1 DECEMBER, 2021 — A group of visitors from Europe, Africa, and Asia is in Atlanta, Georgia, this week as part of a program organized by the Global Exchange on Religion in Society (GERIS), an EU-funded project.

GERIS is a unique initiative that contributes to social inclusion and societal resilience by establishing a global network to share participants’ experiences of coexistence among people of different faiths and of no faith. The visiting group includes journalists and representatives from both secular civil society organizations and faith groups.

The visit to Atlanta is the second of six exchange trips GERIS is organizing. The theme of the current visit to the U.S. is “Being a Minority: Challenges of being a minority, tolerance, and respect for diversity as a solution.”

During their seven-day stay, 14 GERIS network members will meet a variety of stakeholders in Atlanta, including officials in the office of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, human and civil rights organizations, religious organizations and leaders in the Erasmus+ programme at Georgia Tech University.

On Wednesday, the group will also visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and meet with leadership at the Equal Justice Initiative.

GERIS participants come from a pool of 600 applicants from around the world, selected for their work and their commitment to addressing societal challenges. 175 people have been selected to participate in GERIS during its two-year program and the GERIS network includes people from 55 countries.

For more information on GERIS, please visit the program’s website.