Although there is growing interest in the role of religion in meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Agenda 2030, very few studies have focused on the contributions of interfaith networks. Most of the contemporary publications on religion and development focus on single religions or faith-based organizations. This volume addresses the lacuna in the available scholarship by undertaking detailed analyses of how interfaith networks in diverse African contexts contribute to development. Chapters in this volume engage in theoretical debates on interfaith networks and development, while describing concrete, fresh case studies on how particular interfaith networks are contributing towards the meeting of the SDGs in specific contexts. Thus, the volume describes older and newer interfaith networks and analyses their achievements and challenges. Contributors focus on SDGs that include peacebuilding, gender, youth, the environment, as well as overviews of interfaith initiatives in different African contexts.

This Handbook explores the ways in which religion among the African people has been applied in situations of conflict and violence to contribute to sustainable peace and development. It analyzes how peacebuilding inspired and enabled by religion serves as the foundation for sustainable development in Africa, while also acknowledging that religion can also be a tool of destruction, and can be used to fuel violence and underdevelopment. Contributors to this volume offer theoretical discussions from existing literature, as well as experiences of practitioners, to deepen the readers’ understanding on the role of religion and religious institutions in peacebuilding and development in Africa. The Handbook provides reflections on possible future developments as well, thereby aligning with the goals of SDG 16.

This book features reflections by scholars and practitioners from diverse religious traditions. It posits that the global challenges facing humanity today can only be mastered if humans from diverse faith traditions can meaningfully collaborate in support of human rights, reconciliation, sustainability, justice, and peace. Seeking to redress common distortions of religious mis- and dis-information, the book aims to construct interreligious common ground ‘beyond the divide’. Organised into three main sections, the book features sixteen conceptual, empirical, and practice-informed chapters that explore spirituality across faiths and cultures. Chapter 1 delineates the state of the art in relation to interfaith engagement, Chapters 2–8 advance theoretical research, Chapters 9–12 discuss empirical perspectives, and Chapters 13–16 showcase field projects and recount stories and lived experiences. Comprising works by scholars, professionals, and practitioners from around the globe, Interfaith Engagement Beyond the Divide: Approaches, Experiences, and Practices is an interdisciplinary publication on interreligious thought and engagement: Assembles a curated collection of chapters from numerous countries and diverse religious traditions; Addresses interfaith scholarship and praxis from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives; Comprises interfaith dialogue and collaborative research involving authors of different faiths; Envisions prospects for peace, interreligious harmony in diversity, and a world that may be equitably and enduringly shared. The appraisal of present and future challenges and opportunities, framed within a context of public policy and praxis, makes this interdisciplinary publication a useful tool for teaching, research, and policy development. Chapter 16 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Publisher's description: The faith and development nexus is both a promising new focus for secular development agencies and a historic reality: for centuries, world faiths and individuals inspired by their faith have played many roles in social change and social welfare. Secular development agencies have largely operated in parallel to the world of faith-motivated development. The World Bank began in the late 1990s to explore ways in which faith and development are connected. The issue was not and is not about religion, but about the recognition that some of &… Show Morethe best experts on development are faith leaders living and working in poor communities, where strong ties and moral authority give them unique experience and insight. The World Bank's goal is to act as a catalyst and convenor, bringing together development practitioners to find common ground, understand one another's efforts, and explore differences. Development and Faith explores and highlights promising partnerships in the world between secular and faith development entities. It recounts the evolving history of relationships between faith and secular development institutions. It focuses on the Millennium Development Goals as a common framework for action and an opportunity for new forms of collaboration and partnership.

The need to reassess the discourse of sustainable development in terms of equity and justice has grown rapidly in the last decade. This book explores renewed and distinctive approaches to the sustainability and justice debate, integrating a range of perspectives that include moral philosophy, sociology and law. By bringing together young and senior scholars from the field of global environmental law and governance from around the world, this work is divided into three sections, covering sustainable development and justice, sustainable development in context, and sustainable development and judiciaries. This book will appeal to academics, law practitioners and policy-makers interested in shaping future socio-legal research on global environmental law and governance.

This book explores the interplay and dialogue between faith communities and the humanitarian-development community. Faith and religion are key influencers of thought and practice in many communities around the world and development practitioners would not be able to change behaviours for improved health and social relations without the understanding and influence of those with authority in communities, such as religious leaders. Equally, religious leaders feel responsibilities to their communities, but do not necessarily have the technical knowledge and resources at hand to provide the information or services needed to promote the well-being of all in their scope of influence. The book demonstrates that partnerships between humanitarian-development practitioners and religious communities can be mutually beneficial exchanges, but that there are also frequently pitfalls along the way and opportunities for lessons to be learned by each party. Delving into how humanitarians and faith communities engage with one another, the book focuses on building knowledge about how they interact as peers with different yet complementary roles in community development. The authors draw on the Channels of Hope methodology, a tool which seeks to engage faith leaders in addressing social norms and enact social change, as well as other related research in the sector to demonstrate the many ways in which humanitarian and development policy makers and practitioners could achieve more systematic engagement with faith groups. This book is an important contribution to the growing body of literature on faith and development, and will be useful both to researchers, and to practitioners working with faith communities.

Although its beginnings can be traced back to the late 19th century, the interfaith movement has only recently begun to attract mainstream attention, with governments, religious leaders and grassroots activists around the world increasingly turning to interfaith dialogue and collective action to address the challenges posed and explore the opportunities presented by religious diversity in a globalising world. This volume explores the history and development of the interfaith movement by engaging with new theoretical perspectives and a diverse range of case studies from around the world. The first book to bring together experts in the fields of religion, politics and social movement theory to offer an in-depth social analysis of the interfaith movement, it not only sheds new light on the movement itself, but challenges the longstanding academic division of labour that confines ‘religious’ and ‘social’ movements to separate spheres of inquiry.