Radicalization towards all types of violence (jihadi, extreme right, anti-semitist etc.) and polarization are two major societal challenges that tear at the social fabric of Europe. Radicals incite to baleful action by framing the status quo as “unjust,” “exploitative,” “oppressive,” or “; while polarizers work in the opposite direction, inviting society to show no mercy to the different and the differences. Overall, the two symbiotically feed each other and catalyze ;

On another far corner of the field, the proponents of the secularization theory, that have been for long arguing the religions would finally disappear from the face of earth in their battle with modernization processes, have proven to be wrong in their premise. Especially the turbulent Middle East and Europe in the last decade have clearly shown the religions do not disappear but persist, change and adapt to keep their important place among their ;

Against this background, EDUC8 to Build Resilience Project or EDUC8 in short was conceptualized to vehicle religious education and hence religion to counter pernicious effects of radicalization and polarization. The two-year project that started on 1 January 2020 has been funded by the European ; In the past 24 months, a pedagogically well-developed religious education curriculum that includes 45 books, 18 infographics, 18 factsheets, 96 videos have been prepared. The overall curriculum that has students and teachers of Judaism, Catholicism, Islam, Orthodoxy, Protestantism and Non-Confessional Ethics as target group is spread across five languages, namely English, Dutch, French, Slovenian and ;

As part of its efforts to communicate EDUC8 solutions to students, teachers, officials, policy makers and general public from all walks of life, and to further share experiences from implementation of the project, EDUC8 Consortium will conduct an online Final Conference on 20 December 2021 (Monday) between 10:00 – 12:00 by participation of all Consortium partners and external ;