The Muslim contribution to contemporary European culture and society stretches back over 1,300 years with more than 120 million Muslims now living in Europe. As populations continue to change, some citizens are becoming increasingly sceptical, with a growing minority becoming more concerned and even hostile to the changing nature of societies.

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• Belgium
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

What is Our Shared Europe?
The aim of OSE is to create more understanding and awareness of the many contributions that Muslims have made in history and continue to make in present-day Europe.  By doing so, OSE seeks to strengthen the bonds of mutual knowledge and trust between Muslims and other majority and minority communities in Europe.

How will this be achieved?
To realise these aims an initial concept paper was developed in consultation with a group of experts in 2007. Consultations were held across Europe to develop ideas that could be incorporated within the programme. Following a Partners Workshop in 2008, five programme strands were identified to be developed in a one-year pilot phase until July 2010:

• Ideas & Debates: a series of panel debates involving leading thinkers and experts
• Dissemination & Engagement: a digital exhibition on the Muslim contribution to Europe and close collaboration with the media
• Imagination & Creativity: a portfolio of arts activities, initially focussing on literature and work with authors, publishers and critics
• Education & Knowledge: the development of classroom material, a review of national curricula and cooperation with educators
• Youth & Leadership: youth exchanges and intercultural skills training for next-generation influencers.

Award winning role in Building Bridges
In June 2009, OSE has been honoured with the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) Building Bridges Award for the way it seeks to find common ground and build shared values and perspectives between different ethnic and religious groups.

Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali, Chairman of AMSS, said: ‘We are pleased to present our 2009 Building Bridges Award to the British Council’s ‘Our Shared Europe’ project. Today's socio-political climate is marked by increased divisions along ethnic and religious lines. This is seen internally in Europe among communities and externally between Western societies and Muslim societies. This situation creates problems for citizenship in humanity. The British Council project is playing an admirable and significant role in building bridges at a time when such endeavours have become ever more difficult and challenging.’