MINDb4ACT: Radicalisation prevention through living labs interventions and future policies

Due to the terrorist attacks in the past years, radicalization and violent extremism leading to terrorism are prominently represented on the political and academic agendas in Europe. This includes not only the threat related to Jihadist terrorism but research and policies are also strongly referring to right wing violent extremism. Additionally, also other forms of extremism gain significance and therefore attention from research and practice. MINDb4ACT aims to find new approaches against radicalisation and extremism by applying novel prevention methods and innovative policy schemes.

Violent radicalization is not a new phenomenon, its most recent manifestations require a more comprehensive and holistic approach addressing not only security concerns but also framing of the problem in social and psychological terms. Furthermore, in times of internet and social media, prevention of radicalisation and extremism require new methods, non-partisan policies and innovative multi-stakeholder collaboration formats.

MINDb4ACT will contribute to the  improvement of current counter-violent extremism policies (CVEs) in the countries represented in the consortium (Austria, Belgium Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy Poland, Spain and United Kingdom) and the generation of new ones connecting through collaboration ecosystems (innovative, open, participatory, user-centred environments) to co-design interventions such as research actions, exchanges, strategic-policy exercises, training courses and pilot projects based on social innovation and civic engagement schemes.

All actions will be developed in four specific domains: prisons and judiciary system; schools, cities (peri-urban contexts) as well as the internet and media. A special contribution of the project will be the integration of technology based practical solutions with the contribution of the industry. The research and innovation action MINDb4ACT is addressing the H2020-call on “Developing a comprehensive approach to violent radicalization in the EU from early understanding to improving protection”. However, the project will not be focused on explicitly studying the phenomenon of radicalization but it will be rather focused on developing policy recommendations and practical solutions for first-line-practitioners such as social workers, teachers and community police officers.

The practical approach of the project is also reflected in the consortium. MINDb4ACT is a collaborative project with a duration of 36 months that has allocated more than 435 person months (PMs) and is involving 18 partners including Real Elcano Institute (Spain), Agenfor International (Italy), Police School Bavaria (Germany), Madrid Police (Spain), Danish Institute for International Studies (Denmark), European Organisation for Security (Belgium), Free University of Berlin (Germany), Foundation for Strategical Research (France), Ministry of Interior (Spain), Polish Platform for Homeland Security (Poland), Local Police Poznan (Poland), Police Service of Northern Ireland (UK), Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Fee University Brussels (Belgium), Women without Borders (Austria), Ministry of Justice (Italy) and SYNYO.

The main role of SYNYO will focus on the development the MINDb4ACT platform as a core resource for knowledge and resources such as trainings and guides for first-line-practitioners. In addition to the conception of the platform architecture and the programming of the modules, SYNYO will also be involved in the empirical research as well as in the development of a pilot project focusing on internet and media. Furthermore, SYNYO will also create a policy paper on the Austrian context. SYNYO will map the key stakeholders in Austria and analyze the policy framework as well as national initiatives and their approaches. As the main online platform developer in the project, SYNYO will finally also contribute substantially to the exploitation and sustainability plan in order to ensure the long-term availability of the project outcomes.

Project objectives

MINDb4ACT will address the following objectives:

• MINDb4ACT will improve the current counter-violent extremism policies (CVEs) in the countries represented in the consortium (Austria, Belgium Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom);
• MINDb4ACT will contribute to the creation of new policies through novel insights and connecting to LEAs through collaboration ecosystems = living labs (defined as innovative, open, participatory, user-centred environments);
• MINDb4ACT will deliver policy recommendations extracted from validated results that are deriving from research actions, exchange with LEAs, strategic-policy exercises, training courses and pilot projects as well as from contributions from the industry and civic engagement schemes.

Links

http://www.mindb4act.eu

www.firstlinepractitioners.com

Keywords

Radicalisation, prevention, violent extremism, P/CVE, living lab, first-line-practitioners