Youth Inter Faith Engagement

Young people in the 21st century UK belong to an increasingly diverse society where people of many faiths and backgrounds live side by side. Young people have a vital contribution to make in creating a society where there is trust, respect and cooperation between people of different faiths and beliefs.

In our diverse UK and our globally connected world, people are ever more likely to interact with those of other faiths and beliefs. So it is more important than ever that young people have the chance to develop and strengthen skills for inter faith dialogue, learning and cooperation. 

The Inter Faith Network for the UK (IFN) has a strong commitment to helping enable greater involvement by young people in inter faith activity. This new website section has been created to help strengthen youth inter faith engagement by:  

• giving ideas for ways to get involved
• highlighting online and printed resources that others have found helpful when running inter faith initiatives with young people
• providing links to youth inter faith initiatives
• providing information on inter faith activity within HE and FE institutions

It focuses on resources which those in the 16-25 age range have found helpful.

The resources and materials included draw on suggestions from youth inter faith bodies; inter faith bodies with youth programmes; chaplains and student union presidents at Higher and Further Education Institutions; national student faith and belief bodies; and youth organisations with inter faith programmes. The Inter Faith Network is very grateful to all who have contributed their ideas and suggestions.

The list of resources and other materials in this section cannot, of course, be exhaustive. Users may have additional suggestions - if so, we would be very happy to hear from you!

Website section user's guide 

If you are a young person looking to get involved in inter faith activity, this dedicated section of IFN's website is for you.

If you are a chaplain, teacher, youth worker, or local authority officer and are seeking to promote inter faith activity for young people within your institution/organisation, you may also find helpful information in this website section. 

This website section is divided into pages to help you find the right information for you. These include:

• 'Inter faith' - What and why? - If you are a young person who has heard of inter faith activity but are not sure what 'inter faith' means or why inter faith activity is important – or if you are interested to learn more about inter faith engagement and how you can get involved – then this is the place to start. 
• Getting involved - If you are looking for tips and information on getting involved in inter faith activity - or planning your own - then this is the place to begin. Some of the pages below cover this ground in more detail for specific contexts. 
• Higher Education - If you are a student or member of staff within a Higher Education institution, you will find information here about inter faith activity – including within chaplaincies, students’ unions/ societies, national student faith and belief bodies, and bodies with campus inter faith programmes.
• Further Education - If you are a student or member of staff at a Further Education college, you can find information here about inter faith activity in FE – including in chaplaincies and students’ unions.
• Youth Initiatives - If you are looking for information about inter faith activity involving young people outside of educational institutions – such as within youth organisations, faith communities, or inter faith organisations – you can find information here about various inter faith organisations and initiatives, and opportunities to get involved.
• Resources - If you are looking for resources to help you understand more about inter faith activity, why it is important, how to plan/ run inter faith activities, and other ways to get involved, you can find resources that others have found helpful on this page.

Other useful IFN resources

Connect: A Youth Inter Faith Action Guide 

Connect: A Youth Inter Faith Action Guide, published by IFN in 2018 and developed by it with a multi faith youth advisory group is full of ideas and case studies to inspire young people wanting to get involved in inter faith activity - or to deepen their existing involvement. It covers a wide range of activity: from dialogue and social action to sport, arts and culture and more. It also includes tips for planning activities, guidelines for dialogue, and suggestions on using social media as a tool for inter faith engagement. 

Other IFN publications which you might find useful include: 

• Let’s Talk: Practical Pointers for Inter Faith Dialogue (2017)
• Inter Faith Learning, Dialogue and Cooperation: Next Steps (2016)
• Inter Faith Week Toolkit (2016) 

You can find copies of all IFN publications about young people and youth inter faith activity by filtering the publications page.