Copy

ANNOUNCING LAUNCH OF OPEN BIDDING TO HOST

 

THE NEXT

 

PARLIAMENT



Dear <<First Name>> <<Last Name>>,

It is exciting! The global Interfaith Movement has tripled during the last ten years. And now its time for it to come together again to learn, share, coordinate and strategize for a better future for humanity.

We are pleased to announce the opening of the bid process for a city to host the 2017 Parliament of the World’s Religions. 

A Parliament event showcases ways in which religions shape positive action to address the challenges of our times, and seeks to develop new tools for implementing those actions in the years to come. 

What is a Parliament?
A Parliament event is a summit of about 10,000 interfaith activists and networks from more than 80 countries, religions and spiritual traditions. They come together for five to seven days to do the following:

  • Share their beliefs and practices, learn from others
  • Two or more religions present together the experience of working with each other for a just, peaceful,and sustainable world
  • Collaborate on generating strategies to confront critical issues faced by humanity , such as climate change, hunger, poverty and violence

All of this takes place through more than 500 presentations, workshops, seminars, films, music, religious observances and performances. Several thousand people from around the world submit proposals, which are assessed by several panels of experts.

Major religious leaders like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureates like Desmond Tutu, and political leaders like President Mandela have addressed the Parliaments as well.

In preparation for a Parliament, many other cities host pre-Parliament events around the world focusing on the Parliament's themes and bringing together a rich diversity of religious and spiritual people.

Benefits to the Host Cities
Host cities experience multiple benefits from the Parliament.

  • Hosting a Parliament event builds a proactive, multi-faith community that carries a long-lasting impact for the host city and its future as it works together to prepare and organize for the event. A Parliament builds social cohesion in its host city.
  • Governments welcome the Parliament because of the tourism revenue that such an event brings to local businesses and beyond. Hosting a Parliament event generates, on average, $15-25 million in tourism dollars. 
  • The host city's name and image becomes an icon in the international interfaith community.

These are the reasons 14 different cities and countries competed in bidding for the last Parliament.

To asses the impact of the Parliament, please read some of the comments of its past attendees.

How to Qualify for Hosting a Parliament
To qualify, a host city must have the following: 

  1. An active and diverse multi-faith community, and the ability to recruit and manage a sizable corps of volunteers
  2. An international airport, a conference venue that can comfortably hold 7-10,000 people, and sufficient and suitable hotel accommodations; 
  3. Involvement of the city, its tourism bureau, and civic community at-large capable of putting together the resources to support the event. 

The History of the Past Parliaments
The first Parliament of the World’s Religions occurred in Chicago in 1893 and gave birth to the interfaith movement. 

The tradition was revived with the Chicago, Parliament in 1993.

The 1999 Parliament was held in Cape Town, South Africa.

The 2004 Parliament was held in Barcelona, Spain. 

The 2009 Parliament was held in Melbourne, Australia.

The 2014 Parliament was granted to Brussels, Unfortunately, Belgium had to withdraw due to the economic situation in Europe. 

Read more about our Parliament history here. 

Experience the Modern Parliament in Five Minutes


The Bidding Process for the 2017 Parliament

If you are interested in hosting a Parliament please submit this form. 

If you know an interfaith organization, tourism office, or a governmental body that may be interested in the Parliament, do forward this email to them.

The bid process includes the following:

  • Submitting the information request form
  • Those who submit the form will receive the following:
    • Invitation to a webinar on July 10th to explain the Parliament event further, and to learn what an interested party must to do submit a letter of intent to host the next Parliament 
    • A package outlining the process in detail with deadlines etc.
  • Bidding cities will have the option to send a delegation for an in-person presentation to the Site Selection Task Force of the Parliament in September 2014. 
  • The Site Selection Task Force will then visit the top candidate cities. 
  • The Parliament hopes to select the next host city in the beginning of 2015. 

For more information, please contact Stephen@parliamentofreligions.org or by calling (312)-629-2990.
 
Copyright © 2014 Parliament of the World's Religions, All rights reserved.