Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN)

The Lone Actor challenge within P/CVE is not a new phenomenon, with tragic examples stretching back throughout history. Indeed, RAN practitioners will recall all too quickly the sudden onset of lone actor attacks ‘inspired’ by Daesh across Europe and the world following the group’s emergence and subsequent fall in Syria and Iraq, the range of violent right-wing extremist-inspired attacks across the globe since 2017, whilst the events at Utøya, Norway in 2011 subsequently led to the creation of the RAN itself. However, towards the end of 2021, lone actor attacks in Kongsberg, Norway and Leigh-On-Sea, United Kingdom, have brought the topic back into prominence for all practitioners working in P/CVE.

This month’s RAN Practitioners Update, the first of the new year, focuses on the emerging and evolving lone actor challenge, particularly in the wake of the accelerated digitalisation brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Update links to the latest RAN Practitioners Spotlight Magazine which focuses on the topic, with articles and interviews from practitioners and academics on the frontline of this challenge. The Update also links to a new thematic film which hears from academic experts, practitioners and Working Group Leads, as well as a newly released RAN Practitioners paper on Lone Actors in Digital Environments.

The magazine assesses various aspects of the challenge, including the impact of COVID-19, its development from both an extreme right-wing and Islamist perspective, the work being done with vulnerable individuals known to authorities, and general tips for RAN Practitioners working in this sensitive space.

You can view the magazine here.

You can view the film here.

The paper looks to understand this emerging trend, recognising the online communities that violent right-wing extremists use to produce a sense of belonging, spreading dehumanising propaganda, and promoting acts of violence.

You can read the paper in full here.

Please keep an eye on the calendar on the RAN website for up-to-date information.

A new paper that provides an overview of projects in Europe concentrating on parents in prison, their children or both.

This new paper highlights the growing focus on the intersection between mental health and the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE).

A new paper that looks at the key role that local actors play in effective efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism.

A new paper that intends to demystify key tenets of the incel ideology and its relationship to violence, outline key challenges for practitioners in prevention and countering of violent extremism (P/CVE) in reaching this community, and offer recommendations for intervention providers and practitioners to increase and improve work related to this phenomenon.

A new paper that aims to provide recommendations for practitioners working with violent extremist clients by discussing recidivism data, current challenges, risk and protective factors, and risk management strategies.

This new paper discusses how traditional gaming (adjacent) platforms have contributed to extremist activities.

RAN Practitioners is implemented by RadarEurope, which is a subsidiary of the RadarGroup:

Phone: +31 (0)20 – 468 06 08 (office)

E-Mail: ran@radareurope.nl

Would you like more frequent updates on RAN’s activities? Gain access to all public RAN papers as they are published, other RAN news and thought-provoking articles on the radicalisation process by following RAN on: