The Vice-Rector for Institutional and International Relations of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, in its Spanish acronym), Prof. Dr. Andrés Arias Astray, and KAICIID Secretary General, Faisal Bin Muaammar, signed on 17 April 2015 a Memorandum of Understanding at KAICIID’s Vienna headquarters, to formalize cooperation and joint academic, scientific and cultural endeavors by the two organizations.

Both institutions cooperate in joint research projects, especially in the interdisciplinary fields of the Science of Religions, Peace Studies, and Intercultural and Interreligious Studies. Joint teaching and training activities in disciplines such as Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, as well as Ethics and Religious Culture, are in development.

During the signing ceremony, Dr. Arias Astray explained UCM’s motivation for this partnership: “KAICIID’s objectives, concretized in dialogue, understanding of otherness, and empathy to support a more peaceful society, are also of value to us.” He said that universities are also spaces of dialogue and, therefore, his institution and KAICIID share, among others, the same mission, aiming to contribute to the creation of a more just world. He added that through the MoU, the UCM’s University Institute of Science of Religions (ISR) will undertake research, direct dissertations and publish research results in the field of interreligious and intercultural dialogue.

The UCM attracts many Latin American students, and is also active in the region through its MoUs with prestigious local universities. “I would like to emphasize how KAICIID’s global outreach is strengthened by our collaboration, because we at KAICIID deeply appreciate the Complutense University of Madrid’s long history and its current engagement in the Spanish speaking world and beyond. I am personally committed to increase KAICIID’s projects and activities in Latin America and to do so, our collaboration will be invaluable,” said KAICIID Secretary General, Faisal Bin Muaammar.

ISR Director, Dr. Fernando Amerigo Cuervo-Arango, explained that KAICIID and UCM have been working together for over a year on KAICIID’S Online Course on Interreligious Dialogue, which will be offered as a pilot in late 2015. The ISR has prepared two of its modules: Understanding Public Policy on Religious Diversity: The Case of the Muslim Veil in Europe, and Interfaith Dialogue on the Internet: The Religious Phenomenon in Virtual Communities and Social Networks. He said that a formal relationship with KAICIID is beneficial for the UCM due to the possibilities it brings to interact with researchers and professors from other prestigious universities and leading experts in KAICIID’s areas of work. He trusts that this alliance will have a great influence in Spain, Latin America and Portugal.