an important reflection on the role youth organisations can play to tackle these questions. Living Faiths Together is targeting at faith-based youth organisations working on local, national, regional or European levels, encouraging them to engage in the promotion of inter-religious dialogue (IRD). It wants to encourage youth platforms to explore possibilities for IRD within their work. The Tool Kit aims to provide trainers with practical information on specific considerations they need to make in the organisation of events that involve religiously diverse groups. Thus, the hand book can be used as a reference for activities, as an information background on the specifics of the monotheistic religions, as a tool for learning about the concept of IRD, and as a way of exploring the similarities between the different religions. The Faith-Based Expert Group 2008 The Faith-Based Expert Group The Faith-Based Expert Group has its origins back in 2003. Following an expert seminar on â₏˵prejudiceâ₏™ organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg that year and an event organised by the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) and the European Youth Forum (YFJ) at the European Parliament in Brussels in September of the same year, a group of faith-based international non-governmental youth organisations started regular meetings at the YFJ secretariat in Brussels to discuss how the organisations involved could improve their communication and promote co-operation in the field of Inter-Religious Dialogue (IRD). This informal group was acknowledged as an official Expert Group of the YFJ during its General Assembly in Madrid in November 2004. The aim of the group is â₏œto develop an understanding of the role of religion and IRD, to contribute to current and future activities of international institutions and to develop actions related to this topicâ₏¶. The Expert Group set the following priorities for its work: - Exchanging knowledge and experience - Promoting diversity - Learning about each otherâ₏™s differences and commonalities, - Respecting cultural, individual, religious, gender and political differences, - Working together towards a cohesive, united and diverse Europe, - Contributing to narrowing down the existing social and cultural gaps, - Fighting all kinds of discrimination and hatred, - Building a Europe of minorities, - Promoting common values and defending the rights of individuals and communities. After the finalisation of Living Faiths Together, the Faith-Based Expert Group will continue to consult YFJ on inter-religious matters, and work together towards the promotion of the Tool Kit and the training of trainers for inter-religious dialogue in youth work. Visit Our Faith-Based Expert Group Partners  European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS)  Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO)  International Young Catholic Students â₏‵ International Movement of Catholic Students European Coordination (JECI â₏‵ MIEC European Coordination)  Pax Christi International  World Student Christian Federation â₏‵ Europe (WSCF-E)  European Youth Forum (YFJ) This publication has been produced with the financial support of the European Union. Texts represent the opinions of the European Youth Forum and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU. In the process of finalising the Tool Kit, EYCE was represented by Daniel Kunz, who in 2008 served in the EYCE office in the framework of a European Voluntary Service funded by the European Union's Youth in Action programme. Updated  15.01.09    2709  reads