CHAMPIONs

The multi-stakeholder and transnational project CHAMPIONs delivered the groundwork for successful online and offline action against radicalization and polarization in the first 6 months of the project cycle. As the offline activities unfold in the partner countries Germany, Poland, Romania and Hungary, SYNYO takes the lead in communicating outputs via newly set up homepage and social media channels. 

The CHAMPIONs project’s mission is the creation of offline working groups and online tools to address polarization and violent extremism. In the “CHAMPIONs Roundtables” first-line-practitioners (FLPs) of different disciplines, professions, and institutions or agencies, share their expertise and develop effective solutions to counter polarization and radicalization. The creation of online tools serves the purpose of ensuring the sustainability of the project, by collecting and making available relevant information and training materials on the subject of polarization and violent extremism. 

During the first six months of the project cycle, important milestones were achieved. The first months marked an intensive research period, which built the foundation for the development of the tools and online materials that will support FLPs in their work. The consortium produced a comprehensive literature review on the drivers and effects of polarization at national and transnational levels. Particular emphasis was given on the partner countries Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania, where the CHAMPIONs roundtables will be implemented. 

An important aspect of researching the needs of First-Line Practitioners, was the implementation of a survey including 230 First-Line Practitioners and the conduction of 58 interviews. By putting an emphasis on the perspectives of practitioners, the consortium makes sure that the tools and materials developed by CHAMPIONs are fit for purpose and match the needs of the end users. 

While the partners were very active in researching the current state-of-the-art and in setting up offline working groups in the respective countries, SYNYO took the lead in developing an effective communication, dissemination and networking strategy for all project partners. This included the setting up of the website, the implementation of a social media strategy for Facebook and Twitter, as well as the drafting of newsletters, activity briefs, press releases, which communicate project outputs to a diverse audience in the practice, policy and research community. 

In the upcoming months, SYNYO will focus its efforts on building an online learning and training tool, the “Training Yard”. Based on the mapping and reviewing of existing tools, resources and networks in the domain of prevention and countering of extremism (P/CVE), the Training Yard will be developed as a knowledge hub that integrates relevant information into one platform. The tool will be an important knowledge repository for the training materials developed by the project. It will include country specific information on radicalization and polarization in 5 languages (English, German, Polish, Hungarian and Romanian). 

Links

https://www.championsproject.eu/

Keywords

First-line practitioners, radicalization, polarization, roundtables, dissemination, communication