[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/10797\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ETalking tolerance in polarised societies\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnn Trappers harnessed a shock in her native Belgium to help heal social wounds across Europe.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter Islamic terrorist attacks in Brussels in March 2016 left 35 people \u2013 including three suicide bombers \u2013 dead and more than 300 injured, Trappers and her colleagues at a non-governmental organisation called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.foyer.be\/?lang=en\u0022\u003EFoyer\u003C\/a\u003E sought to rebuild community trust and cohesion.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENo taboos\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThey used the NGO\u2019s long-established youth centre in the religiously and ethnically diverse neighbourhood of Molenbeek. Their experience fed into a research initiative that received EU funding to explore and foster religious tolerance in eight European countries.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018One of the ways in which we worked to counter radicalisation was to ensure it didn\u2019t become a taboo subject,\u2019 said Trappers, programme coordinator at Foyer. \u2018We wanted young people to be able to talk about it freely and safely in the setting of the youth centre.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EConcerns about growing polarisation in Europe have pushed the issue up the EU political agenda.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe portfolio of a vice-president of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, includes dialogue with churches as well as religious associations and communities. The portfolio is called \u201cPromoting our European Way of Life\u201d. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe EU is also putting its weight behind various initiatives \u2013 including the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/home-affairs.ec.europa.eu\/networks\/radicalisation-awareness-network-ran_en\u0022\u003ERadicalisation Awareness Network\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 aimed at helping communities in Europe live harmoniously together.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe EU project in which Trappers was involved ran from May 2018 through October 2022 and was called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/770309\u0022\u003ERETOPEA\u003C\/a\u003E. It brought together academic organisations from Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland and Spain as well as non-EU countries North Macedonia and the UK.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project explored ways in which religion is regarded in the educational, professional and social realms. It also examined how peaceful religious coexistence has been established over history.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPast and present\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe idea was to use insights gained from the past to inform thinking about religious tolerance today. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s not often you get the opportunity as a historian to make your work relevant,\u2019 said Patrick Pasture, who coordinated RETOPEA and is a professor of modernity and society at Catholic University Leuven in Belgium.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EPeople have to learn to talk.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Patrick Pasture, RETOPEA\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project delved into more than 400 primary source extracts from historical peace treaties, contemporary news reports and cultural snippets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBased on these materials, teenagers from Foyer and other youth associations in each of the participating countries joined workshops to create their own video blog \u2013 or \u201cvlog\u201d \u2013 about religious tolerance and coexistence.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe vlogs, available on the RETOPEA \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/retopea.eu\/s\/en\/page\/docutubes\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E, include interviews with passersby, drawings and other creative work.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPasture said the act of working together took the focus away from the participants\u2019 differences.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The most important thing will always be that people have to learn to talk \u2013 to refrain from immediately judging,\u2019 he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpreading the word\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPasture was struck by the number of students who were unaware of the religious beliefs of classmates and by how open they were to talking about the issue.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHe said most participants were upset about the divisiveness of contemporary discussions of religion and \u2018hated\u2019 the rise of polarisation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAround a year after RETOPEA wrapped up, the results and materials collected are informing actions by interfaith organisations, governmental bodies and European teacher associations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project team is regularly invited to make presentations at teaching workshops and seminars in the EU and beyond \u2013 places ranging from Austria and Italy to Jordan and Wales.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd the European Association of History Educators \u2013 established in 1992 to build educational bridges on the continent following the collapse of communism in eastern Europe \u2013 includes the RETOPEA materials on its website.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMiddle ground\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother EU-funded research project looked specifically at the notion of tolerance \u2013 how it feels for people to push themselves to accept \u201cothers\u201d and what it feels like to be \u201ctolerated.\u201d The research relied mainly on questionnaires and online experiments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018People have their own opinions and their own beliefs and we can\u2019t just expect them to give them up and consider everything of equal value,\u2019 said Maykel Verkuyten, who led the initiative and is a professor in interdisciplinary social science at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EThere is something in between being very negative, discriminatory, and fully embracing all diversity\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Maykel Verkuyten, InTo\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ECalled \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/740788\u0022\u003EInTo\u003C\/a\u003E for Intergroup Toleration, the project ran for five years through September 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn conducting studies in the Netherlands and Germany, Verkuyten and his team were pleasantly surprised to find that a clear majority of people regarded tolerance as an important societal value.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHe said that most respondents agreed with, for example, the following two presented statements: \u201cI accept it when other people do things that I wholeheartedly disapprove of\u201d and \u201cEveryone is allowed to live as he or she wants, even if it is at odds with what I think is good and right\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EOn a cautionary note, the team also found that it\u2019s far easier to move people towards greater intolerance than it is to make them more tolerant.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EVerkuyten is driven by an interest in the middle ground of the whole subject \u2013 where space exists for differing views without any desire either to crush or to celebrate them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHe said this zone must be promoted through civics courses, human-rights lessons and other educational initiatives to help ensure the health of democracies and multicultural societies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is something in between being very negative, discriminatory, and fully embracing all diversity,\u2019 Verkuyten said. \u2018That\u2019s essential for a functioning liberal democracy and indispensable for a culturally diverse society.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU. The InTo project was funded via the European Research Council (ERC). If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-m2hieexfpvjlcp41ls-pjq6kftrrvpyulaiirnmkp8c\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-M2hiEeXFpvJLCp41lS_PjQ6kFtrRvpyuLaiIrNmkP8c\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]