The Human Rights Institute at the University of Deusto at the launch of the RE-TO project

On 6 February, the Palacio de Parcent in Madrid hosted the launch of the European programme ‘Religions and Tolerance’ (RE-TO), an initiative born from the collaboration between the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and the Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia (Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation). The project also involves the University of Deusto through its Institute of Human Rights, and is developed under the EU’s CERV-Network of Towns programme, with the overarching goal summarised by the slogan: "Towards a plural and inclusive approach to local governance of religious diversity”.

The main goal of RE-TO is to enhance the capacity of European local authorities to manage religious diversity in a democratic, integrative, and pluralistic way. This will be achieved by creating a network of European municipalities to share methodologies and best practices in the governance of religious diversity.

The RE-TO project involves eight partners: FEMP, the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, the universities of Deusto, Groningen (Netherlands), and Coimbra - Human Rights Centre (Portugal), the Milan City Council (Italy), and the social organisations Cidalia-Diversity (Spain) and Coexister (France).

Speakers included the Secretary-General of FEMP, Luis Martínez-Sicluna; the Director-General for Relations with Religious Confessions at the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with Parliament, Mercedes Murillo; the Director of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, Inés Mazarrasa; and the Director of the Institute of Human Rights at the University of Deusto, Gorka Urrutia, who is responsible for the project at Deusto. Urrutia presented the work carried out through the 'Municipalities for Tolerance' programme as a model of collaboration, research, and social transfer.

For further information on this project, please visit: https://religionsandtolerance.eu