The Vision
Formation, not just conversation
The Abrahamic Youth Initiative exists to form young leaders who can cross the deepest divides of our time, beginning with the divides of faith.
Over four days in rural Cumbria, twenty high school students from the UK, the US and the Emirates, an even mix of Christian, Jewish and Muslim, will live, eat and think together under one roof. Guided by the Rose Castle Foundation's experienced facilitators, they will explore their personal and collective identities, investigate what happens when disagreement occurs, and learn practical tools to navigate conflict constructively.
They will study forgiveness and its relevance to their own situations, then reimagine their futures together as reconcilers. Alongside facilitated workshops, participants deepen their understanding of themselves and one another through Scriptural Reasoning, reading their sacred texts side by side, and through small home group reflections. The journey moves through four turns.
Meeting those genuinely different from ourselves, face to face rather than back to back.
Speaking honestly from conviction and listening carefully across real disagreement.
Repairing our relationships with the self, each other, the land, and with God.
Leaving with a concrete plan for reconciliation projects within and between our communities.
Our Approach
Rooted in the Rose Way
The Initiative is built on the Rose Castle Foundation's distinctive approach to reconciliation, which invests in the character of the peacebuilder as much as the process of peacebuilding. Three pillars run through the four days.
Conflict transformation skills
Practical tools for holding difficult conversations, listening with curiosity, speaking with integrity, and staying grounded when tensions rise.
Scriptural Reasoning
Jewish, Christian and Muslim students read their own sacred texts together around a shared question. Not to win agreement, but to understand one another's deepest commitments and learn to disagree better.
The 12 Habits of Reconcilers
Characteristics drawn from the wisdom of the Abrahamic traditions, among them hospitality, humility, empathy and curiosity, that shape a lifelong practice of reconciliation.
Read more about the approach at the Rose Castle Foundation.
The Programme
Four days at the castle
Interactive, discussion-based sessions with expert facilitators and external speakers with lived experience of faith-based reconciliation, inside the castle and out across its estate.
Arrival at Rose Castle and welcome session
Introduction to reconciliation
The 12 Habits of a Reconciler
Who am I? Faith-based identities
Who are we? Identity across divides
Fireside chat with expert speakers
What happens when we disagree?
Reconciliation with the earth, out on the Rose estate
Celebration night
Reimagining, and planning action-at-home projects
Closing session and departures
Sessions close at 4pm
Sessions begin at 10am on Friday 15 January and finish at 4pm on Monday 18 January.
In Residence
Why living together matters
The residential aspect is crucial. It offers a hospitable space for the daily encounters of eating, sleeping, socialising and relaxing together, the ordinary moments that break down stereotypes while building trust and lasting relationships.
- i.Facilitated workshops led by the Rose Castle Foundation's experienced reconciliation practitioners.
- ii.Scriptural Reasoning sessions placing scripture and the dignity of difference at the heart of the conversation.
- iii.Home group reflections in small, consistent groups that carry the group's trust through the four days.
- iv.The wider estate, as the group steps outside the castle walls to consider reconciliation with the land itself.
- v.Action-at-home projects, planned before departure and supported by accompanying staff and the Rose team after everyone returns.
Who We Look For
The cohort
Twenty high school juniors and seniors in the 2026/27 academic year, drawn from partner schools in the UK, the US and the Emirates, each accompanied by a member of their school's staff.
Rooted in a community
An active member of a faith society or community. Someone who demonstrates a real commitment to do something in response to their worldview, not just hold it.
Drawn to reconciliation
An interest in the role people of all faiths have in working together for peace across social and religious divides, and a curiosity about what that looks like in practice.
Intellectually curious
A genuine curiosity about the world around them, whether social, political, scientific or otherwise.
Part of a true balance
The cohort is built deliberately. An even mix of Christian, Jewish and Muslim students, balanced across ethnicities and, where possible, across liberal and conservative expressions of faith.
Selection runs through participating schools. If you are a student, parent or member of staff at a partner school and would like to know more, please get in touch.
The Place
An 800-year turn of history
For eight centuries Rose Castle stood on the frontier between England and Scotland as the residence of the Bishops of Carlisle. Set in the once violent debatable lands, it was built to be two things at once, a house of prayer and a fortress designed to withstand the enemy. It has been burned, sacked and rebuilt many times over.
Since 2016 it has been home to the Rose Castle Foundation, a global centre for peace and reconciliation on the edge of the Lake District, whose work equips faith-formed leaders around the world to transform conflict. The Initiative is delivered in partnership with the Foundation's facilitation team, on the Rose estate itself.
Learn more at rosecastlefoundation.org.
For Schools
Partnering with the Initiative
The Initiative is delivered through a small group of partner schools in the UK, the US and the Emirates. Here is what involvement looks like from a school's side.
Your students, selected by you
Each partner school nominates students against the shared selection criteria. Applications open in the autumn term of 2026, with participants confirmed well ahead of the January residential.
Your staff, alongside them
Every school sends a member of staff to accompany their students throughout the programme, sharing fully in the four days at the castle.
Preparation before the castle
Online pre-meetings in the weeks beforehand bring students and staff from every school together, so the group arrives in Cumbria already in motion.
The work continues at home
Students return with action-at-home projects for their own campuses and communities, supported by their accompanying staff and the Rose team, with an online reunion and end-of-year presentations to follow.
Travel to and from Cumbria is arranged by each school, and full details of costs and logistics are shared directly with interested schools. If you would like the complete picture for your school, write to us and we will send everything you need.
Contact
Get in touch
For questions from parents, students and school staff, or for schools interested in partnering with the Initiative, write to us directly.
The Abrahamic Youth Initiative at Rose Castle · January 2027 cohort