In June, 2021, the ESFRI Forum (European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures) included RESILIENCE in the Research Infrastructure Roadmap 2021. This means that RESILIENCE will take its place in the strategic Research Infrastructures for the European Research Area and that it can work on the further development of the Research Infrastructure for Religious Studies.
The first initiatives to build a Research Infrastructure date back to 2016, which finally led to the launch of RESILIENCE in September 2019. RESILIENCE has since worked on the design of a sustainable European infrastructure for all Religious Studies. This design has now proven to be mature and was successfully evaluated by the ESFRI forum, allowing RESILIENCE to take its place in the strategic Research Infrastructures for the European Research Area. Characteristic in the infrastructure design is that it includes physical as well as digital access to knowledge about religion. Via this infrastructure, academics who are working in the broad field of Religious Studies will be supported in many ways: they will be able, among other things, to access more resources, to enhance their digital skills, to participate in projects, to promote their research, and to build a professional network. Also other professionals, such as those working in galleries, libraries, archives and museums, policy makers, and representatives of religious communities can benefit from the knowledge offered by RESILIENCE.The placement in the ESFRI Roadmap 2021 assures that the 13 consortium partners, coordinated by the Italian research institution FSCIRE, take the next step. This next step will be the development of the preparation phase, such as ensuring the finances and distribution of tasks among the partners. The new Research Infrastructure is intended to support its users for at least 34 years.
On this occasion, Prof. Anna-Maria Totomanova, from University of Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski “, who is also a member of the General Assembly of the new European infrastructure, said that it is very important for Sofia University to be part of this process and to make a professional contribution to the creation of strategic research infrastructure at European level. The local specific experience, the wealth of research resources and our unique cultural and historical heritage will thus contribute to global research and a new understanding of religious issues in the modern world.The University of Sofia expresses its special gratitude to the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, which has already expressed its support for the RESILIENCE project, which will be of particular importance for the activities of research infrastructure development in our country, including through the new site in the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure.