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Most diverse Humanist Congress ever will train the next generation of leaders

  • post Type / Conferences
  • Date / 10 June 2011

The home of the world’s most successful Humanist group will be the site of the most geographically diverse Humanist conference ever. Two months before the start of the World Humanist Congress in Oslo, Norway, participants from almost 60 countries have already registered. That’s fast approaching twice the national participation of any congress in IHEU’s 60 year history. And there’s still  time to ensure your place in this extraordinary coming together of the Humanist world.

IHEU vice president, and former president of the Norwegian Humanists, Roar Johnsen said, “Every Humanist Congresses is a great inspiration. But with national participation likely to be more than twice the level of any previous meeting, this year’s congress will bring unprecedented benefits for participants. Conference goers will make many new connections and friendships to help them drive the development of their own organizations. The Congress itself, the many specialized events and the IHEU Leadership Training will give everyone a rich supply of ideas and inspiration to bring back home. That way, the waves from the Congress will be felt across the world for a long time to come.”

Leadership training

The conference will provide discussion and training on many issues concerning Humanists, in addition to the main congress theme of “Humanism and Peace”. On August 10 and 11, the two days before the Congress, IHEU will offer a leadership training programme for Humanist activists.

The leadership training program will help leaders and activists to share and learn better ways to run Humanist groups and campaigns.

Congress participants will also experience first-hand why the Norwegian Humanist Association is the most successful Humanist group in the world. Norway, a country with just under 5 million citizens, has more than 77,000 members of the Humanist association—up from fewer than 2,000 members in the 1970s.

Great Speakers

Congress participants will receive a special invitation to Oslo Town Hall, the site of the annual Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. The mayor of Oslo will be joined by Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, to welcome the world’s Humanists to Norway.

Other great speakers at the congress include:

  • Taslima Nasrin, outspoken Humanist writer who has been forced out of two countries because of threats to her life
  • Sophie in‘t Veld, MEP, Chair of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, and president of the Dutch Humanist Broadcasting Association
  • Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and author of the best selling Good without God
  • Johan Galtung, sociologist and founder of the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies
  • PZ Myers, professor of biology, renowned atheist blogger
  • Judith Hand, social anthropologist and expert in peace building
  • Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
  • Peter Eigen, Founder of Transparency International
  • and many more Humanist leaders and experts.

Book Now at our lowest ever rate

Although the early bird rate for registration has passed, you can still book now at our lowest ever rate (yes, even lower than the early bird rate) by joining IHEU as an individual supporter and then using the special congress rate for supporters. Go to the congress rates page for more details.

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