IRD Activities

• Conferences/Colloquium/Seminars

  The Cordoba Foundation facilitates the meeting of minds by providing a platform for discussions and dialogue. It provides forums for different stakeholders - from academics, media, practitioners, policy-makers to faith and community leaders - to interact with each other offering their expert input on pertinent issues

• Product Launches

  Key products are vital in promoting the concept of dialogue of civilisations and thus a key component of the Foundation's work is to provide a platform for these products to be shared in the public sphere. Hence it concentrates on book launches, report launches, project inaugurations, film launches/screenings, cultural evenings, exhibitions, and displays

• Trips

  The Cordoba Foundation believes that technology and mobility can be used to facilitate programmes that help to eliminate ignorance or fear of the 'other'. Through mutual exchange of ideas of the common roots of tradition, people can be educated, leading to better understanding of each other, which in turn leads to mutual appreciation, respect, and acceptance. The Foundation does this through various means: short exchange programmes, cultural orientations to enhance the understanding of religious and cultural issues, inter-faith trips and visits such as joint visits to Bosnia to commemorate the Srebrenica Memorial Day, college exchange programmes to build bridges between universities, language exchanges, and speaker tours

• Research

  Research programmes and projects in the areas of Cosmopolitanism (development of citizenship within minority communities as well as in a faith context, debate on multiculturalism and plurality, the role of Islam & Democracy, understanding and challenging the narrative of extremism and radicalisation within faith communities), Social Justice (developing policies and providing guidance on issues of peace building and conflict resolution, poverty alleviation, gender equality, good governance and human rights), Rapprochement of Cultures (providing a forum for the enhancement of knowledge in the fields of art, culture, history and science, in order to foster better understanding and dialogue and improve the spectrum of inter and intra faith/cultural dialogue and engagement), Revisiting Theological Studies (the Foundation's research seeks to revisit Islamic scriptural sources with a view to developing new contexts for the understanding of modern realities). The research programme also includes a regional focus: UK, Europe, Middle East, and South Asia

• Publications

  The Cordoba Foundation seeks to advance the wider understanding of critical social issues, and their potential trends, and resolutions through a number of specialist publications which provide a platform for accessible discussions on issues of policy relevance and topicality. Some of the publications include Arches Quarterly (quarterly journal which provides deep and nuanced analysis of the issues and developments in the arena of dialogue, civilisations and a rapprochement between Islam and the West), Occasional Papers (a series that provides a medium for diverse opinions, presenting a comprehensive view of the myriad perspectives pertaining to dialogue and cross-cultural exchange), and the Cordoba Papers (a series of academic seminars on current affairs and issues in the arena of dialogue and civilisations).

Main Focus Countries of Activities

UK - UK - UK - Bosnia and Herzegovina - UK - Eastern Europe - Northern Europe - Southern Europe - Western Europe - Northern Africa - South-Western Asia - Southern Asia - UK