In settings across the UK, young people are discovering that their desire to serve others can become a powerful force for building vibrant and united communities.
January 22, 2026
BAHÁ’Í WORLD CENTRE — In the latest podcast episode of “In Conversation,” guests from the United Kingdom reflect on how young people, families, and institutions are learning to nurture vibrant community life, grounded in a growing sense of shared responsibility for the well-being of others.
In urban neighborhoods, youth participating in Bahá’í moral and spiritual educational programs are fostering spaces that enable them and their peers to overcome divisions, inviting younger generations to grow up without inherited lines of separation.
In rural southwest Scotland, a village of 500 people has seen a community theater group emerge that engages young people in productions exploring themes of collective wellbeing. Anisa Mazidian, a member of a Bahá’í agency at the national level, notes that a strength of this effort and related educational programs lies in how they reframe relationships within a community.
When young people, explains Mrs. Mazidian, grasp that “the welfare of the individual lies in the welfare of all,” they are, through their participation, able to see themselves in a new light.
Stephen Agahi-Murphy, also a member of a Bahá’í agency at the national level, adds that the various examples of initiatives shared in the episode can be seen as strands that “come together to weave a fabric of a new society.”
The patterns of community life taking shape in communities across the United Kingdom, notes Dr. Agahi-Murphy, are “ helping us to envision what kind of settings we can live in that really contribute to both spiritual and material prosperity, and also help us to remove obstacles that are blocking progress.”
Reflecting on these developments, Varqá Khadem, a member of the Board of Counsellors in Europe, notes that something deeper is taking shape beneath the visible activities. “There is a rising consciousness of the needs of a population,” he observes.
This awareness, Dr. Khadem notes, has enabled communities to address challenges ranging from educational needs to questions of health and wellbeing, increasingly in collaboration with local institutions and organizations.
