The conference, titled ‘Where next for religion in the public sphere?’, investigated the role of religion in society, as well as hearing the views of community faith activists about the many projects in existence Britain today.

Samuel Klein, Executive Co-Director of The Coexistence Trust, and Shahnaz Ahsan, Student Engagement Project Manager, attended the conference which was organised by the Faiths and Civil Society Unit of Goldsmith’s University.

The day was divided into seminar sessions, with several speakers each delivering a short presentation, before opening up the discussion with questions from the floor.

Topics covered included community cohesion and social capital; social enterprise; faith and active citizenship; as well as preventing violent extremism.

Academics who spoke at the event included Adam Dinham, Director of the Faiths & Civil Society Unit chaired the event, and Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Lancaster University.

Reflecting afterwards, Ahsan said: “Given that the work of The Coexistence Trust is largely focused on active citizenship and social action, the insights from the speakers were deeply helpful in contextualising our new projects in a wider frame of inter-communal relations in society.

“Our Campus Ambassadors Programme, which opens for applications in September 2010, includes aspects of community, social action and citizenship for our student participants. The Ambassadors, selected from several universities across Britain will initiate and sustain social action projects on their campuses and in their local communities.

“In a time where active citizenship and community cohesion are areas of key interest, particularly with the coalition government’s emphasis on the Big Society, the aims and delivery of The Coexistence Trust have never had more resonance.”