Intercultural Dialogue and Prevention of Violence

The Institute of International Relations is looking forward to hosting this year’s "Intercultural Dialogue and Prevention of Violence" conference. Many interesting speakers and insightful debates are to be expected. This year’s conference will be held on the 7th of November, 2019.

7. 11. 2019 (8:45)

Czernin Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Loretánské nám. 5, Prague 1

Intercultural and interfaith dialogues have become an integral part of political and diplomatic efforts in various parts of contemporary world. They offer means to enhance understanding and prevent escalation of extremism and potential conflicts among different communities, nations, and diverse religious or cultural groups. By their nature, they explore fundamental questions of identity and values, as well as other issues often overlooked by official diplomatic processes. They also foster respect for diversity, in particular with regard to the rights of minority communities.

This conference aspires to feed into the international debate with a perspective from Prague, at this point in time. It aims to provide a platform for sharing specific national, institutional, and personal experience and expertise related to intercultural and interfaith dialogue, protection of human rights and freedoms, prevention of extremism, stereotypes, hatred and violence. The panels will thus explore the use of intercultural dialogue as a policy tool or its potential impact on prevention of violent extremism.

The conference is explicitly welcoming and open to representatives of different religions and faiths and committed to freedom and plurality of opinion and belief. Being united in diversity, sharing the same human objectives, and demonstrating that we have common goals: that should be the right message for the conference to pass on.

 

Day 1 24/11/2020

8:45 - 10:00

Opening Remarks

Sundus Omar Ali Albayraqdar Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republi
Tomáš Petříček Secretary General, KAICIID Dialogue Centre
Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Muaammar Apostolic Nuncio to the Czech Republic
J.E. Mons. Charles Daniel Balvo Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq
Moderator: Matúš Halás Institute of International Relations
10:15 - 11:45

Panel I: Intercultural Dialogue as a policy tool

Religious actors undoubtedly play many important roles in both domestic and international politics. Fostering mutual understanding, tolerance, preventing radicalization and contributing to protection of minorities through intercultural and interfaith dialogue could represent one of them. However, do policy actors know how to productively reach out to religious actors and do they understand this potential? What factors can increase likelihood of positive cooperation between international organizations, national governments and religious actors? What conditions need to be fulfilled for these initiatives to lead to tangible positive results and what might be the potential hindrances and unintended consequences that are to be avoided? What are the successful examples of mutual collaboration between the states or international organizations and religious actors that we can learn from?

Jeffrey Haynes Emeritus Professor, London Metropolitan University
Martina Viktorie Kopecká World Council of Churches
Peter Mandaville Professor, Georgetown University
Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Muaammar Secretary Genera, KAICIID Dialogue Centre
Moderator: Petr Kratochvíl Institute of International Relations
11:45 - 13:00

Buffet Lunch

13:00 - 14:30

Panel II: Perspectives on Intercultural Dialogue from International Organizations and National Governments

The value of intercultural dialogue has been acknowledged by many national governments and international organizations. The panel seeked to highlight some of the experiences and lessons learned in diverse contexts and by different actors. As such, it aims to answer two interrelated questions: how to make intercultural dialogue work and can we identify most important similarities and differences among various cases and sites as a basis for developing transferable lessons?

Sayavush Heydarov State Committee on Religious Associations, Republic of Azerbaijan
Hussein Gharibi Institute for Political and International Studies
El Habib Bourane Director, Muslim Communities and Minorities, Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Susan Hayward Senior Advisor, United States Institute of Peace
Moderator: Eva Orossová Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
14:45 - 16:15

Panel III: Intercultural Dialogue and Prevention of Radicalism and Violence

Zora Hesová Lecturer, Charles University
Edward Kessler Founder Director, Woolf Institute, Cambridge
Jørgen S. Nielsen Professor, University of Copenhagen
Yenny Wahid Director, The Wahid Institute
Moderator: Nikola Strachová Anna Lindh Foundation
16:15 - 16:45

Closing Remarks

Tomáš Holub Bishop of Pilsen
Petr Hladík Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Moderator: Jan Daniel Institute of International Relations
16:45 - 18:00

Reception (Intercultural Buffet)

Auspice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic