The International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) is organizing a conference to highlight the role and potential of religion in peacemaking processes. This international conference, entitled "Mapping the Terrain: Religion in Diplomacy and Peacemaking", will be held in Oslo on 7-9 February 2005.
06/02/2005 :: Approximately 100 individuals are invited to the conferance, all of them engaged in peacemaking efforts through field engagements, research or diplomatic activities. The participants will be drawn from a range of political, academic and religious spheres. Three persons from Syria will be participating in the conference. The organizers aim to establish a common ground so that participants from various areas can share experiences and draw upon each other's competences. They hope that this will stimulate new contacts and contribute to the creation of viable and vital networks.
There will be speaches, lectures and contributions from several of the participants, including Kjell Magne Bondevik (Prime Minister of Norway) and Gunnar Stålsett (Bishop of Oslo).
The conference is organized by researchers at PRIO, assisted by an advisory board. The Conference Leader is Kristian Berg Harpviken (sociologist and Senior Researcher at PRIO, leader of PRIO's research programme on Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding). The Conference Coordinator is Hanne Eggen Røislien (historian of religion and Researcher at PRIO, attached to PRIO's strategic institute programme on the Middle East).
A project grant enabling the organization of the conference has been awarded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.