Educ8

EDUC8 is an interdisciplinary, multi-track project conceptualized to build resilience in children and young people against radicalisation and polarisation through religious education in secondary schools and out-of-school settings.  

The project aims:

• to equip the youth with the basics of other faiths to develop mutual understanding and empathy, 
• to lay a solid foundation in their own faith to make them less open to manipulation,
• to create teacher-led in-class discussions to cultivate dialogue and appreciation of the other, and
• to build friendships among religiously diverse individuals through smart encounters.

The main outputs of the project will be:

1.   A religious education program for secondary schools that will be embedded onto the web- and tablet platforms. The whole program will be structured around storytelling (scenario-based), interactive, and will harness the popularity of tablets and their ability to address all three senses (sight, hearing, touch). The program will first raise awareness about the essence and daily practices of all religions and then provide modern religious interpretations in the faith of the young to help him/her reject religion-coloured violence and adapt to modern daily life in Europe.   
2.   A socialisation program that will entail exchanges between students from different faith groups. This will be in form of well-planned repetitive social activities. 

The project is promising in that it targets the most vulnerable age group, young people. Second, it builds transferrable capacity that can be used in school, prison, social work and other settings. Third, its modular structure makes it easily replicable in all member states (MS) with language adjustment. Fourth, it does not point fingers at Muslims, giving the message that they are seen as a risk for society. Last, the main colour of the project, storytelling is a crucial tool to develop overall personality and an age-old tradition to relate values.

Project dates: 1 Jan 2020 – 31 Dec 2021