On 22 and 23 September 2022 scores of researchers from around the globe gathered with policymakers in Brussels to discuss the findings of the EU-funded GREASE project. The event marked the conclusion of the project’s three-and-a-half-year investigation into religious diversity, secularism, governance, and violent radicalisation in over two dozen countries around the world.
Coordinated by Anna Triandafyllidou (former EUI professor now at Toronto Metropolitan University) and Tina Magazzini (Research Fellow at EUI), the project produced a comprehensive array of publications, data sets, and educational materials. These outputs – ranging from country reports and indicators to a resilience handbook, documentary films, and policy briefs – were the basis of the discussions that took place in Brussels
Researchers - representing many European countries, the MENA region, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia - presented their findings and engaged face-to-face with policymakers and practitioners from the European Commission and EU Member States, the United Kingdom, and South East Asia.
Constantinos Alexandris, an official specialising in religious diplomacy at the European External Action Service, was among those responding to presentations by project members during the policy section. He pointed out the project’s policy relevance research and emphasised that, “religious diversity matters for the European Union because it relates to social cohesion and social stability.”
Anna Triandafyllidou, the project’s scientific coordinator, asserted: “The GREASE project gave us the opportunity to truly engage with the experiences, challenges and solutions adopted in other world regions in governing religious diversity and preventing religiously inspired violent radicalisation. There is more commonality than we tend to think when looking at good practices for recognising religion in the public space and include minorities. There are also common trends when looking at how socio-economic grievances and geopolitical factors can fuel the spiral of religiously attributed violent radicalisation. Our work during these four years has contributed to highlighting some of the complexities and encouraging us to work across countries and world regions in building inclusive societies.”
Though the GREASE project is officially ending, the many resources it produced will be available on the project website for the foreseeable future. More resources will be added as several journal articles, special issues and books from the project are in various stages of publication. Continue to visit the GREASE website regularly to view its thematic research, conceptual modelling, dozens of country profiles, metric tools, compelling blogs, and set of truly remarkable original films.