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Utrecht, welcoming city for refugees in the heart of Europe

Tuesday 9 May 2023, Dinner Dialogue
ZIMIHC theater Stefanus, Utrecht Overvecht, Braziliëdreef 2, Utrecht

The Committee Europe Day Utrecht organizes a Dinner Dialogue on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Europe Day. After opening with an inter-faith moment and some short introductions on hospitality and integration, you will engage in a conversation over the offered dinner in a table arrangement of 3 refugees and 3 local residents. Led by a dialogue facilitator from the Utrecht in Dialogue Foundation, participants will share their experience around the topic of feeling welcome/welcomimg someone. This dialogue is conducted according to the 'Appreciative Inquiry' method. The 'harvest' will be shared during the plenary closing and used for a publication. Actors from Bright O. Richards' group (Foundation 'New Dutch Connections') provide the cultural accents.

Speakers
There will be two short introductions. The first pitch will be given by Mr. G.C.G.J. (Bert) van Roermund, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Law at Tilburg University and member of the Council of Members of PAX Christi Netherlands. His pitch will deal with the concepts of "land" and "state. When a refugee flees his/her country, what is he/she actually fleeing from? And what does he/she expect from a 'new country'?

The second lecture will be given by Mr. B. (Brahim) Laytouss, Founder of the Al Markaz Mosque in Ghent and Director of the European Development And Research Academy in Belgium (EDARA), Founder of the European Foundation of Theologians, Imams and Preachers (ESTIP), Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Comparative Religious Studies and Humanistics (FVG) in Antwerp. His pitch is about the integration of refugees in Belgium with different philosophical backgrounds.

By giving refugees a face and a voice and giving exposure to organizations working on behalf of refugees, this dinner dialogue aims to contribute to the positive perception of refugees.

Organisation
This initiative is a co-production of Foundation Utrechts Platform voor Levensbeschouwing en Religie (UPLR), Utrecht in Dialoog Foundation, UPF-Nederland and PAXforPeace. Responsibility rests with UPLR, in which the major religious and secular philosophies of life in Utrecht participate.

Registration
You can register till 2 May 2023 through this link.

More information
Keep an eye on our website www.europadagutrecht.nl and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuropadagUtrecht/

Read the whole press release with the programm through this link [PDF].

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