The Religious Literacy program, organized by Udruga Prizma Croatia on Veli Iz Island, Croatia, was successfully held from October 4-12, 2024, with participation from Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, and Estonia.

Participants included youth workers, academics, religious leaders, and volunteers from various civil society organizations and foundations across seven countries. Over seven official working days, the attendees explored five major religions and engaged in training sessions on media literacy, stereotypes, discrimination, social reconciliation, and interfaith dialogue. The main goal of the program was to educate participants, enabling them to better encourage youth in developing their learning skills and to foster essential awareness of citizenship, fundamental human rights, and core personal and social skills to combat discrimination and exclusion. Additionally, the event contributed to achieving the EU Youth Goals, particularly in promoting inclusive societies, constructive dialogue, and quality learning.

Throughout the seven-day program, youth workers learned the key characteristics of major world religions and principles of interfaith dialogue through both formal and informal learning methods. They also had the opportunity to experiment with non-formal methods to promote religious diversity in youth work and to exchange experiences with partners. Workshops covered topics such as Active Citizenship, Personal and Social Competence, Application of Non-Formal Education Methods, Increased Cultural and Religious Literacy, Enhanced Interreligious Dialogue Skills, Critical Thinking Development, Collaborative Skills Development, Self-Awareness and Reflection, and Multilingual and Cross-Cultural Communication Techniques. Following these trainings, each stakeholder is expected to share their acquired experiences and insights within their own countries.

At the end of the program, participants were ceremoniously awarded Youthpass Certificates.

** Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.