Forward Thinking Hold Pre-Regional Roundtable With Participants of the Political Literacy and Media Training Programme, 12th January 2017

On the 17th January 2017, Forward Thinking convened a roundtable as part of the UK Programme, for the participants of the political literacy and media training programme. The purpose of this meeting was for them to prepare and agree an agenda for their forthcoming roundtable with Shaun Bailey (Member of the Greater London Authority).It was agreed that the meeting must focus on finding solutions and not just identifying challenges. Participants also agreed that while the meeting might focus on issues confronting Muslim youth, these should be linked with the facing young people more generally. The challenge of having and expressing multiple identities was felt to be another key issue that should be explored.Two further points emerged for the agenda. One was the need to maintain and broaden access to supplementary schools to enable young people to explore both/all of their cultures in a positive manner. The second was the need to increase the engagement of young people, but without forcing them to “leave their faith identity at the door.”The conversation was productive, with participants looking forward to having a platform to engage a member of the legislature and talk through how to address shared challenges.