Imagining Peace, Confronting Violence

Walk the Talk: Institutionalising Youth Participation in Decision-Making Process

Hotel of Tirana, Blue

Co-organising Partner Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalization – University of Groeningen

This session examines the enduring influence of religion on political narratives, migration discourses, and social interactions in the Euro-Mediterranean. In a region marked by deep diversity and complex histories, religious identity often serves as both a bridge and a fault line—mobilised by populist forces to sow division yet also championed by interfaith networks and religious institutions as a source of trust, dialogue, and resilience.

Through concrete examples, the session will highlight how faith-based actors and civil society movements contribute to peacebuilding, challenge exclusion, and reshape public narratives. It will explore how religious imaginaries inform policymaking, influence perceptions of ‘the other,’ and uphold social cohesion, especially in contexts shaped by conflict and migration.

Participants will reflect on the potential of faith to advance just governance and intercultural understanding. The conversation will spotlight collaborative efforts by religious communities, cultural institutions, and civic actors to reframe religious narratives as tools for inclusion and conflict prevention—offering a vision of faith as a unifying force in a fragmented region.

Panelists: 

Moderator: Manoela Carpenedo

Assistant Professor, University of Groningen (The Netherlands)

Moderator: Manoela Carpenedo

Assistant Professor, University of Groningen (The Netherlands)

Carpenedo is a social scientist and ethnographer specializing in grassroots Christian movements and their intersections with culture, identity, and politics. Her research spans fundamentalist and migrant Christian communities across Europe, focusing on themes like religious syncretism, Christian Zionism, and political mobilization. She also explores religious violence, digital anthropology, and moralities. Before joining the University of Groningen, she held a fellowship at the University of London’s Institute of Latin American Studies and taught at the Universities of Kent and Cambridge. Carpenedo holds an MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge and studied in Brazil, Germany, Spain, and Hungary.

Eva Saenz-Diaz

Researcher – GERMAC Research Group at the Catholic University of Louvain (Spain)

Eva Saenz-Diaz

Researcher – GERMAC Research Group at the Catholic University of Louvain (Spain)

Dr. Eva Sáenz-Díez is a researcher specializing in education and freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) in Arab and Muslim countries. She holds a PhD from the University of Paris VIII and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, with a dissertation on Egypt’s educational policies and societal Islamisation. Her work explores the marginalisation of Coptic Christians, notably through curricula analysis, and she recently published on Ottoman Catholic communities in Egypt. Dr. Sáenz-Díez is affiliated with GERMAC at the Catholic University of Louvain and collaborates with the Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos. She frequently contributes to international FoRB conferences.

Charis Charalambous

Trainer & Psychologist, Conversation Cafe Cyprus (Cyprus)

Charis Charalambous

Trainer & Psychologist, Conversation Cafe Cyprus (Cyprus)

A Counseling Psychologist by training, and a Trainer/Facilitator of experiential learning by passion, Charis has dedicated the past 23 years of her life in supporting individuals, families and groups in their personal and social development. Her experience ranges from work in the public sector in Cyprus (Social Services) to collaborations with Counseling Centers, NGOs and international bodies (e.g. British Council Cyprus) to the development of educational programs funded by the EU (e.g. on social-emotional learning and non-formal learning methods). Since 2017, she has successfully collaborated with the Anna Lindh Foundation (Cyprus Network) in facilitating on-location and online seminars and workshops. In the Spring of 2019, Charis realized through a personal experience she had that the people of Cyprus, who represent its multicultural past, future and present, should have the possibility to regularly meet others and have conversations about topics that matter, in a spirit of openness, curiosity, respect, warmth and trust. She therefore came up with the idea to bring the global “Conversation Cafe” concept to Cyprus. Charis co-initiated the grassroots, citizens’ initiative, Conversation Cafe Cyprus, together with a Turkish-speaking Cypriot friend in October 2019, and since then has been creating and holding the space for people that participate to engage in facilitated, meaningful dialogue about topics they democratically choose to dive into. The 66 events that Charis has facilitated for Conversation Cafe Cyprus so far, across the entire island and online, have brought together people (aged 15+) from various countries around the world (e.g. Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Spain, Italy, France, Morocco, Russia, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia, Belarus, Czech Republic, the UK, Iran, Denmark, Azerbaijan, Gambia). She is proud to be contributing in this humble way to supporting peace-building, dialogue, friendship-creation, communication skills and overall personal and social growth. Last year, as part of her mission to be useful to others and to disseminate knowledge, Charis began curating and sharing her experiences, ideas and resources as Psychologist, Trainer and Learning Designer through a dedicated page on Instagram titled @workwithcharis. She invites anyone interested to explore the page, in the hope they will benefit from it.

Mahmoud Kamel

Researcher -- Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (Egypt)

Mahmoud Kamel

Researcher -- Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (Egypt)

Mahmoud Kamel is a researcher and educator specializing in Islamic studies, interfaith dialogue, and counter-extremism. Since 2015, he has worked with Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism, where he monitors global media, analyzes extremist narratives, and produces awareness campaigns to counter misconceptions about Islam. He leads AOCE’s “Listen & Talk” Initiative, fostering peaceful dialogue among students, and serves on the editorial board of Step Forward Magazine. Kamel holds a BA in Islamic Studies in English and an MBA, and is pursuing an MA on Muslim women in Islamic jurisprudence and Western feminism. He has participated in academic exchanges in the U.S., promoting interfaith understanding.

Marat Shterin

Professor of the Sociology of Religion--Kings College London (UK/Russia)

Marat Shterin

Professor of the Sociology of Religion--Kings College London (UK/Russia)

Marat Shterin is Professor of Sociology at King’s College London, with a PhD from the London School of Economics. His research focuses on religious change, minority religions, radicalisation, and new religious movements globally. He has published widely, including works on Islam in Russia, religion and populism, and the caliphate’s historical memory. Former Chair and current Governor of Inform, he advocates for evidence-based public understanding of minority religions. He has taught at various levels on topics such as Sociology of Religion, Colonialism and Decolonisation, and Religion in International Relations. Earlier in his career, he taught history in Moscow and served as a school headmaster.

Imagining Peace, Confronting Violence

Walk the Talk: Institutionalising Youth Participation in Decision-Making Process

Hotel of Tirana, Blue

Panelists:

Moderator: Manoela Carpenedo

Eva Saenz-Diaz

Charis Charalambous

Mahmoud Kamel

Marat Shterin

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