BIC BRUSSELS — When policymakers and civil-society actors from across Europe gathered at a workshop this month to reflect on the European Union’s Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020–2025, one theme rang clear: lasting change depends not only on legislation, but on a deeper shift in how societies understand human identity.
The workshop, titled “Youth as Catalysts for Anti-Racism Strategies”, was co-organized by the European Commission’s Anti-Racism Unit and the Brussels Office of the Bahá’í International Community (BIC). It formed part of the bi-annual consultations of national delegates responsible for developing and implementing the EU Member States’ national Anti-Racism Action Plans.
The session invited participants, including the EU Youth and Child-Rights Coordinators, national delegates, and civil-society organizations to examine how young people can be recognized not merely as a group affected by racism but as active contributors to its eradication.
In a conversation with the News Service, Alessandro Benedetti, a representative of the BIC Brussels Office, explained that “youth possess an acute sense of justice and an instinctive ability to build bridges between groups and people.”
“When their capacity for service is nurtured,” continued Mr. Benedetti, “young people can help shift conversations about racism beyond reactive responses towards building genuine unity.”
The discussions drew on community experiences shared by youth from the Canary Islands and the Netherlands that illustrated how Bahá’í-inspired initiatives are helping young people to foster more cohesive neighborhoods.
From the Canary Islands, youth described the Khale Project—named after the Wolof word for “youth”—where peers created spaces for young people, who have immigrated, to learn Spanish and, in the process, form bonds of friendship that transcend cultural lines.
The effort, one of many under a broader initiative called “Youth Community Leaders”, has enabled hundreds of young people to see themselves as protagonists in their neighborhoods rather than bystanders to social problems.
A second example came from the Netherlands, where the Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs has collaborated with the government’s national Anti-Racism Coordinator on a research project titled “Inclusive Dutchness: Waves of One Sea.”
Through a series of roundtable discussions, participants explored what it means to belong in an increasingly diverse society. Special sessions with young people highlighted how they are cultivating inclusive language and attitudes among their peers.
For many attendees, these examples shed light on what Mr. Benedetti called “the untapped mosaic of grassroots potential” across Europe.
He noted that policies alone cannot remove prejudice or change the hearts of people: “Until we recognize our shared human identity, we will only be addressing racism as a symptom without affecting its root causes.”
“When youth begin to act from the conviction that humanity is one family, they help to heal divisions at their roots.”
National delegates reflected that strategies addressing racial harmony could benefit from such insights. Several remarked that the conversation helped them see young people as co-creators of policy rather than its subjects.
Attendees agreed that realizing equality requires more than inclusion—it calls for nurturing agency.
Reflecting on the gathering, Mr. Benedetti stated that “every society has within it the resources to overcome prejudice. Our task is to create the conditions in which these moral capacities—especially among the young—can be released for the benefit of all.”
