Peace Lab for Religious Leaders & Thinkers (PLRT)
Online Workshops
(May 2024)
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A one-month workshop equivalent to at least 20 credit hours is designed to enhance participants’ knowledge and skills. The initial focus is on knowledge-building through interactive lectures and discussions, aiming to familiarise participants with the Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) framework and related issues such as radicalisation and hate speech. Group exercises will encourage participants to apply their knowledge and foster closer interactions with their peers.
The second focus is on skills-building, equipping participants with advocacy tools and skills to champion FoRB and counteract intolerance. Key advocacy tools include social media content creation and video campaigns, with TikTok as the primary platform for advocacy and storytelling. Essential advocacy skills encompass project management, monitoring and evaluation, and legal and security awareness, which are crucial for managing projects effectively and enhancing marketable capabilities beyond PLRT.
Project Implementation & Documentation
(June 2024)
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After the workshop, participants are required to design and implement their project ideas within one month, utilising the knowledge, tools, and skills acquired to promote religious freedom and tolerance within Malaysian society.
Participants must produce a minimum of three impactful TikTok videos that showcase positive narratives about diversity and inclusivity or counter-narratives against intolerance. To support implementation costs, approximately 20 seed grants of RM 500.00 each will be awarded to each participant for their projects. Technical support and mentorship will be provided by participating organisations and trainers. Participants will then report and showcase the success of their projects at the summit.
In-Person Summit
(27 & 28 July 2024)
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To close PLRT, INITIATE.MY will organise a two-day summit in Kuala Lumpur to connect the participants and the public audience from the religious and community leaders, media, and NGOs. On the first day, the participants will present their project outcomes and challenges, exchange ideas and solutions, and adopt best practices for the protection of FoRB and tolerance in Malaysia.
The participants shall come up with recommendations in addressing and solving issues relating to FoRB by which these recommendations will be used to facilitate discussions between themselves and the project team. In addition to this, the participants will be given a post-summit briefing whereby should they choose to continue their advocacy work beyond the programme, they are free to ask for guidance during this last session of the day.
On the second day, for the first half, the participants will be showcasing their projects to the public audience allowing them to network with individuals from various expertise and backgrounds and also, for the public audience to understand the views and approaches taken by the participants throughout the programme in promoting peace and tolerance.
For the second half, a public forum on “Youth as Peace Agents or Otherwise?” will be conducted with a line-up of prominent speakers. This is a rare opportunity for the youth participants and public to connect with the speakers to understand their perspectives of different takes on youths’ involvement and engagement in promoting peace and tolerance in the country. At the closing of the summit, certificates will be given to the participants to recognise their participation and graduation from PLRT.