| Foreword
In 1999, the Inter Faith Network for the UK, in association with the
Inner Cities Religious Council of the Department for the Environment,
Transport and the Regions (DETR), published The Local Inter Faith
Guide: Faith Community Co-operation in Action (1999). This
comprehensive guide looks at how to set up and develop successful local
inter faith initiatives. Among the issues covered by it is the
relationship between these initiatives and local and regional
government. This is an issue of increasing importance and it was decided
to hold a day conference to look at it in greater depth.
The conference took place in Birmingham on 12 June 2000 and its
participants included representatives from faith communities, including
national leaders and members of local faith communities actively
involved in creating local inter faith structures in multi-faith towns
and cities; local authority officers involved in regeneration
programmes; and civil servants from Government Departments with a
special interest in the issues (DETR; Home Office; and Social Exclusion
Unit). The morning session was chaired by Brian Pearce, Director of the
Inter Faith Network and the afternoon session by Revd Alan Greenbat,
member of the Inner Cities Religious Council and Consultant to the
Office of the Chief Rabbi.
The conference was jointly planned by the Network and the ICRC
Secretariat, with additional support from the Active Community Unit of
the Home Office. Its intended outcomes include this report and also:
- more effective and rapid development of councils of faiths and
inter faith groups at local level
- an enhanced capacity/knowledge on the part of individual faith
community leaders and of inter faith, regional and local government
and regeneration practitioners
- an increased capacity of local faith communities and inter faith
partnerships to act as partners in regeneration and renewal where
these are planned
This report includes transcripts of the main presentations and the
subsequent question and answer sessions, as well as key points from the
workshops.
Thanks are due to all who helped make this conference
and report possible, including those who chaired the conference; the
speakers; the workshop presenters, facilitators, reporters and minuters;
the staff of the Inter Faith Network and of secretariat of the Inner
Cities Religious Council. Thanks also to the Active Community Unit of
the Home Office which made a grant towards travel bursaries and the
production of this report, and the Bewley Charitable Trust which helped
support the costs of some participants from the Birmingham area.
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