Council of Europe Project on ‘The New Challenge of Intercultural Education: Religious Diversity and Dialogue in Europe’

Professor Robert Jackson has been a key contributor to this Council of Europe project since it was launched in 2002. The project aims to raise the awareness of decision-makers, educators and teachers about the implications of the religious dimension of intercultural education. It also seeks to draw their attention to examples of positive experiences and of new methods and approaches in intercultural education.Experts in religious and intercultural education from different parts of Europe met in Paris in June 2003 in order to identify the key issues in relation to religious diversity and the religious dimension of intercultural education, to tease out the implications of these issues for pedagogy and to make policy recommendations for the Education Ministers’ conference on intercultural education to be held in Athens in November 2003. The 2003 Athens Conference of the European Ministers of Education endorsed the project and also recognised its significance in promoting dialogue beyond Europe. Issues related to the project were discussed at a high profile conference on ‘The religious dimension of intercultural education’, held in Oslo in June 2004. Participants included educational decision-makers from most member states and from observer states, education professionals and representatives of civil society involved in intercultural education.