Challenge

We all suffer the consequences of one of the most widespread problems of our time: the lack of mutual understanding and acceptance at all levels. Faced with conflicts, differences and injustices, our world is in urgent need of a “minimum common ideal”, an ideal that allows us to live together: convivence.

Nature of the project

Our project consists of organising an annual gathering in the historic city of Córdoba, bringing together international organisations and individuals who strive, among other objectives, to promote a world of “convivence”: the ability of human beings and their communities to live together in peace, to respect and accept their differences, ideally with an element of solidarity.

The city of Córdoba is known as a model of a certain “living together” around the year one thousand. On the basis of this reality and its myth, how can we help to promote a universal contemporary reality, a “realistic utopia”?

How can we give universal meaning to this beautiful word, “convivencia” (convivance in French, convivence in English, ta ^cayush in Arabic)? This term goes beyond notions such as tolerance, coexistence, concord, mutual understanding, acceptance or comprehension, which are all prerequisites for “living together in peace”. Convivence is the perfect expression of the ideal and the spirit associated with the name of Córdoba; indeed, the city aspires to become a global symbol of this concept of “living together in peace”, not only among Abrahamic communities, but among people of diverse cultures, religions, ethnicities and beliefs around the world.

Target audience

The Córdoba Forum is aimed at organisations and individuals who share a common denominator: each, in their own way and within their own sphere, aspires to a more fraternal world, a world of greater convivence. The Forum is designed for institutions and individuals, particularly young people, who are convinced of the need to create not an organisation but a network, a “federation of consciences”, dedicated to the acceptance of others and their differences: a “Spirit of Córdoba”.

Youth focus

With the aim of creating a movement with a strong and lasting impact, the Córdoba Forum seeks to involve a significant number of young participants committed to convivence, offering them the opportunity not only to engage with experienced actors and institutions, but also to acquire the skills needed to support their own initiatives.

To this end, the Córdoba Forum will be preceded by a Seminar, the Dialogue for Peace, aimed primarily —though not exclusively— at participants under the age of thirty. This two-day training will be led by international experts in mediation and dialogue, providing young people with theoretical foundations and practical tools to engage with a wide range of interlocutors.

At the end, participants will join the Forum, and some will present their work, encouraging both the development of a common language and intergenerational exchange.

Objectives

he Córdoba Forum aims to contribute to a world of greater convivence and to more effective work by organisations engaged in this field. It is designed to be held annually, with the aim of becoming a key occasion for intercultural dialogue and a privileged meeting point to be included in the agendas of those working towards this shared ideal of a more universal convivence.

It has two general and ongoing objectives:

1. To share and disseminate positive examples of actions that promote convivence, by:

• identifying the obstacles to the promotion of convivence;
• describing and analysing how these obstacles have been overcome;
• sharing and listening to inspiring experiences that motivate others;
• collecting and disseminating such inspiring material;
• facilitating connections and coordinating participants’ initiatives for greater impact;
• providing participants with a methodology to engage with diverse interlocutors.

2. To implement the “International Day of Living Together in Peace”, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, by celebrating positive examples and outstanding initiatives every 16 May.