Implemented Projects

Centre for Religious Studies of the Belgrade Open School held educational program  “Education of the culture of remembrance - the study of the Holocaust in Serbia” from 13^th until 16^th of May 2014, in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation, International School for Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem and Jasenovac Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The program lasted 4 days and gathered 35 participants with the goal to reduce deficiencies in formal educational knowledge on Holocaust in Serbia, to put Holocaust in the position of a public question interpreted by the experts and survivors, and to contribute to development of the culture of peace through the affirmation of the culture of remembrance, at  educational level,.

Participants gained relevant knowledge about Holocaust through the lectures of eminent lecturers from Yad Vashem and local experts, as well as through workshops and visits to  memorial places and sites with the professional guides, meetings with survivors, etc. Program participants were encouraged to use, and pass on the gained knowledge in their academic and educational areas. On this occasion, Professor Baruh met with last years participants which have successfully completed the following online program and were delivered their certificate

Centre for the Study of Religion, Politics and Society in cooperation with the Center for Religious Studies of the Belgrade Open School, organized a one-day conference "Activism motivated by religion in regional peacebuilding processes" for priests, seminarians, religious teachers, NGO activists as well as students and graduates of the social sciences that are involved or have a desire to get involved in religiously motivated peace activism. The conference was held on Thursday, March 20^th 2014.

In November 2013 the Center for Religious Studies started realization of the follow-up online program, which is a continuation of the educational program "Education of the culture of remembrance - the study of the Holocaust in Serbia", held from 12 - 15 March 2013. The Program lasted until mid-March 2014 and was conducted in English language. The program was organized for students of the Faculty of humanities and Arts of University of Belgrade in cooperation with the International School for Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem and Jasenovac Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church for. Topic of this online follow up seminar was "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem" and 15 students fulfilled it successfully.

“Intercultural dialogue in Serbia - a bridge to an inclusive and tolerant communiteis“ is an educational program organized in order to overcome discrimination in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities. Specifics of communities in Serbia are often not treated properly, which reduces the sense of community for coexistence and leads to instability, social polarization and inciting ethnic hatred. Through seminars and workshops with young members of minority and majority groups and civil society organizations dealing with intercultural dialogue, this program will raise awareness on  importance of intercultural dialogue, sensitize youth representatives of ethnic groups to the intercultural dialogue in line with European cultural models and strengthen their capacity. Students and seminar attendees will write essays and reviews which will be published on the f high school webportal Mingle. Upon completion of seminars and workshops, a summer school will be organized for the most active participants where they will have the opportunity to listen to lectures of relevanthih experts and discuss various issues related to the topic. Participants of this program will acquire necessary knowledge on the possibilities of intercultural dialogue and co-operation in Serbia and will be encouraged to apply the acquired knowledge and skills in their local communities.

The educational program is organized by the Centre for Religious Studies (CIRel) of the Belgrade Open School in cooperation and with support of Konrad Adenauer Fondation (KAS).

The program will address the following topics:

- Importance of inter-ethnic and intercultural dialogue;

- Basics of human and minority rights;

- Access to political and institutional mechanisms for the protection of minority rights;

- European integration as a tool for strengthening minority rights at the local level;

- Establishment of a network of young people interested in intercultural dialogue;

- Culture of Communication - Intercultural Communication.

To ensure the relevance and actuality of knowledge that participants will gain during the program, a combination of lectures and workshops as the methods of work will be used.

Educational program "Education for a culture of remembrance - Holocaust Studies in Serbia" was officially opened on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013in the premises of the Dom Vojske Srbije. The program was initiated by the Center for Religious Studies (CIRel) of Belgrade Open School (BOS), in cooperation with the International School for Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem and the Jasenovac Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

This educational program is organized to raise awareness about the importance of remembrance of the Holocaust in the Western Balkans, underlining the cultural and historical importance of this topic. The emphasis is on the educational significance of the transfer of relevant knowledge to future generations, in order to timely deal with consequences such as xenophobia , ethnic cleansing, racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of violence and intolerance

The program lasted until 15 March and included lectures, workshops and a tours of the memorials and other sites related to this topic in Belgrade, as well as meetings with some of the camp survivors. This educational program was attended by forty graduates or final year students of the humanities and social sciences and the faculty of the University of Arts in Belgrade. In order to ensure the relevance and actuality of knowledge the participants will acquire, a team of eminent speakers from Serbia and the International School for Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem was established.

The opening ceremony was attended by the representatives of public authorities, embassies, Serbian Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, the Association of Jewish Communities and the representatives of German political foundations and attaches the OSCE, the UN and the Council of Europe.

The Opening ceremony started with the speech delivered by Vesna Djukic,  General Director of BOS, following  the speaches of  Jovan Culibrk Bishop of Ulpiana, the coordinator of Jasenovac Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Eyal Naor, the Deputy Ambassador of Israel to the Republic of Serbia.

Awaiting the European union: stabilisation of inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations in the Western Balkans

Awaiting the European union: stabilisation of inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations in the Western Balkans
The Project „Awaiting the European Union: the Stabilisation of Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Religious Relations in the Western Balkans“ is a two year project that was conductedimplemented by the Centre for Religious Studies of Belgrade Open School – CIRel/BOS (Belgrade, Serbia), in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Berlin, Germany), International Multi-religious Intercultural Centre – IMIC (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Nansen Dialogue Centre Osijek (Osijek, Croatia) and Nansen Dialogue Centre Montenegro (Podgorica, Montenegro) and in cooperation with Theological-catechetical institute of Diocese of Subotica (Subotica, Serbia). This project was funded by the European Union.

Strengthening Religious and Human Rights for Democratic Serbia

CIRel implemented the Project “Strengthening Religious and Human Rights for Democratic Serbia” with the support of the Delegation of the European Commission in the Republic of Serbia. The project lasted from 11^th December 2008 to 11^th February 2010. The purpose of this project was to further promote religious rights as one of fundamental human rights, attract public attention to the work of churches and religious communities, especially in the areas promoting direct respect and realization of human rights, including rights to education, health protection, social welfare and security, national and ethnic origin, equality and full participation in cultural life.

Online educational program "School of tolerance"

Since 2006, CIRel has organised six online programmes "School of Tolerance".

“Internet in the function of religious education and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia”

In 2004 CIRel started the regional project “Internet in the function of religious education and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia” and created a web site »Faith Knowledge Peace« This project was supported by the Foundation Pax Christi Netherlands.

'Educational program "Religions of Serbia''

Since 2007, the Center for Religious Studies has started a special program focused on the specifics of the religious life in Serbia, by organising programs of "Religions of Serbia - a network of dialogue and cooperation."

Programs are designed for socially active young people from Serbia and are designed to get the students introduced with the social role of religion and religious communities in Serbia, as well as the importance and nature of inter-religious relations and tolerance in our country. CIRel has so far organized two such schools.

Seminar "Religions of Europe and European union"

The seminar "Religions of Europe and the European union" is an educational programme targeting young politicians and representatives of religious communities in Serbia who learn about the importance of religion in the European integration processes. The implementation of the seminar was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Regional educational cycles "Religions of the Balkans"

Since 2001 CIRel designed and initiated three one-year regional education cycles, which included "Religions of the Balkans: Encounters and Interweaving" school, and two follow-up seminars "Religions of the Balkans - Dialogue and Reconciliation" and "Religions of the Balkans - Experiences and Perspectives".

Postgraduate studies

During 1999, 2000 and 2001, in association with the Alternative Academic Educational Network, CIRel designed postgraduate multidisciplinary religious studies courses, targeting postgraduate students in Belgrade.