The groundbreaking  Counter-Islamophobia Toolkit (CIK) project which provides an actionable Counter-Islamophobia Toolkit aimed at combatting the numerous facets of growing Islamophobia across the EU, was launched on 26 September 2018 at the European Parliament, Brussels, BELGIUM (see below for the day’s agenda).

Details of the day’s events follow the photos and videos of the launch.

The ‘Counter-Islamophobia Kit’ (CIK), contains key actionable messages to be conveyed to policy makers, national governments, professionals, civil society, the media and practitioners from across the EU. The CIK will be launched on Wednesday 26 September 2018 at the European Parliament.

This comprehensive research is the largest of its kind in Europe.  The research underpinning the CIK examines normative patterns of Islamophobia and effective counter-narratives to Islamophobia in eight EU member states (Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and the UK).

The project findings document shortcomings in the implementation and enforcement of anti-discrimination law and policies, look at wider cultural narratives, the problems of media representation, as well as other laws, policies and institutional issues, and their intersections with Islamophobia.  The project has spoken to practitioners in all fields in the eight countries to look at best practice, and has produced an actionable toolkit designed to tackle Islamophobia within the member states and at European levels.  Details of the research and the reports produced can be found on the project website cik.leeds.ac.uk, including work pertaining to dominant Islamophobic narratives and dominant counter-narratives to Islamophobia in the eight aforementioned cases.

The project was co-funded by the Rights, Equality & Citizenship Programme of the EU, and was led by the University of Leeds (UK). Case study expertise and fieldwork was carried out by the project’s academic partners, the Centre for Ethnicity and Migration Studies, University of Liège (Belgium), Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (Portugal), Alba Business School (Greece), Center for Policy Studies, Central European University (Hungary), Institute of Sociological Studies, Charles University (Czech Republic), and non-academic partners the Islamic Human Rights Commission (France, Germany and UK).

The event was organised by the CIK Project Team in cooperation with the Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI), the Green/EFA party and the European Commission, and will be part of a one-day intensive program on the occasion of the European Day Against Islamophobia.

The day’s agenda.

[1] The press conference started at 09:00 (coffee and light refreshments available) and was addressed by Professor Ian Law and Professor S. Sayyid, both of the University of Leeds. 

[2] The agenda for the event was as follows:

Countering Islamophobia Toolkit
For the EU Member States

Hosted by Jean Lambert (Greens/EFA) in collaboration with ARDI Intergroup

Date: 26/09/2018
Time: 10:00-:1200
Room: ASP A1E1

Introductory Remarks

10:00 – 10:05:  Speech by MEP Mairead McGuinness, Vice-President of the European Parliament (DNA)

10:05 – 10:10   Speech by MEP Jean Lambert, Co-President of ARDI

10:10 – 10:15: Prof. Ian Law, Professor of Racism and Ethnicity Studies, Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds

Panel 1: Country Presentations: UK, France, Belgium, Germany

10.15 -10.40:   Ms. Arzu Merali, Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) Head of Research in the UK

Dr. Andrea Bila, IHRC Researcher on socio-political mobilisation of Muslim communities in France

Dr. Elsa Mescoli, Researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM), University of Liège, Belgium

Dr. Hassan Bousetta, Senior Research Associate at the National Fund for Scientific Research, Faculty of Social Science, CEDEM, University of Liège, Belgium

Dr Luis Manuel Hernández Aguilar, IHRC Researcher on Racism and Postcolonial Studies in Germany

10.40 – 10.45: MEPs respondents (tbc)

Panel 2: Country Presentations: Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic

10.50- 11.15:   Dr Marta Araújo, Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, Portugal

Dr Matilda Chatzipanagiotou, Constitutional and Human Rights Lawyer and Researcher at the Alba Business School, Greece

Dr Zsuzsanna Vidra, Researcher at the Center for Policy Studies, Central European University, Hungary

Dr Karel Čada, Researcher at the Institute of Sociological Studies, Charles University, Czech Republic

11.15- 11.20:   MEPs response (tbc)

Panel 3: Presentation of the Counter-Islamophobia Toolkit

11.20-11.40:    Dr Ilias Trispiotis, Lecturer in the School of Law, University of Leeds, UK

Dr Amina Easat-Daas, Counter-Islamophobia Kit Project Officer, Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds

11.40-11.50     Q&A

Closing Remarks

11:50 – 12:00:  Prof. S. Sayyid, Professor of Social Theory and Decolonial Thought, Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds[ENDS].

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