Building a European Response to the Challenges of Religious Diversity

The launch of the Horizon 2020 funded project RESILIENCE in September 2019 marked an important step towards an established European Research Infrastructure on Religious Studies. Twelve academic institutions from ten countries have joined forces to undertake this two-year project with the ultimate aim of building a European response to the challenges of religious diversity.

Religious diversity presents a growing challenge for European society, resulting in an increased need for mutual understanding. An infrastructure on religious studies will support this understanding through scholarly research, in the conviction that knowledge is the best tool for a shared response to the spike in issues related to religious diversity. 

In previous years, preparations have already been made for such a European infrastructure through the ReIReS project, also funded by Horizon 2020. Building upon this, twelve academic institutions from ten countries have joined forces in the RESILIENCE project, which had its kick-off meeting September 6/7 2019 in Bologna.

RESILIENCE  (REligious Studies Infrastructure: tooLs, Expert, conNections and CEnters) will serve the academic the academic community in the first place, and at the same time will, with its impact, extend significantly to the non-academic community: it offers the tools for an innovative approach of religious studies which can be used to build a European response to the challenge of religious diversity.

Currently, RESILIENCE focuses on the preparation of a proposal for an established research infrastructure in religious studies. The proposal will be submitted to the ESFRI Forum on the 5th of May 2020, aiming at becoming part of the ESFRI Roadmap 2021.

“We are particularly proud of the Resilience project, which is one of four new H2020 projects at the University of Sarajevo. With the support of the University of Sarajevo’s Rectorate, this project will be implemented at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences and the Faculty of Catholic Theology. Through the Resilience project, the University of Sarajevo will enter into cooperation with eleven respectable European universities and research organizations, and contribute to the establishment of a European research infrastructure in the field of religious studies” said Prof. Dr. Dženana Husremović, University of Sarajevo Vice-Rector for Research.
 

^{Participants of the kick-off meeting September 6/7, 2019 in Bologna.
Credits: Fabio Nardelli.}

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RESILIENCE started in September 2019 and will last for two years. It has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme under Grant Agreement No 871127. Horizon 2020 is the European funding programme for research and innovation in Europe. 

ESFRI is the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures. It is a strategic instrument to develop the scientific integration of Europe and to strengthen its international outreach. 
More information will be available via www.resilience-ri.eu.

RESILIENCE Partners

• Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII (IT)
• Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Muenster (DE)
• École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
• KU Leuven (BE)
• Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte (DE)
• Uniwersytet Warszawski (PL)
• Institut für Angewandte Informatik (DE)
• Theological University of Apeldoorn (NL)
• Sofiiski Universitet Sveti Kliment Ohridski (BG)
• Volos Academy for Theological Studies (GR)
• Univerzitet u Sarajevu (BiH)
• Albanian University UFO (AL)

Contact
Research Service Office
University of Sarajevo
Obala Kulina bana 7/II, 71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tel: +387 33 56 51 23
Email: nir@unsa.ba