The official launch of the project “RELIEN: enterprise and religion” took place on 23 October 2020. Within the framework of this project, the University of Strasbourg, the project leader, and its French (University of Haute-Alsace, CNRS), German (University of Koblenz-Landau) and Swiss (University of Basel) academic and institutional partners are proposing a new training offer on interreligious and intercultural dialogue as well as on religion and labour law in the enterprise. The RELIEN project, aimed at employees and future employees in the Upper Rhine area, responds to social needs marked by religious tensions in companies and by the socio-religious marginalisation of young adults.
With the financial support of the INTERREG programme (European Regional Development Fund), the members of the project from three countries in the Upper Rhine area (France, Germany and Switzerland) are developing new training offers on the interreligious dimension of religions, knowledge of the religion of the other, religious rules and the legal status of religious beliefs in the company, aimed at managers, employees and future employees, some of whom are in a situation of marginalization.
The training courses are designed as a result of a needs assessment of companies (employees) and local authorities, associations and religious institutions in charge of migrants and marginalised youth. They can take different forms: seminars, workshops, conferences and study days. A distance learning platform is also available.
These innovative mechanisms of training in the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue facilitate the constitution of a network of actors able to respond effectively to all social demands and expectations on the territory of the Upper Rhine area. The project thus aims, through flexible multi-actor partnerships, to make a constructive and lasting contribution to the spirit of living together and religious peace in society, to mitigate inter-religious tensions in companies and to facilitate the integration of young people and immigrants into the cross-border labour market by accelerating their integration thanks to the provision of knowledge and the enhancement of skills allowing for inclusion and greater mobility in the Upper Rhine territory.