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International Network on Religions and Mediations in Urban Areas
The International Network on Religions and Mediation in Urban Areas is a network established and coordinated by Unescocat, which also has secretarial responsibility. The Network was introduced within the framework of the International Congress on Religions and Cultural Diversity: Mediation towards Social Cohesion in Urban Areas, held in Barcelona 18-20 December 2006, under the auspices of UNESCO. It is intended to be an innovative, invaluable tool for society and a specific response to the challenges of social cohesion in societies that, from a cultural and religious point of view, are characterised by their ever increasing plurality and diversity.
The Network was created for a number of justifiable reasons:
- Diversity has been a significant factor in recent conflicts and demands innovation for managing and preventing situations of serious tension and/or violence.
- In each new conflict, the mediator faces complex situations that require new and different methodological approaches.
- The potential void existing between the theory and the processes of practical mediation.
- The omission of and ignorance about the practical and specific use of positive religious, spiritual and philosophical resources in mediation processes.
- The need to offer systematized information on issues related to the network's objectives, in a way that can be used by grassroots groups and communities.
- The need to transform prejudices and stereotypes.
Objectives
- Building an international network, taking into account fundamental aspects of the role of religions and interreligious dialogue in the mediation, transformation and resolution of conflicts or crises such as:
- urban contexts
- municipal governments as agents and
- the culture of mediation within the processes of conflict transformation
- Defining criteria and ways of promoting the positive resources of religious and spiritual traditions and convictions: scientific research, best practices and networking
- Bringing together experts and activists in religious, interreligious and interconvictional mediation to offer them a permanent network with a forum to exchange ideas and experiences.
- Examining the most significant international examples of religious, interreligious and interconvictional mediation in urban areas.
- Helping to develop, in a special way, mediation and conflict transformation practices that allow greater social cohesion, and build up the new theories that can be derived from this practice.
- Promoting locally, regionally and internationally a new way of working for a culture of peace and coexistence in urban areas, which shall take into account the role of religious and spiritual traditions and their resources.
- Offering, as far as possible, a database of human resources able to work as mediators from the perspective of religious and/or interreligious or interconvictional mediation.
How it works
The Network operates mainly on an IT platform. The following services will be implemented progressively:
- Forum:
- Open forum: mediators and institutions make suggestions, exchange opinions, express their doubts or discuss cases of conflict. An international team of experts answers the questions received.
- Restricted-access forum: the members of the Network deal with cases in progress -in intervention stage.
- Compilation of best practices: description of cases that can be considered as closed processes and of which it is possible to follow thier development.
- Reference resources: extensive bibliography of reference material regarding mediation, beliefs, interreligious relations, etc.
- Material about religious and spiritual traditions and about convictions: collection of sacred or reference texts related to peace, coexistence and social cohesion, organised by semantic fields.
- Compilation of full articles on the subject and links to related websites.
- Compilation of local, regional, national and international legal framework related to this kind of projects.
Members
Members of the Network should be:
- Civil society organisations, particularly:
- Religious and convictional organisations working in the field of mediation and conflict transformation, paying attention to the balance among traditions.
- Interreligious and interconvictional organisations working in the field of mediation and conflict transformation.
- Other civil society organisations interested in the importance of religion and conviction in the process of mediation and conflict transformation.
- Public bodies, particularly:
- Local governments and institutions interested in the importance of religion and conviction in the process of mediation and conflict transformation.
- Governments, institutions and public organisations, at the regional, state or international level, interested in the importance of religion and conviction in the process of mediation and conflict transformation.
- Experts or activists in the area of mediation and religious, interreligious and interconvictional conflict transformation.
This are the individuals, organizations and institutions that already participated in the Network activities:
Best practices:
Related documents
Links
Join the network
If you or your organization are interested in joining the network, please download the Charter and contact us.
Contact
Coordination of the International Network on Religions and Mediation in Urban Areas
Unescocat
Mallorca, 285
08037 Barcelona
Tel. 00 34 934 589 595
Fax 00 34 934 575 851
A/e:mediacio.religions@unescocat.org
Web: www.unescocat.org
Supported by:
 
Wigh the participation of:
UNESCOCAT UNESCO Centre of
Catalonia
Brief overview of Unescocat's actions in the field of religious
diversity and interreligious dialogue
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1992 : First platform of interreligious dialogue
during the Barcelona Olympic Games
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1993-1994 : International seminars on the
Contribution by Religions to the Culture of Peace (jointly with
UNESCO's Human Rights, Democracy and Peace Division)
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1997 : Creation of a permanent interreligious
group
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1998 : Experts Seminar on Education
for pluralism and tolerance
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1999 : Establishment of the UNESCO
Association for Interreligious Dialogue
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2002 : International meeting on «Mystical
Traditions and Interreligious Dialogue» .
-
2004 : Technical secretariat of the Parliament
of the World's Religions 2004 at the Universal Forum of
Cultures Barcelona 2004
-
2004 : Experts seminar on Islamophobia,
Antisemitism and Christianophobia (with the UN Special Rapporteur
on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance)
-
2005 : Experts Conference on Islamophobia
( Seville )
The UNESCO Association for Interreligious
Dialogue (AUDI) Unescocat ( www.audir.org
) is a grassroots association created in 1999 to promote interreligious
dialogue in Catalonia .
-
It aims at ensuring freedom of religion and conviction as well
as the respect for and knowledge of religious minorities as
a prerequisite for dialogue among religions.
-
It favors a positive and critical presence of religious traditions
in the mass media.
-
It is one of the founding members of the United Religions Initiative.
( www.uri.org )
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It is affiliated to the World Congress of Religions for Peace
( www.wcrp.org )
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It cooperates actively with the Council for a Parliament of
the World's Religions ( www.cpwr.org
)
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Its promotes and coordinates the Catalan Network of Interreligious
Organizations that gathers 15 associations of interreligious
dialogue from the Catalan geographical area.
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Publications:
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Interreligious calendar
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Teaching materials Vine a la festa. Rituals i religions
del món a Catalunya
-
Catalan vocabulary of religions for the mass media
-
Collection of Materials for interreligious dialogue,
with Editorial Trotta
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