Professor Dr theol. Johannes Lähnemann, Emeritus Chairman of the Peace Education Standing Commission (PESC) of the international movement Religions for Peace (RfP), and Member of the Round Table of Religions in Germany, is the global authority in Inter-Religious Education and Peace Studies. He founded a triennial gathering of theologians, religious scholars, educators, politicians, and cultural workers known as the Nuremberg Forums. Amongst multiple international interreligious initiatives, he started the Interdisciplinary Center for Islamic Religious Education, one of the first German training centres for Islamic religious education teachers. Professor Lähnemann is the recipient of the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2008), Muhammad Nafi Cheledi Prize (2008), Höffmann Science Prize for Intercultural Competence from the University of Vechta (2013), and INTRA Project Prize for Complementarity of Religions (2014), for his outstanding contribution to Peace and Interreligious Relations worldwide.
In 2023, during the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week, Professor Lähnemann delivered a lecture No Peace among Nations and Religions without Interreligious Learning and Peace Education! The endeavours of Religions for Peace leading to the establishment of the Johannes Lähnemann Interfaith Peacebuilding Lecture Series to be presented annually by distinguished scholars in Peacebuilding and Religious Studies.
In 2024, Professor Azza Karam, Emeritus Secretary-General at Religions for Peace International (NY) delivered the second Johannes Lähnemann Interfaith Peacebuilding Lecture in Oxford, on the topic of Building Effective Resilience in Troubled Times: Interfaith Women Peacebuilders.
In 2025, Professor Anantanand Rambachan, Emeritus Professor of Religion, Saint Olaf College, USA, and Co-President of Religions for Peace International, delivered the third Johannes Lähnemann Interfaith Peacebuilding Lecture The Paradox of Religion as Peace Maker and Contributor to Violence.
Prof Lähnemann’s new monumental book Interreligious and Peace Education in Times of Crisis has been published.
In 2026, the fourth Johannes Lähnemann Interfaith Peacebuilding Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Naurath, Chair for religious education at the University of Augsburg, Germany.
