About Us

Our global community faces challenging times and now dialogue, mutual respect, understanding, co-operation, and creative engagement have become new priorities between faith communities to create and foster a culture of peace.

Within our city and wider neighbourhood we have the opportunity to reflect, enter into dialogue and look to what we can do or contribute as individuals or as communities to promote harmony, co-operation and respect within the city we live and beyond. This would then be a commitment to living spiritual values, positive citizenship and peace through ACTION!

The Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association was officially formed in 1989 to promote and facilitate positive engagement between the faith communities of our religiously and culturally diverse city. The EIFA is now considered one of the most experienced and developed Inter-Faith bodies in the U.K.

Some of the Association’s notable early achievements include being honoured annually by The Lord Provost, our Patron, and the City Council through an Annual Civic Reception. Past events include the world’s first Inter-Faith Burns Supper, an Inter-Faith memorial service for a young murdered Muslim, a centenary celebration of the 1893 Chicago Parliament of the World’s Religions, a significant bid to host the 2005 Parliament of the World’s Religions, the production of an Inter-Faith greetings cards based on designs by Edinburgh school children, an exhibition for the University of Edinburgh’s Millennium celebration. We are also especially proud to have been involved in the establishment of a Scottish Inter-Faith Council.

We have over many years organised and promoted numerous public talks, dialogues, panel events, film screenings, exhibitions, highly successful and well attended city based Inter-Faith ‘pilgrimages’, conferences on subjects such as Islamaphobia, Science and Religion, Religion and Education, Re-visioning Inter-Faith and Positive Education. Furthermore, we co-ordinate and promote a significant programme of activities in Edinburgh during Inter Faith Week.

Recently the Association has played a lead or supporting co-ordinating role in the visits to Scotland by religious and spiritual leaders such as the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh, Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji, Chief Rabbi David Rosen, Sr Joan Chittister, Archbishop Abuna Elias Chacour, and other distinguished persons such as Prof Rajmohan Gandhi, Prof Tariq Ramadan, Karen Armstrong, Nobel Prize winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire and many others. These visits included not only public talks but also on many occassions education programmes for children and youth. We also support the Annual Edinburgh International Festival of Middle East Spiritualities and Peace and are a key promoting and organising partner the Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace during the Edinburgh Festivals month of August.

EIFA have recently entered the field of Diversity Consultancy and Training by forming our own training organisation through a licensing agreement with Diversiton UK and working in partnership with TW Associates.

We also provide a consultation function to other public bodies such as local authorities, schools, hospitals, the media and community organisations. The future will see EIFA building on its successes through continuing to engage widely and by developing new and strengthening our current partnerships.

We now invite and encourage you as an individual, group, a community or an organisation to consider and reflect upon our aims and to then further consider becoming a ‘FRIEND’ or a participant in whatever way suits you, your group or community. The first step after acknowledging and supporting the aims of this Association may be to attend one of our events or meetings before considering a deeper participation. It may be that you wish at first to meet and discuss the aims, your participation or another matter with one of our executive. You may be moved to support, participate and get involved now! EIFA can be contacted at info@eifa.org.uk Alternatively you can write to us.