On December 10, UniBIT hosted the Twelfth Scientific Conference with International Participation "Harmony in Differences", organized in partnership with the Bulgarian Forum for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation. It traditionally marks December 10 – International Human Rights Day.
This year's forum brought together 70 scholars and experts from Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Albania, Serbia, Russia and Canada, who discussed civil rights and freedoms in a broad social, cultural, historical and spatial context, and discussed the possibilities for communication, understanding and cooperation between religious and ethnic communities.
The scientific reports published by the Academic Publishing House “About Letters – О писменехь“ in a refereed electronic edition, problematize the support or suppression of human and civil rights, their promotion or obstruction, their embodiment in masterpieces of human genius or their association with rivalry, hatred and enmity, their possibilities to create friendships and trust, their potential to build transcultural, multireligious, interethnic and cross-social dialogues, but also the examples of their tabooing, prohibition and restriction, leading to ghettoization or quarantine. Two temporary exhibitions were opened during the forum: “Traces of Faith“ from author's photographs by doctoral student Blagovest Petrov, dealing with the preservation of temples and monasteries in the Kyustendil Region, and “The Exarch the Savior“, dedicated to the pastoral, inter-confessional and international activities of Exarch Stefan I.
Guests of the scientific forum were the ambassadors at large for cultural, historical and religious issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Dimitar Mihaylov, Dr. Angel Orbetsov and Mr. Dimitar Filipov, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Bulgaria Ms. Zakia el Midaoui, Mr. Viktor Georev from the Directorate “Religions“ at the Council of Ministers, and Dr. Marcel Israel from “Religions for Peace – Europe”, who extended their greetings to the participants. Written addresses were sent by Prof. Dr. Irena Peteva – Rector of UniBIT, and Dr. Ventseslav Sabev on behalf of the Geneva Spiritual Appeal and the African Peace Conference in Geneva. These addresses, as well as the statements of Prof. Dr. Stoyan Denchev – Secretary General and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Vanya Dobreva – Head of the Department of “Culture, Historical Heritage and Tourism“, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Diana Stoyanova – Director of the Academic Publishing House, emphasized the importance of peace as a condition for sustainable development and creation, and emphasized scientific and non-governmental organizations as intermediaries for achieving social dialogue, solidarity and inclusion. In her plenary report, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Naurat – guest lecturer at UniBIT under the “Erasmus+“ Program and Trustee of “Religions for Peace – Europe”, emphasized the possibilities of secondary and higher education for achieving religious peace.