Future 500 European Leadership Workshop 2025
Plurality in Europe – Venice as a Case Study for Interreligious and Worldview Relations
October 7-11, 2025
Venice, Italy
DialoguePerspectives e.V. in partnership with the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani
Europe’s capacity to navigate religious and cultural pluralism will fundamentally determine its future stability and cohesion. The European Leadership Workshop 2025 employed Venice’s historical experience with religious and cultural diversity as a methodological framework for examining contemporary interreligious and worldview relations, demonstrating that historical precedents offer indispensable guidance for addressing present challenges. The programme convened 20 current and future European leaders representing diverse professional, geographic, and disciplinary backgrounds to engage in rigorous collaborative analysis of historical models and their contemporary applications. The workshop addressed all dimensions of Future 500 mission: examining the role of religion in pluralistic societies, challenging different memory cultures, and developing strategies to combat antisemitism and racism. The outcomes substantiate that bringing together pluralistic cohorts of dedicated individuals from diverse backgrounds to address contemporary challenges through collaborative learning and policy development yields substantial results. This approach represents a replicable and scalable model for European collaboration that warrants strengthening and expansion.
# Examining Plurality, Memory, and Faith in Venice
The Venice workshop began with a keynote by Prof. Dr. Rafael Arnold (University of Rostock), who demonstrated how the Ghetto served as a miniature representation of Jewish existence – a space defined by varied origins, languages, and religious practices. Tours of the Scola Italiana and Scola Spagnola synagogues revealed how Venice’s Jewish population preserved their unique identities while participating actively in the city’s public sphere. In his presentation Planetary Ghetto: Past, Present, Future Misunderstandings, Prof. Dr. Shaul Bassi (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; Beit Venezia) examined how modern antisemitic discourse relies on falsified historical depictions of Jewish communities. He characterised the Ghetto as a dynamic centre of intellectual activity and endurance, drawing connections between 16th-century Venice and current struggles with antisemitism and climate-induced displacement. Dr. Francesco Piraino (Cini Foundation) analysed how Murid Senegalese-Italian artists Maïmouna Guerresi and Moulay Niang combine creative expression with spiritual inquiry to confront racism and sexism. By referencing Venice’s multi-faith heritage—including Jewish, Armenian, and Christian populations living side by side – he illustrated art’s capacity to bridge theological and cultural differences. Berlin-based writer Deniz Utlu shared readings from his work, discussing with Petra Schäfer (Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani) how individual and communal memories of migration and identity intersect to enrich dialogue in pluralistic societies. Matteo Gabrielli led a tour highlighting Venice’s historical approaches to diversity management: self-governing yet connected communities, guild-based economic partnership, equitable legal structures, and religious pluralism mechanisms that preserved social cohesion.
In a world café format, participants presented their own projects, deepening the contextualisation of the workshop’s themes through practical examples and fostering cross-sectoral dialogue. Throughout the programme, discussions were infused with awareness of pressing contemporary challenges: the omnipresent climate crisis and its implications for displacement and social cohesion, as well as the peace agreement being prepared in the Middle East, which provided a timely backdrop for reflections on dialogue and conflict resolution.
Four core principles crystallised throughout these sessions:
- Institutions should facilitate diversity while nurturing civic identity.
- Cultural dialogue flourishes even within hierarchical structures; democratising these structures can catalyse social transformation.
- Economic mutual dependence encourages collaborative relationships.
- Separate identities can exist harmoniously within common civic frameworks.
The 20 attendees – drawn from government, academia, civil society, the arts, and religious institutions – applied these lessons to develop a collaborative policy document, Strengthening European Unity Through Faith and Worldview Engagement. This paper converts historical learning into concrete proposals spanning four areas: navigating memory cultures, confronting antisemitism and racism, partnering with faith communities to strengthen social cohesion, and harmonising religious diversity with collective civic principles. The results will be published as a DialoguePerspectives e.V. report by late 2025, providing practical direction for policymakers, civil society organisations, and religious communities throughout Europe. By combining historical analysis, artistic exploration, and joint policy development, participants created implementation-ready approaches for contemporary challenges.
The workshop affirmed that historical insight remains vital to contemporary pluralism: Venice’s centuries-long experience reveals both the promise and complexity of living with difference. The emerging network of leaders will continue advancing these insights across Europe, amplifying Future 500’s mission to strengthen unity through diversity.
