Make our issues heard
ICCS also takes action in a wider European context. It advocates for Church and School related issues, thus putting it on the agenda and shaping the debate around it in church and political settings. The other way around, ICCS also monitors Europe-wide discussions and developments and reflects them in national contexts and other forums related to church and school issues.
Raise the Voice of Education in European Churches
ICCS is well connected within the Europe-wide structures of Churches. It has close contacts to the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC). Within these structures ICCS promotes the idea that education is a core issue of churches and that it should be one of its priorities. ICCS is an official organisation in partnership of the CEC. As such ICCS has participated in several of the CEC’s working groups, especially those dealing with issues of Education for Democratic Citizenship and the role of religious education in intercultural dialogue. Via the CEC’s advocacy work, ICCS also participates in political debates about Education on European level.
Raise the Voice of Church in Political Institutions
ICCS sees itself as a facilitator of dialogue between the field of Church and School and the political sphere. Since 1986, ICCS has been registered as Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) at the Council of Europe (CoE) and has gained consultative status. Every two years, ICCS organizes the Klingenthal Colloquium, a forum of exchange between the players of the political field on the one hand and the players of the Church and School context on the other. Furthermore, ICCS contributes to the Council of Europe’s politics and programmes in the field of education, often in cooperation with the Conference of European Churches (CEC). Due to the CoE’s main rationale to promote democracy and human rights, the role of education is discussed in this context and ICCS seeks to explore the contribution of Church and Religious Education to these pillars of our modern societies.
Newly-founded committee for interreligious & interconvictional dialogue
Since April, the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) at the Council of Europe has had a Committee for the Interreligious and interconvictional dialogue. Interconvictional here means the dialogue between different worldviews, be they...
Registration now open – Storytelling at Klingenthal conference
Learn to tell new stories about CindeRElla! The fate of CindeRElla – as metaphore for religion in education – is not settled, but yet to be defined! At the Klingenthal conference, we will go deeper into the subject of storytelling and religious education already...
European Online Academy on Populism – Register now
Populist movements by their very name aim to speak to the (ordinary) people. Isn’t that what Churches want to do, too? At the same time, many populist movements seem to be looking for too simplistic solutions for complex societal developments. How can Churches deal...
November newsletter out now!
How can religious education work successfully in corona times? In what way does modern storytelling help to promote religious education? And how are religious education networks involved in shaping the framework conditions for Christian schools and RU curricula? Learn...
Signposts Teacher Training module launched
A new major resource for teachers has just been published by the Council of Europe and the European Wergeland Center (EWC). The Signpost Teacher training module deals with questions of teaching about religions and non-religious world views in intercultural education....
Sensitive issues addressed in CEC Thematic group
Diversity in our societies is a fact but how can we actively deal with it as Churches? What are the ways to address these issues in educational settings? And aren’t trust and solidarity key to a successful living together in diverse societies? At least in democracies?...
Save the new date – Future lab 2021
Good news: After the postponement due to the corona virus pandemic, the future lab now has a new time and place for 2021. It will take place from 15th – 17th June 2021 at the Kardinal-König-Haus in Vienna. Save the date! The future lab will be THE place to be in 2021....
Klingenthal Postponement: Meet us at Zoomthal 2020 and Klingenthal 2021!
Unfortunately, the corona virus doesn’t spare the Klingenthal plannings for this year. With a heavy heart the responsible organisations (CoGREE and ICCS) have decided to postpone the event to 2021. The good news? Now, there are two opportunities to meet each other –...
COVID-19 crisis and consequences for education, democracy and diversity
CEC's Thematic Group on Education, Democracy and Diversity offers reflections about current challenges of the Covid-19 crisis in relation to its working topics. "Where churches are involved in education, whether in public or private schools, their services might be...
ICCS projects go ahead
Board members have made it a habit to meet quite regularly via videoconference over the last couple of weeks and months. The regular exchange helps to move forward important projects like the future lab and Klingenthal as well as the ongoing public relations work. For...