Netherlands-Indonesia Consortium
for Muslim-Christian Relations.

Who we are

The Netherlands-Indonesia Consortium for Muslim-Christian Relations is a non-governmental network of universities and civil society organizations in the Netherlands and Indonesia, consisting of Muslim and Christian scholars, religious leaders and practitioners.

Vision

The Participants of the Consortium share the view that cross-national, cross-religious and cross-sectoral exchanges are needed to address the challenges faced by communities in the Netherlands and in Indonesia.

Society in both the Netherlands and Indonesia has been significantly shaped by Christianity and Islam, albeit in different ways. Therefore, understanding these religions, in all their positive and negative aspects and acknowledging their transformative impact on nature and mankind, is prerequisite for the development of a just, peaceful and sustainable future. 

The shared history of Indonesia and the Netherlands offers a basis for a shared future, but not without taking into account both sides’ perspectives on that same history. 

The Participants of the Consortium believe in a space for building relations and trust, ongoing dialogue and joint research on issues of common concern. 

Mission

The Consortium intends to contribute to the enhancement of mutual understanding and common action among communities in Indonesia and the Netherlands by using and expanding resources that Participants share in terms of knowledge, experience, relations and funding.

The Participants of the Consortium aim to generate practice-oriented knowledge using dialogical methods.

Structure

1. The Steering Committee

The Consortium is governed by a Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is responsible for policy-making within the Consortium.

The Steering Committee is accountable to the Participants.

2. The Participants

The Consortium has Institutional and Individual Participants, who sign the Declaration of Commitment and contribute financially through the Annual Participants’ Fee.

Institutional Participants may nominate candidates for the Steering Committee.

3. The workgroups

The Workgroups support the Steering Committee with the preparation and implementation of its policy on important thematic issues..

The coordinators of the Workgroups are appointed by and accountable to the Steering Committee.

Procedure

1. The Steering Committee

At least once a year, the Consortium, i.e. Steering Committee, organizes an Interfaith Event and the Annual Participants’ Meeting.

Each Consortium event is prepared preferably by two or more Participants, who are responsible in terms of the content, planning and financing of the project

The Consortium is open to participation in initiatives by other parties, including Governmental Agencies, as long as they are in line with its Vision and Mission and do not compromise its independence.

2. The Participants

At the Participants’ meeting, the Steering Committee is accountable to the Participants, who provide feedback on operational matters of the Consortium.

3. The workgroups

At the end of every year, the workgroups submit a report about their activities during the past year and submit their plans and budget proposal for the following year.

If approved by the Steering Committee, the Steering Committee allocates a budget for the workgroups activities.

The Consortium coordinators and the workgroups coordinators monitor whether the workgroup activities and expenses are in line with the proposals that were approved.

4. The Foundation

The Consortium is legally represented by the Foundation for Interreligious Dialogue. The Foundation does not interfere in the operational matters of the Consortium.

Prof. dr. Frans Wijsen

Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Empirical Religious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Adjunct Professor, Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Chairperson of the Stichting Interreligieuze Dialoog

Prof. dr. Sahiron Syamsuddin

Vice Rector II of the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Chairperson of the Indonesian Association of Qur’anic Studies (AIAT)

Prof. dr. Robert Setio

Dean Faculty of Theology, Duta Wacana Christian University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Secretary of the Stichting Interreligieuze Dialoog

Drs. Corrie van der Ven

Program Officer for Kerk in Actie of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands

Zainal Abidin Bagir, Ph.D

Director of Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS)

Faculty member of Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Treasurer of the Stichting Interreligieuze Dialoog

June Beckx

Coordinator for Indonesia

Dr. Maria Inggrid Nabubhoga

Coordinator for the Netherlands