The increasing number of students with a migration background and the resulting religious pluralism are changing school life and culture in Austria and Italy. Especially in border regions in which an increasing social pluralization has been observed for years, the everyday life of children, adolescents and teachers in educational institutions is characterized not only by linguistic and cultural diversity (e.g., Gogolin & Duarte, 2017; Gross, 2019), but also by religious diversity. Public schools are therefore urged to develop a culture of interreligious and intercultural esteem in order to educate pupils to become citizens capable of dialogue in a multi-cultural and globalized context (e.g. Scheunpflug & Stadler-Altmann, 2009). Hence, schools should foster an inter-religious dialogue (Ghiloni, 2011) and have to reflect the consequences of these challenges for school culture (e.g. Franz & Stadler-Altmann, 2012).

This paper aims to introduce an interregional model of cooperation (Tyrol-Austria and South Tyrol-Italy) for religious pluralism in schools. While in Austria 13 out of 17 legally recognized churches and religious communities offer denominational religious instruction and there are a few tentative pilot projects for inter-religious instruction, this religious diversity is still not taken into account in this extent in Italian schools. Religious education has so far been one of the main tasks of the Catholic Church in Italy, while national legal provisions do not cover the religious needs of Muslim, Jewish or other-believing pupils and inter-religious education is hardly offered, just like in Austria. However, a consolidated religious identity is the prerequisite for the ability to engage in dialogue. In view of the development of free democratic basic values and the prevention of radicalization, this project is intended to promote cross-border cooperation between universities, research centers, school authorities, teachers and, in particular, religious communities in questions of the organization and content of modern religious education. The cohesion in the "Europaregion" South-Tyrol and Tyrol is put to the test by migration and integration-related challenges. However, the pluralistic society needs a strengthening of cross-border cooperation, especially in the field of education, both in Italy and in Austria, in order to jointly develop efficient, modern pedagogical concepts. Hence, this paper describes

a) a state of the art for (inter-)religious education in Austria and Italy,

b) how interregional forms of cooperation on dealing with religious diversity as one of the most important challenges of the present can be trendsetting for whole Europe, and

c) how educational research designs can create inter-religious dialogue between pupils, teachers and religious communities aimed at reducing forms of intolerance and social exclusion, xenophobia and insecurity, as well as at strengthening social cohesion on a sustainable basis.

The study will be conducted in South Tyrol-Italy and Tyrol-Austria by means of semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions with teachers from different school levels (form kindergarten to secondary school) and representatives of religious communities.

This contribution gives insights into challenges and potentials in dealing with religious diversity, identifies best practices and promotes the institutional exchange of experience. Moreover, it shows ways of cross-border cooperation between schools, universities and religious communities. In an inclusive and participatory way of working, common strategies and didactic modules are developed for dealing with religious diversity in schools. It shows how these modules and their use within schools and teacher training can provide a solid basis for a school environment based on tolerance and a positive attitude towards diversity.

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