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universidade lusófona
Projects

Policy Diffusion through the Charter of Religions

LusoGlobe Research in Charge - Paulo Mendes Pinto 

The Charter of Religions Odivelas, was a pioneering initiative in Portugal, which provided in-depth knowledge of the religious landscape of one of the main municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This project, a collaboration between academia (ULusófona), local government (Odivelas Town Hall), and national authorities (High Commission for Migration – ACM), developed an open database for consultation and a series of reports and joint events that made the religious landscape of this municipality better known to political actors and promoted stronger articulation and interaction between religious communities. The Charter of Religions was an extraordinary vehicle for promoting inter-religious dialogue, cultural diversity, and tolerance, and it will be continued in other parts of the country, showing its relevance to public authorities and being an excellent example of how to promote the involvement of society and the transfer of knowledge. The idea and its success aroused interest among the national authorities and so the project will therefore be replicated in three other Portuguese municipalities, as follows:

Odivelas (2022-2023)
Porto (2024-2025)
Amadora (2024-2025)
Oeiras (2023-2026)
Braga (2024-2025)

1) Odivelas

The Charter of Religions of Odivelas is a project with a great degree of innovation, whether in the elaboration of a systematization of a vast religious reality, or in the methodology and approach to this reality. The area of Science of Religions, when taking on the elaboration of this Charter of Religions, needed, in the first place, and constantly throughout the project, to recreate itself epistemologically. What is your object of study, how to approach it? This project forced, and allowed, a new equation to be felt for an area of knowledge that, thus, was enriched and launched methodologies for new projects. The research has as its main objective the identification of places of worship and groups of believers, their social motivations, their integration, levels of education and expectations in relation to the national whole. At a time when there is constant pressure on the universe of religions (whether peripheral or central to the dominant culture), this project intended, more than identifying, to characterize the existing realities, providing decision-makers with useful tools for decision-making. As a result of this work, two videos were made about the cultural and religious diversity of the municipality of Odivelas, the first with the presence of some of the religious leaders and the second aimed at teaching young people. As a result of this work, two videos were made about the cultural and religious diversity of the municipality of Odivelas. The first was attended by some of the religious leaders on the challenges and values of being in a culturally diverse community. The second audiovisual production was aimed at teaching young people in the community about the different confessions that exist in the region.

Researchers:

2) Porto case  

Researchers:

Abstract

The Charter of Religions Porto, is a pioneering initiative in Portugal, which provided in-depth knowledge of the religious landscape of one of the main municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This project, a collaboration between academia (ULusófona), local government (Municipality of Porto), and national authorities (High Commission for Migration – ACM), developed an open database for consultation and a series of reports and joint events that made the religious landscape of this municipality better known to political actors and promoted stronger articulation and interaction between religious communities. The Charter of Religions is an extraordinary vehicle for promoting inter-religious dialogue, cultural diversity, and tolerance, and it will be continued in other parts of the country, showing its relevance to public authorities and being an excellent example of how to promote the involvement of society and the transfer of knowledge. The idea and its success aroused interest among the national authorities and so the project will therefore be replicated in three other Portuguese municipalities, with the hope that by the 2024/2025 school year, there will be three more Charters of Religions published in the country.

Associated Missions

Municipality of Porto

3) Amadora case 

Researchers: 

Abstract

The Charter of Religions Amadora, is a pioneering initiative in Portugal, which provided in-depth knowledge of the religious landscape of one of the main municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This project, a collaboration between academia (ULusófona), local government (Municipality of Amadora), and national authorities (High Commission for Migration – ACM), developed an open database for consultation and a series of reports and joint events that made the religious landscape of this municipality better known to political actors and promoted stronger articulation and interaction between religious communities. The Charter of Religions is an extraordinary vehicle for promoting inter-religious dialogue, cultural diversity, and tolerance, and it will be continued in other parts of the country, showing its relevance to public authorities and being an excellent example of how to promote the involvement of society and the transfer of knowledge. The idea and its success aroused interest among the national authorities and so the project will therefore be replicated in three other Portuguese municipalities, with the hope that by the 2024/2025 school year, there will be three more Charters of Religions published in the country.

Associated Missions

Municipality of Amadora

4) Oeiras case 

Researchers:

Abstract

The Charter of Religions Oeiras, is a pioneering initiative in Portugal, which provided in-depth knowledge of the religious landscape of one of the main municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This project, a collaboration between academia (ULusófona), local government (Municipality of Oeiras), and national authorities (High Commission for Migration – ACM), developed an open database for consultation and a series of reports and joint events that made the religious landscape of this municipality better known to political actors and promoted stronger articulation and interaction between religious communities. The Charter of Religions is an extraordinary vehicle for promoting inter-religious dialogue, cultural diversity, and tolerance, and it will be continued in other parts of the country, showing its relevance to public authorities and being an excellent example of how to promote the involvement of society and the transfer of knowledge. The idea and its success aroused interest among the national authorities and so the project will therefore be replicated in three other Portuguese municipalities, with the hope that by the 2024/2025 school year, there will be three more Charters of Religions published in the country.

Associated Missions

Municipality of Oeiras

5) Braga case  

Researchers:

Abstract

The Charter of Religions Braga, is a pioneering initiative in Portugal, which provided in-depth knowledge of the religious landscape of one of the main municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This project, a collaboration between academia (ULusófona), local government (Municipality of Braga), and national authorities (High Commission for Migration – ACM), developed an open database for consultation and a series of reports and joint events that made the religious landscape of this municipality better known to political actors and promoted stronger articulation and interaction between religious communities. The Charter of Religions is an extraordinary vehicle for promoting inter-religious dialogue, cultural diversity, and tolerance, and it will be continued in other parts of the country, showing its relevance to public authorities and being an excellent example of how to promote the involvement of society and the transfer of knowledge. The idea and its success aroused interest among the national authorities and so the project will therefore be replicated in three other Portuguese municipalities, with the hope that by the 2024/2025 school year, there will be three more Charters of Religions published in the country.

Associated Missions

Municipality of Braga

LusoGlobe Research in Charge

Start

31 March 2022

End

31 March 2026

Abstract

The Charter of Religions Odivelas, is a pioneering initiative in Portugal, which provided in-depth knowledge of the religious landscape of one of the main municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This project, a collaboration between academia (ULusófona), local government (Odivelas Town Hall), and national authorities (High Commission for Migration – ACM), developed an open database for consultation and a series of reports and joint events that made the religious landscape of this municipality better known to political actors and promoted stronger articulation and interaction between religious communities. The Charter of Religions was an extraordinary vehicle for promoting inter-religious dialogue, cultural diversity, and tolerance, and it will be continued in other parts of the country, showing its relevance to public authorities and being an excellent example of how to promote the involvement of society and the transfer of knowledge. The idea and its success aroused interest among the national authorities and so the project will therefore be replicated in three other Portuguese municipalities (two in Lisbon and one in Porto), with the hope that by the 2024/2025 school year, there will be three more Charters of Religions published in the country.

Researchers

Jorge Botelho Moniz, Hélia Bracons, Fernando Campos, Paulo Mendes Pinto

Associated Missions

High Commission for Migration – ACM

Outputs

Funding and Institution

Odivelas Town Hall & High Commission for Migration - ACM.