A pioneering peace conference starts today which aims to build the next generation of leaders in Bradford.

The Intercultural Leadership School aims to develop young people's understanding of different faiths so they can look at a long-term resolution to inter-cultural conflict.

A dozen young people from the Muslim and Christian faiths in Bradford will travel to Scargill in the Yorkshire Dales for the intensive four-day conference.

Philip Lewis, the Bishop of Bradford's Interfaith adviser, said it was an innovative course which evolved from a meeting about co-citizenship last year.

"We talked about the need for young leaders to emerge across the communities to develop confidence and to give them skills to work outside the comfort zones of their own cultures," he said.

"The people, who are all in their 20s, already have roots in their local communities. This gives them exposure to each other and lectures on shared values and citizenship."

He said it was adapted from a model used to promote peace in post-war Bosnia.

Yorkshire MEPs Richard Corbett, Timothy Kirkhope and Diana Wallis are to attend alongside the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Ghazanfer Khaliq, and representatives from the peace studies department at the University of Bradford.

The conference has been initiated by the Bradford Inner Ring Group of Churches, the Bradford Council for Mosques, the peace studies department at the University of Bradford and the Asian Women's Centre.

Sessions on the agenda include secularism and community trends in Bradford, qualities for management of multi-cultural societies, successful negotiation techniques and political speaking.

Selina Ullah, chairman of the Keighley Asian Women and Children's Centre, said: "We have got to stop blaming people when things go wrong and we should all pull together to sort it out rather than sitting on the sidelines."