About the Engage, Challenge, Grow (ECG) Initiative
The LMA’s vision is to create an Australian Muslim community that has a positive and sustainable contribution to Australian society and engage Muslims by promoting social harmony in a multicultural environment.
As a result, the LMA identified a number of significant challenges facing the local Muslim community and specific gaps in services and programs that would assist in addressing such problems. In 2012 Engage, Challenge, Grow Program (ECG) was developed to help work towards addressing these gaps.
The ECG Program focuses on community capacity building, addressing social exclusion and providing support to the Australian Muslim community. The ECG Program has since grown from the deployment of 12 projects in 2013 to over 100 dynamic, empowering and impactful initiatives. Each of which cultivate social capital and cohesion and positively contribute to the social fabric of our multicultural society.
The key ECG projects are highlighted below.
Engage
The Engage stream of the ECG program is aimed at youth leadership and personal development. It encourages young people to become involved in all aspects of their local community and create a sense of belonging through helping communities work towards a spirit of inclusiveness and shared identity.
Think Again
Think Again seeks to empower young, educated Muslims to speak out on the issues they face and believe should be addressed, to build recommendations and contribute to community and national discussions.
Sydney Muslim Conference
The Sydney Muslim Conference (SMC) is an annual large-scale event focused on developing a contemporary language for Australian Muslims to address the challenges they face.
Together, We Are Strong
Together, We Are Strong (TWAS) is a series of initiatives, workshops and courses to form a professional development program for religious leaders, imams, religious workers, community members and service providers.
Challenge
The Challenge stream of the ECG program focuses on community building, healing, harmony and strengthening community cohesion. It aims to promote the importance of Australians respecting each other, regardless of cultural, racial or religious differences, through education, public events and information sharing.
Family CommUnity
The Family CommUnity project promotes a healthy dialogue between parents about the challenges, opportunities and realities of raising a family in Australia. It supports isolated and marginalised parents and enables a safe space to engage in the community, encouraging them to run events that they feel…
National Mosque Open Day
National Mosque Open Day (NMOD) is an annual Australia-wide event that features a number of mosques across the nation simultaneously opening their doors to the public and inviting them to come in and explore their local mosque.
Grow
The Grow Stream of the ECG program focuses on providing training and outreach to the wider community. The projects under this stream aim to develop community capacity building skills for specific community groups considered to be continuously under significant pressure due to their religious or racial diversity. The program also aims to provide targeted education as a means to breakdown misconceptions and misunderstandings.
Aspire Role Models
The Aspire Role Models program improves the self-esteem and aspirations of young students and fosters positive attitudes towards citizenship, social cohesion and civic participation.
GoActive
The GoActive Project is a health and fitness initiative dedicated to inspire, empower and connect young women by promoting physical and social wellbeing. The project aims to provide women with inclusive opportunities to be involved in sport and recreation and is the first of its kind…
CARE
The Community Awareness and Religious Education (CARE) is a one-day intensive workshop led by subject matter experts in the fields of social policy, religion, law and community engagement. The program aims to deliver cultural and religious awareness training to service providers whose clientele consist of predominately…
To see what programs and events are on now, click here.
