The “unique selling proposition” of EuroRARE is its comprehensive research on the connection between religions and reconciliation. There is no other programme that takes up this issue with such a variety of scientific perspectives, methods and case studies.
Some initiatives are complementary to our research goals. “Religion and conflict” is an international project that aims to build up a European Master programme on religion and conflict studies. Its main focus is teaching, and it is part of a network called TRES (Teaching Religion in a Multicultural European Society, www.tres-network.eu). In contrast, EuroRARE concentrates on research. EuroRARE and TRES do have a common interest in the subjects of religion, violence and peace, so we aim to cooperate when appropriate. We are already connected with partners of the network including the Irish School of Ecumenics in Trinity College Dublin and the co-ordinator Prof. Kajsa Ahlstrand from the Uppsala University.
Another association bearing the same title “religion and conflict” exists in Germany, co-ordinated by the FEST (Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft, www.fest-heidelberg.de). This is a rather loose association, interested in sharing research results, rather than a tight network with an overarching aim. It works from a Christian perspective, is dominated by German scholars, and focuses primarily on Africa. We envision fertile co-operation, rather than competition, with this association.
NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Co-operation in Europe) established a research programme on the “Re-emergence of Religion as a Social Force in Europe” (www.norface.org). The correlation to our project is limited to selective aspects: The ten trans-national projects focus on religions and their contemporary significance for societies, but their special intention is to analyse the role of religions of immigrants in Europe. There is no global research approach and it deals with a narrower subject. In contrast, EuroRARE is designed to be world-wide and trans-disciplinary.
Other initiatives concentrate on religious dialogue to promote reconciliation. For example, the Stiftung Weltethos (Global Ethic Foundation, www.weltethos.org), searches for the common ethical values of the religions. PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East, http://vispo.com/PRIME/) is an association that pursues co-existence and peacebuilding between Palestinians and Israelis through joint research and outreach activities. The IHJR (Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, www.salzburgseminar.org/ihjr) organises dialogues with the aim of dispelling historical myths in ethnically divided societies and promoting reconciliation. We are in contact with some of these programmes, but they stress the applied side of religion and reconciliation. In contrast, EuroRARE has clear and explicit scientific research goals.
