The new European and cross-border project co-financed by the Interreg Upper Rhine Programme “RELIEN: enterprise and religion” and led by the University of Strasbourg and its French, German and Swiss university and institutional partners, was presented to the press on Wednesday 13 October 2021.
Within the framework of the project “RELIEN: enterprise and religion”, 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) university and institutional partners are proposing training courses on interreligious and intercultural dialogue as well as on religion and labour law in the enterprise. The target groups of the RELIEN project are employees and future employees of the Upper Rhine area. The project also responds to a strong social demand marked by tensions of a religious nature in companies and by the socio-religious marginalisation of young people.
With the financial support of the INTERREG programme (European Regional Development Fund), the members of the project from three participating countries in the Upper Rhine area (France, Germany and Switzerland) are developing a new training programme on the interfaith dimension of various religions, knowledge of the religion of the other, religious rules and the legal status of religious convictions in the company. These training courses are targeting managers, employees and future employees, some of whom may be marginalised.
The training courses are created by assessing and taking into account the specific needs of companies (employees), local authorities, associations and religious institutions in charge of migrants and marginalised youth (future employees). They can take different forms: seminars, workshops, conferences and study days. The training courses also includes a distance learning platform.
These innovative mechanisms of training courses in interfaith and intercultural dialogue facilitate the constitution of a sustainable network of actors capable of responding effectively to social needs and expectations in this field in the Upper Rhine area.
The project thus aims, through flexible multi-stakeholder partnerships, to
- contribute constructively and sustainably to the spirit of peaceful coexistence
- promote religious peace in society
- reduce tensions related to the expression of religious convictions in companies
- facilitate the inclusion of young people and people of migrant background into the cross-border labour market by accelerating their integration through the provision of knowledge and the development of skills allowing for further inclusion and greater mobility within the Upper Rhine territory.
The RELIEN project in video – FR
The RELIEN project in video – DE