Regional Learning Platform – Asia REF Event

On February 13, Search Indonesia hosted an online Regional Learning Platform for the CREDIBLE Project under the Asia Religious & Ethnic Freedom (Asia REF) award. The event was facilitated by Thomas K. Samuel, with Scholastica Gerintya Saraswati and Idznursham Ismail co-facilitating.

The Regional Learning Platform aimed to provide a space for young digital peacebuilders to learn, network, share ongoing campaigns, and discuss the challenges they face in producing content that promotes religious rights and tolerance. Specifically, this was envisioned by:

• Sharing best practices and challenges on the role of young media influencers in the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB) campaign.
• Sharing experience and strategies to face challenges and opportunities for digital peacebuilding specific to their country’s context.
• Sharing space for youth influencers to come together to learn, network and share their ongoing work.
• Sharing challenges when producing content that promotes religious rights and tolerance.
• Sharing a network & community of FORB influencers.

Summary

 

The Regional Learning Platform was attended by a total of 29 participants, including digital peacebuilders from Indonesia and a digital peacebuilder from Pakistan. Representatives from Indika Foundation and Campaign, local partners of the CREDIBLE project, were also present at the event.

The event comprised two main parts:

1. Plenary Session: This session featured sharing experiences focusing on how to successfully blend non-FoRB and FoRB issues, risk mitigation strategies, and innovations from two content creators from Indonesia and one from Pakistan. This session was closed with a question and answer session. The three presentations are available for viewing on this page.
2. Breakout Sessions: Participants engaged in discussions on:

a) Successful blending of Non-FoRB and FoRB issues.
b) Risk mitigation.
c) Innovation, including the use of technology.

Plenary Session

During the plenary session, Arisdo Gonzalez from Indonesia highlighted the limited opportunities for LGBTIQA+ individuals to discuss religion and belief openly and emphasized the importance of sharing inspiring personal stories to overcome religious biases and promote understanding, acceptance, and unity. He shared findings from his offline initiative, the posts for which can be found here and here.

Similarly, Zehra Shallwani from Pakistan focused on promoting interfaith dialogue, peace, and education. They used various platforms, including social media and panel discussions, to showcase Pakistan’s diverse interfaith and intrafaith communities, challenging orthodox mindsets and addressing the challenges of promoting tolerance in the face of hoax and fake news.

Kirana Norma Chandra (Kiku), also from Indonesia, blended her passion for anime and Japanese culture to promote tolerance and FORB. Kirana emphasized the importance of legal knowledge, community support, thick skin, and humor to navigate challenges like hate comments and threats encountered in promoting tolerance and FORB. She made a post about her offline initiative here.

Breakout Sessions

The activity yielded significant insights across the various breakout sessions. In the discussion on successfully blending non-FORB and FORB issues, strategies were explored to assess audience readiness and techniques like video teasers and online questionnaires were suggested to measure the responsiveness. Emphasis was placed on gradual introduction and tools for evaluating audience response were considered. Additionally, sharing best practices by successful content creators in blending these issues was encouraged.

Concerns about risk mitigation when presenting FORB issues were raised in another session, including broader exposure of digital content beyond the creator’s audience and potential backlash targeting creators and associates. The importance of mental and emotional support, as well as counseling, in facing criticism was emphasized, alongside addressing misconceptions about freedom of religion and expression in the Asian context.

Moreover, the session on creativity and innovation highlighted storytelling as a powerful tool, the significance of platform selection, and the benefits of collaborating with influential figures. Leveraging AI tools and virtual evaluation methods for content improvement were also discussed. These sessions collectively provided valuable insights into the complexities of addressing FORB issues, stressing the need for strategic planning, risk management, and creative approaches.

 

This event was made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the sole responsibility of Search for Common Ground and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.