The representation of ICCS as an NGO at the Council of Europe (CoE) will henceforth be carried out in cooperation with CoGREE. A joint meeting was held online on April 8, 2025, to formalize this collaboration.
For over two decades, ICCS has been represented in NGO meetings at the CoE by James Barnett, an esteemed colleague and a bilingual speaker of French and English residing in France. The ICCS board is deeply grateful for his dedicated efforts in promoting religious education and interreligious dialogue within the Council. The CoE, shaped by a French laïcité tradition, has historically approached religion with a degree of skepticism. Thanks to the committed work of organisations advocating for religion in education, perspectives have shifted significantly. The role of religion in education has seen a notable transformation.
During Peter Schreiner’s presidency, ICCS maintained consistent contact with the Council, providing educational experts to participate in working groups that contributed to key recommendations on religious education across Europe. (Read more on the history of ICCS and the CoE below.)
Today, religion is increasingly recognised as integral to citizenship, democracy, community building, the rule of law, ethical values, and life skills by CoE.
It is essential to ensure the continuity of James Barnett’s work by identifying a successor—someone with political insight and expertise in religious education to represent the voice of the religion and education community at NGO events of the Council of Europe such as the biannual INGO assemblies. Together, CoGREE and ICCS are engaged in coordinating their efforts with CPCE and CEC to make a meaningful impact at the Council of Europe. The need is even more pressing given the recent closure of CEC’s Strasbourg office.
There is also a vacancy in a working group on interreligious and interconvictional issues, which ICCS and COGREE search to fill as soon as possible. Talks with the head of the committee are underway. ICCS and CoGREE have agreed to work together to make the most of ICCS’s formal NGO status at the Council of Europe for the cause of religion and education.
If this information is of interest to you, please do not hesitate to contact ICCS or CoGREE.
The History of ICCS and the Council of Europe
There has long been an ongoing dialogue between education officers at the Council of Europe and scholars in religious education throughout Europe—especially during the Klingenthal Conferences, held biennially by ICCS in the Strasbourg region. The decision to base the ICCS secretariat in Norway 2004-2010 reflected the Norwegian government’s commitment to intercultural educational issues. The 2004 Council of Europe conference on The Religious Dimension of Intercultural Education (Council of Europe Publishing 2004) led to the formation of an expert group that produced a publication called ‘Religious Diversity and Intercultural Education: A Reference Book for Schools’ (Keast, 2007), and ultimately lead to the founding of The European Wergeland Centre in Oslo in 2008.
Robert Jackson, together with Peter Schreiner, has played a key role in shaping and documenting educational policy developments (Jackson, 2004; 2007; Schreiner, 2002; 2012). ICCS is committed to continuing this important work.
References
Council of Europe. (2004). The Religious Dimension of Intercultural Education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
Jackson, R. (2004). Intercultural education and recent European pedagogies of religious education. Intercultural Education, 15(1), 3–14.
Jackson, R. (2007). European Institutions and the Contribution of Studies of Religious Diversity to Education for Democratic Citizenship. In R. Jackson, S. Miedema, W. Weisse, & J.-P. Willaime (Eds.), Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates (Vol. 3, pp. 27–55). Münster/New York/München/Berlin: Waxmann.
Jackson, R. (2014). Signposts: Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-religious World Views in Intercultural Education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
Keast, J. (Ed.) (2007). Religious Diversity and Intercultural Education: A Reference Book for Schools. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. https://books.google.no/books?hl=no&lr=&id=Ce6Pew5fXyIC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=John+Keast&ots=GuVEhzmk6K&sig=O80jTP-ZpORocW35d31t0HTEhlE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=John%20Keast&f=false
Schreiner, P. (2002). Different Approaches – Common Aims? Current Developments in Religious Education in Europe. In P. Schreiner et al. (Eds.), Committed to Europe’s Future: Contributions from Education and Religious Education. A Reader (pp. 95–100). Münster: Comenius Institute.
Schreiner, P. (2012). Religion im Kontext einer Europäisierung von Bildung: Eine Rekonstruktion europäischer Diskurse und Entwicklungen aus protestantischer Perspektive (Vol. 22). Münster: Waxmann.
