MURAL – Mutual Understanding, Respect and Learning is an international project that brings together six partners from across the EU – Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. It is led by the British Council, with participating organisations selected based on their commitment to supporting dialogue and exchange of best practice to foster tolerance and mutual respect. MURAL is co-funded by the European Commission under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme.

MURAL aims to address the increase in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe by supporting tolerance and respect for different faiths, religious beliefs and ethnicities. The project promotes the principles of pluralistic and democratic societies. It aims to foster transnational cooperation, exchange of knowledge and exchange of best practice to encourage tolerance and counter attitudes that contribute towards acts of hatred and discrimination. This will be achieved as follows:

• Increased tolerance and understanding of how to promote inclusion by developing a cohort of social activists committed to improving dialogue, mutual respect and valuing different perspectives
• An empowered network of social activists and key stakeholders, who will be agents of positive change in their communities
• Promotion of transnational learning on themes, approaches and actions to countering discrimination and promoting inclusion.

MURAL will harness people’s power for advocacy and their desire for social change to creatively engage communities. Working with local activists and leaders will enable us to build continuity and sustainability into the programme, as they will carry their knowledge and commitment to addressing religious discrimination into their careers.

Some of the MURAL social action projects led by Faith Matters’ participants were around improving critical thinking and social media literacy skills that can help counter extremist, hateful, and racist narratives online, assist in identifying bots and cyborgs, and provide practical ways to resist and counter extremist narratives. Others included toolkits to provuided legal information around discrimination and hate crimes.

Click here to view Social Media Literacy Guide

Click here to view Hate Crime Toolkit

Click here to view Workplace Discrimination

MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING, RESPECT AND LEARNING PROJECT (MURAL) AND THIS WEBSITE HAVE BEEN FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION’S RIGHTS, EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME (2014-2020). THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AUTHOR AND CAN IN NO WAY BE TAKEN TO REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION.

Debate has been long considered to be and aggressive and competitive practice, reserved solely for well-trained intellectuals. The New DEBATE , a programme of Faith Maters, has been put together to offer a new approach to debating. The New DEBATE offers a social and educational experience, a safe space where young people can learn more about debating, civic engagement and dialogue. Using expert education methods, the programme invites young participants to take part in several sessions that shape their communications skills. Participants will also reflect on their own behavioral patterns, interactions with others, and reactions to different opinions. The programme aims to widen young people’s perceptions on their lives, offering them a set of foundational communication tools to be influential in and within their communities.

Click here to visit website for this project

My Story is a new project launched by Faith Matters, which brings forward the untold stories of faith and spirituality within local, national, and international contexts. If the stories are separated by distance, they are bound by a unifying aim: to promote change and to promote tolerance and understanding in their communities, and in communities abroad.

Through My Story, Faith Matters hopes to empower young activists and bring their unique voices forward and support them in reaching a wider audience.

In this project, we would like to offer our audience a close-up experience of personal stories, encouraging listening and opportunities to reflect on the experiences of others. The main aim of My Story is to challenge those who seek to divide communities by offering a different story, an individual, personal, and honest story.

Participants explain, in their own words and images, how their faith is not a passive act, but an act that is both deeply personal and a way of being.

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