Executive Summary
The post-9/11 environment has generated increasingly polarised communities with dangerous social tensions surrounding issues of minorities, integration and religion. Negative perceptions of Islam have fostered mutual fear and suspicion, increasing discrimination and radicalism, both right-wing and Islamist. These developments threaten both security and social cohesion, and challenge the tradition of human rights and civil liberties at the heart of Western societies.
In seeking to generate a more cohesive society, this project is developing a significant civil society movement that will represent the growing generation of successful Muslim professionals in Europe. Through engaging a constituency that has hitherto been largely absent from the public debate, the group will challenge misguided public opinion by recognising the valuable contribution that Muslims are making to Western society. The Network, which has been named "CEDAR - Connecting European Dynamic Achievers and Role Models", will bolster the careers and influence of its members. It will give visibility to an important constituency of Muslims in the West that are not necessarily engaged in 'community affairs' by facilitating their engagement as role models and mentors in less privileged communities. The CEDAR Network will expand pathways to career opportunities and development for the next generation. It will also develop systems to mainstream members' participation in public discourse and expand interaction and membership in wider professional, political and social networks, beyond the narrow focus on Muslim issues.
Responding to the challenges of societal polarisation and discrimination, the Salzburg Global Seminar and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) have been working to seed a prominent network of successful Muslim professionals from across Europe that will:
- Support professional development among members of the network and wider Muslim communities;
- Raise aspirations and increase access to career opportunities for marginalised young Muslims via mentoring schemes and targeted training;
- Increase the visibility of successful Muslim professionals within the wider European mainstream and as prominent role models within local communities, forging better connections across and between diverse communities.
- Turn ideas into action by becoming a platform for the development of significant social enterprises and business ventures that will empower European Muslims through innovations in information technology, business/finance, media, culture and politics/policy.
The initiative has been steered by an Advisory Committee made up of select prominent leading Muslim and non-Muslim figures from across Europe. Members of the Advisory Committee took active leadership roles at the foundational conference and workshop held in November 2008 in Salzburg, Austria. At this conference an interim Governing Board and Chairman were established for the Network. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Salzburg Global Seminar will form an interim secretariat for the initial 18-24 months of the project with the aim of establishing the Network as its own self-managed and sustainable organisation thereafter. They will also assist the network in implementing a plan of activities defined jointly by the group in Salzburg, and in launching the special initiatives designed by sector-specific working groups.
The primary aims of the Muslim Professionals Network are:
- To bolster the careers and influence of Muslim professionals within and beyond their respective sectors. The development of an active cross-border and cross-sector 'club' of leading and upcoming professionals will provide peer support, exchanges of experience and capacity building in select strategic domains as determined by members. Professional support will also be facilitated via country or sector sub-networks, including developing linkages with third party professional networks and business forums.
- To reduce negative perceptions of Muslims in mainstream society by increasing the visibility of the professional class (both men and women) in the media and as active contributors to a wide range of public policy debates. A database will be established to provide the media with access to expert Muslim spokespeople from across the professions. Media training will provide the network leadership with the skills to disseminate their positive message to wider publics and strategic interventions will be facilitated in third party fora to highlight diverse and positive Muslim voices among business, government, think-tank and academic audiences. The network will represent an alternative Muslim voice to the largely clerical and often conservative, older, male, self-appointed community leaders most audible in current public policy debates.
- To empower marginalised European Muslim communities by assisting disadvantaged youth in their development through mentoring and by providing a platform to connect Muslim communities with mainstream networks and channels of influence. The network will provide a simple method to connect successful professionals with young people in less privileged communities by facilitating a 'play it forward' mentoring scheme in schools, universities and local communities that will forge role models, build aspirations and assist in the first stages of professional development. A system of 'Network Partners', in the form of corporations or philanthropic institutions, will also be developed with the aim of offering the network resources, either in terms of financial support, or in-kind contributions in the form of facilities for meetings, experts for training, etc.
- To create an 'incubator' for important social enterprises to be researched, developed and launched that will empower European Muslims, through innovations in technology, media, education, culture and policy. Network members will identify critical needs in strategic sectors and develop initiatives to address them, increasing opportunities for marginalized communities and strengthening social cohesion.
|
