With REGENN, our goal is connect scholars in religious studies and theology based in the Netherlands and focusing on issues relating to religion and gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, class, age etc. There are many networks across the Netherlands working with these themes in different ways, and on this page, we aim to help scholars find one another. Below you can see a list of networks that may be of interest. If you are part of a network that you would like to be included in this list, please contact us at regennetherlands@gmail.com or via our contact form with your request.
Catharina Halkes Fonds (CHF)
The Catharina Halkes Fund stimulates research and education in the field of gender and religion. In this way, the fund wants to contribute to the development of this field in the Netherlands.
The foundation owes its name to Catharina J.M. Halkes (1920-2011). She was the first professor of the Department of Feminism and Christianity in the Netherlands, at the Catholic University (now Radboud University) of Nijmegen. The Catharina Halkes Fund organizes the Catharina Halkes Lecture twice every five years. In this way, the memory of Catharina Halkes is kept alive and the field of feminist theology and religious-scientific gender studies is highlighted.
The European Society of Women in Theological Research (EWSTR)
The European Society for Women’s Theological Research (ESWTR) is a network for women scholars in theology, religious studies and related fields. An international conference on a current feminist-theological topic takes place every two years. In between, female scientists meet for regional and national conferences as well as for continuous work in thematic and subject-related working groups. At its general meetings in Crete in 2015 and in Vienna in 2017, the ESWTR decided to strengthen its interreligious orientation at all levels. The ESWTR is the editor of the annual yearbook of the European Society for Women’s Theological Research and the ESWTR Studies in Religion series.
The European Society of Women in Theological Research – in short the ESWTR – was founded in 1986 at a conference Magliaso, to strengthen the network of feminist theologians and women in theology in Europe. A considerable number of Dutch feminist theologians was present at this conference.
The ESWTR realises its purpose in several ways: by organizing its bi-annual conferences, by publishing the Journal of the ESWTR and the ESWTR Studies in Religion Series, and by the activities of its national sections. Each section has a contact-woman, who functions as the linchpin between the Board of the ESWTR and the national section. Currently, the contact woman for the Dutch section is Gé Speelman. Ge.speelman@outlook.com
The activities of these national sections are very diverse. The German section for instance organizes yearly conferences as do the Central and Eastern European Countries and the Spanish Section. In the past the OPP-network functioned as the Dutch section of the ESWTR. Therefore, the annual meetings of the ESWTR have always taken place in the OPP-week and in 2023 in the first REGENN-week. The Dutch section has organized two of the bi-annual ESWTR conferences: in 1987 in Helvoirt, and in 2003 in Soesterberg.
Oecumenische Vrouwensynode (OVS)
The Oecumenische Vrouwensynode (Ecumenical Women’s Synod) works from a feminist perspective, envisioning justice with regard to gender, culture, religion, age and sexual orientation. We offer a nation-wide platform for a wide variety of women who actively engage with themes such as women, faith and society.
The vision of the Oecumenische Vrouwensynode is a world with multitudes of religion, colour, culture, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation – where living together is just. The Women’s Synod focuses specifically on equality of gender within religion and churches.