Shaping Davos: Toronto Young Leaders Host Interfaith Dialogue For Global Forum

TORONTO - Jan. 19, 2015 - PRLog -- Daniels Spectrum, Regent Park

The Journey to Inclusion: Learning from Microcosms of Interfaith Cooperation will be a diverse and respectful conversation with interfaith families, teachers, leaders, and city builders from Toronto, Canada which will inform the World Economic Forum’s plenary discussions on religion and conflict at its 2015 Annual Meeting in Davos. This event will be hosted by the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Toronto Hub in partnership with Artscape and CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network.

“In light of recent events, we believe this is a necessary dialogue. We’re thrilled to see young Canadians participating and giving a voice to these important issues on an international stage,” said Arjun Gupta and Matthew Thomas, Co-Chairs of the Toronto Global Shapers Shaping Davos event.

They further note that “with religiously motivated terror and fear spreading throughout the world, we challenged ourselves to find positive examples of interfaith cooperation in our own backyard and explored how to apply these learnings to stem the conflict we see and feel today. What we hope will emerge is a welcoming, enthusiastic and peaceful community of interfaith leaders, from all walks of life.”

"For us, faith and religion—every faith, every religion —is truly about people wanting to live with humility and morality. This extends to the creation of positive, safe communities which encourage tolerance, respect, and friendship with those outside their own religious community. This event is breaking ground by creating an open forum for discussion on important issues of interfaith cooperation."

The theme will be explored by focusing on successful microcosms of interfaith cooperation in our own backyard: Toronto’s workplaces, classrooms, environment, neighbourhoods, and families. In both large and small groups, the attendees of the event will discuss and share perspectives on:

- What are some of the pre-conditions between parties for sustainable interfaith cooperation?
- Which strategies can yield enhanced interfaith understanding and respect?
- How can people across all paths and backgrounds contribute to the solution?
- How can Toronto and the world shift towards greater levels of inclusion?

The Global Shapers Community is one of several stakeholders of the World Economic Forum with 4,500 young leaders aged 20-30 in over 370 hubs across 170 countries. Other communities include the Young Global Leaders, the Global Agenda Councils, and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs. Find out more at www.weforum.org/community/global-shapers.

Global Shapers Toronto Hub
Web: www.torontoglobalshapers.com