Category: News from Oikosnet

Kjell Riise, representing the Norweigian Church Academies, was elected as a new member of the board at the General Assembly of Oikosnet Europe. Kjell is a parish priest in the cathedral of Tromsø in Norway and also a board member of the Norwegian Church Academies. 

Education emerged as one of the three priority issues for Oikosnet Europe after a poll among Oikosnet members. As a start of a longer process, Oikosnet Europe organized a first Zoomconference  on 24 March 2021. About 40 participants from many European, from Armenia to Spain, from Norway to Greece discussed different understandings of education. We are grateful for partners such as the Comeniusinstitute in Münster/Germany and the Strasbourg office of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), who stimulated the discussion through their presentations. The meeting also learnt about CONTOC (contoc.org) a research project on digital practices in the Protestant and Catholic churches in Germany, Switzerland, further European countries during Corona times.

The results of the meeting listing different understandings of education as well as different challenges for Christian Academies will be issued soon for further discussion in the Oikosnet Board and its General Assembly.

The Zoomconference in May was meant as a starting point for further discussion among Oikosnet members and friends about which sectors of education need further promotion and support on a European level and what understanding of education helps Christian Academies to even improve their efforts.

The EU Conference on the Future of Europe

By Rüdiger Noll, Executive Secretary Oikosnet Europe

On 10 March, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe signed a Joint Declaration on the parameters for the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), which is to be launched on Europe Day in Strasbourg (9 May).

What sounds like yet another conference, is indeed a one year process, in which the citizens and the people of Europe are to have their say on issues such as health, climate change, an economy for the people, social fairness, intergenerational solidarity, digitalization, European rights and values, migration, security, the EU in the world, strengthening democracy. These are just the topics selected by the European Institutions, on which they want the opinion of the people and of civil society. Other topics can be added.

“Today marks a new start for the European Union and for all European citizens”, the President of the European Union, David Sassoli, said, when the Joint Declaration was signed. “The Conference on the Future of Europe will be unique opportunity for all European citizens and our civil society to shape Europe’s future, a common project for a functioning European democracy.” Now, whether the CoFoE will be indeed such a participatory process and such a genuine voice of the people, and whether it will finally impact European policy, remains to be seen. It depends on how people can be activated and motivated to participate and on which methodologies are used. In any case, until spring 2022 many countries and regions will see a multitude of events, which are to contribute from a people’s perspective as to how the European Union is to be shaped in the future. What are the priority issues and how are they to be addressed?

Oikosnet Europe has a long-standing  commitment to observe Europe as its framework for reflection and action and to contribute to a vivid civil society and making the people’s voice heard in church and society. Just recently, Oikosnet Europe selected three priority issues for the near future: the “Green Deal”, digitalisation and education. The EU Conference on the Future of Europe is certainly one vehicle of making our voice heard to network with other civil society organisations. Therefore, Oikosnet Europe and its members should participate very actively in the process.

It will be the task of the Oikosnet Board and its General Assembly to inform its members on the different stages of the development and to pave the way for an easy access for Oikosnet members. There are many possibilities for members to get involved, e.g. to participate in national, regional and local events, to organize own events, to put resources together in order organize transnational events, to offer truly participatory methodologies …

The Oikosnet Board will have the CoFoE on the agenda of its next meeting in June. It  will inform members and friends afterwards about the next steps. In the meantime, we would appreciate any information on national and regional events and about the involvement of Oikosnet members in the process. Please send your information to the Oikosnet Executive Secretary:  rudiger@rudigernoll.eu.

Further information about the CoFoE you will find on the respective EU websites. The Conference of European Churches, of which Oikosnet Europe is an organization in partnership, has also launched its own process. As start, it has issued a fact sheet, which can be found here.

Dear members of Oikosnet Europe, dear friends!

As I write this editorial, I have just had my first appointment for the Covid19 vaccination. In Switzerland, it is now the turn of people over 65 (and sometimes age does have its advantages). I sincerely hope that we in Europe will soon succeed in allowing more freedoms, restoring proven fundamental rights and allowing cultural and social life again with manageable restrictions. I hope and am convinced that we will – finally – succeed in this in the coming months!

We shall see us in Sigtuna! In October. We will gather there for this year’s General Assembly. I am convinced of it. You will find more information in this newsletter and also how to register. Please do not hesitate. We shall see us in Sigtuna – and if it is still not possible then, we will inform again.

And before that, there are opportunities to meet us in different places and on important issues and debates. This newsletter also informs about such virtual opportunities and thus invites us not to lose sight of the bigger picture, what must occupy us in Europe and what we can only bear together in terms of responsibility in our time.

We will certainly see each other in Sigtuna. Until then, weeks and months will pass. In some places, hard work is called for, it is also necessary to fight against despair, impatience and existential fears. Perhaps there will still be a little time for other, very personal things, and hopefully always for a change of perspective, as the Swiss theologian and writer Jacqueline Keune has captured in a poem:

Cancelled

Haydn, Mozart and Schubert

conducted by Marek Janowski

Not canceled

the cello on the 3rd floor

the song of the blackbird

Cancelled

the reading of the literary man

Not canceled

the reading

of the evening poem

story for children

Cancelled

the meeting for the 40th anniversary

of the assassination of Bishop Oscar Romero

Not canceled

the memory

the resistance

Cancelled

the dream of the Maldives

Not canceled

the dreaming of

the new earth

the new heaven

Cancelled

the worship

Not canceled

the whispering

with God

Cancelled

the bouquet of flowers

on the kitchen table

Not canceled

the blossoming and bursting

the germination and budding

Canceled

the wedding

Not canceled

the love

Cancelled

abdication

Not canceled

Resurrection

Once again: Please, don’t forget: We shall see us in Sigtuna!

Best wishes,

Rev. Walter Lüssi, President of Oikosnet Europe

In September, many of or members had some most enjoyable days at the Agape Centro Ecumenico in Italy. Our hosts, Malte Dahme and Sara Marta Rostagno had prepared an excellent program on the theme Identities moving landscapes: an historical view from the Alps where the Waldensian valley and it´s history became an inspiring resource for reflection on the question of migration in general.

Welcoming of new members
During the Business Meeting we had the pleasure of welcoming a new member of Oikosnet Europe, The The Orthodox Grodno Laity Center in Belarus. We all look forward to hear more about their centre and their work in the future.
Jörg Hübner, director at the Academy of Bad Boll, Germany, was elected as a new member of the board. Many of you have probably met him at earlier Annual conferences and you will definetely have the possibility to make the acquaintance at the Annual Conference next year, as it will take place at Bad Boll.

Ideas become projects
One of the most aprreciated part of the Annual Conferences are the exchange of ideas. On the last day of the conference Malte Dahme facilitated a most fruitful workshop where members could partner up around common projects. It was very inspiring to see how many ideas became more concrete during the session and the board are already working on how to develop them further.
A more detailed information from the Business meeting is presented in the minutes and we yet again want to thank Sara Marta Rostagno and Malte Dahme and all their staff for their wonderful hospitality.

Minutes from the Business Meeting

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The president of Oikosnet Europe Walter Lüssi attended to EAD Member Assembly earlier this year. At the meeting he gave a presentation of the work of Oikosnet Europe with an emphasis on the relevance of the European Dimension and the significance of civil society. The EAD have the tradition of inviting the president of Oikosnet Europe to their yearly Member Assembly. The meeting this year took place in Baden.

In the days last days of November, the Evangelische Bildungstätte, Schwanenwerder in cooperation with Oikosnet Europe arranged a workshop on the topic Ernergiewende and citizen participation. At the laity center just outside Berlin, participants from Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic gathered for a trinational dialogue focusing on the role of civil society in this very complex question. The 21 participants started the the dialogue with a list of 100 questions on climate change. Many of the questions we will surely come back to in many dialogues and conferences ahead. 

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) regards Oikosnet Europe as an “organisation in partnership”. Earlier this year, CEC presented a draft of a strategic work plan to all its member churches and partner organisations for commenting. The strategic plan is to guide CEC’s work for the years to come and also to determine as to where CEC wants to make a difference in bringing a faith-based voice to the European institutions. Oikosnet Europe took the challenge seriously and, after discussions in the Board, responded to CEC’s plans and offered its comments and resources with regard to strategic issues as well as in view of the many topics which CEC sees as part of its work plan.

In follow-up of this consultation process and a meetings of CEC’s Governing Board, CEC now issued a letter with three overarching aims for its future work and announcing six working groups to be established. These working groups will work until the next CEC Assembly in about 2023. The frequency of meetings is usually two to three times a year. The six broad themes around which the working groups are to convene are:

– ecclesiology and mission

– diversity, pluralism and education for democracy

– economic and ecological justice and sustainable future

– science, bioethics and technology

– human rights education and advocacy

– social justice.

As Oikosnet Europe is an organisation in partnership, we are also eligible to suggest members for these working groups from among our constituency. Therefore, Oikosnet members are invited to suggest potential candidates with adequate expertise, to the Oikosnet Executive Secretary (noll@evangelische-akademien.de) until 1.September 2019.  The next Annual Conference of Oikosnet Europe (11-15 September) will then discuss the matter and take a decision about names to be forwarded to CEC. The final selection of working group members will remain entirely in the hand of CEC.

The letter from CEC (and its appendices) to its member churches and organisations in partnership can be found on the Oikosnet website under: www.oikosnet.eu/partnerships