RAN YOUNG Academy session 3 ‒ Sharing experiences and moving towards results! (Madrid, 10-11 September)

RAN YOUNG participants gathered to present their progress and share experiences of the past months. They discussed their biggest ‘tops and flops’ and consulted and coached each other, while practicing feedback skills and making use of ‘powerful open questions’ and the SMART tool.

Participants also attended a workshop about evaluating whether their initiative and the activities they organise really contribute to reaching the overall goal. What is more, the groups also charted a course for the following months, discussing the next steps, how to reach the goal and who will do what. Overall, much progress has been made and everyone remains committed.

RAN Study Visit ‒ Restorative Justice (Zagreb, 12-13 September)

A group of RAN practitioners working in the field of restorative justice visited the city of Zagreb in Croatia. The visit was an introduction to the topic and on how mechanisms of restorative justice are currently used as a tool for preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). By engaging with a variety of ministries and practitioners involved in the restorative justice process, as well as with actors who conduct research on radicalisation and restorative justice measures and practices in communities, the visit provided participants valuable insights into restorative justice elements in a post-conflict region.

It was found that especially the basic knowledge on restorative justice, victim–offender mediation and the diversity in the visited initiatives are useful. Participants also identified the challenges and noted the difficulty in implementing restorative justice without taking the country’s history and societal traits into account.

The outcomes of the study visit will feed into the RAN EXIT and RAN RVT meeting on 3‑4 December 2019, in which participants will learn what elements (insights, methodological approaches and tools) of restorative justice can be implemented in exit work. They will be provided with guidelines (including the methodological approach) enabling them to put this in place for victims and offenders.

Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism: Looking into the Future (Helsinki, 17-18 September)

Hosted by Finland’s EU Presidency and supported by RAN, this two-day conference proved a unique opportunity to assess past and current European P/CVE efforts. It also scanned the horizon for future developments in extremism and terrorism. On the first day, policymakers, Member State representatives and civil society organisations (CSOs) shared their current efforts and approaches. Researchers focused on the effectiveness of these efforts.

The discussion focused on success measuring and the importance of stakeholders’ openness as regards what can be and has been validated and about the measures that may seem and feel intuitive, but do not have a sound scientific or methodical basis. The production and low-threshold communication of research-based knowledge stuck out as one of the most valuable tools in P/CVE.

There was wide agreement that the adoption of a ‘scientist practitioner model’ for P/CVE could help enhance empirical grounding of practical work by influencing applied P/CVE with research outcomes and vice-versa. Participants were asked to put their knowledge on P/CVE to practical use during an interactive performance and workshop by ‘ODD Arts’, which highlighted the difficulty of practical work to all participants.

On the second day, the focus shifted to future challenges, leading to the question: “Are we prepared?”. In response, participants discussed the potential of further involvement of religious communities. They also exchanged views about how to address the challenges put forward by the “gamification” of extremist actions online. By fuelling divisive narratives and normalising violence, this poses a large risk to European societies.

Far-right extremism (FRE) and the potential of extremist strands of environmentalism were assessed as two key challenges for coming years. As a tool to anticipate future extremist and terrorist developments, the idea of “red teaming” was well received. Regarding the level of preparation, most agreed that a lot of progress has been made regarding increased EU-wide and national-level experience and knowledge exchange, increasing resources and setting up the necessary mechanisms to conduct good work. However, gaps remain especially concerning specificity of objectives and the knowledge base. A culture of honesty and an open discussion of failures was highlighted as necessary to ensure further progress.

Policy & Practice event ‒ Extremists being released from prison: community and family acceptance (Helsinki, 19 September)

A group of 46 national policymakers and practitioners working in the field of reintegration of radicalised and terrorist offenders gathered to discuss how to involve families and communities in extremist offenders’ release from prisons, and how to ensure acceptance.

The draft Rehabilitation Manual was presented and reviewed by participants during the meeting. The manual provides valuable insight into the different phases, as well as the role of the various actors, and general recommendations as regards the entire process. Small mixed groups of policymakers and practitioners worked on a fictional case study. Several subtopics were discussed, including the potential role of informal stakeholders in the rehabilitation process and how to facilitate and stimulate the role of communities and families in the rehabilitation process. Participants also exchanged views on how to establish mutual trust between communities and families and institutions and authorities, and how to ensure community and family acceptance.

In terms of ensuring trust, one inspiring practice involves authorities identifying existing practices, strengthening capacities and competencies of field workers in the public sector and in CSOs, and guaranteeing the sharing of experiences and know-how between the different actors involved.

One key takeaway of the breakout sessions was the importance of the role of reconciliation, restorative justice and the role of the victim, especially in the last phase of rehabilitation. It was also recommended to try to bring in several actors from the local network (such as imams and priests) and to identify power brokers within families who can help in the rehabilitation process. These and other recommendations given by participants will feed into the Rehabilitation Manual.

RAN RVT ‒ Preparation for Remembrance Day 2020
(Brussels, 24 September)

On 24 September, the European Commission, several representatives of European victims’ associations and RAN RVT came together in Brussels to begin preparations for the European Remembrance Day for Victims of Terrorism in 2020. To organise next year’s ceremony, the 2019 event was evaluated extensively with support of the outcomes of the survey that was conducted among all participating victims this year.

Among the various issues discussed were ideas for a new theme, a ceremonial aspect, possible speakers and participants, and the inclusion of first responders, psychologists and schools, but also new developments in the field of victims of terrorism as well as the acknowledgement of any new atrocities since the last Remembrance Day. The input from the participants will be used to draft the outline of the European Remembrance Day for Victims of Terrorism on 11 March 2020.

RAN Steering Committee (Brussels, 25 September)

This meeting focussed on current policy developments and the RAN Plenary, High-Level conference (HLC) and the 2020 Annual Activity Plan (AAP). Both in Brussels, the Plenary will take place on 30 October and the HLC on 4 November. During the Plenary, participants will discuss newly arising phenomena and priorities for RAN and its constituencies in 2020. A survey has been sent out to the RAN network to collect ideas about themes and topics to feed into the Plenary and subsequently the 2020 AAP. The HLC will welcome policymakers and practitioners and will feature the Belgian movie Le Jeune Ahmed (‘Young Ahmed’), which was screened at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The outcomes of the Plenary and HLC will be taken into account for the 2020 AAP.

Member States Workshop on far-right extremism
(Rome, 26-27 September)

Several MS came together in Rome to discuss how governments can deal with and respond to the local, regional and national manifestations of FRE and online recruitment. MS were represented by a mix of practitioners from law enforcement, justice, prison and probation, and NGOs working in the field of prevention.

All MS briefly presented the local context, strategy and challenges of FRE. These included the following:

• Across Europe, FRE manifests itself differently in rural areas than in cities, frequently a result of perceived marginalisation of rural areas.
• Many MS face similar challenges in dealing with and responding to FRE movements because they know exactly what they can and cannot say within the boundaries of the law, making it difficult to prove that their actions are racially inspired. Moreover, many MS noted the difficulty of categorising attacks as hate crimes.
• Music and martial arts events are popular venues for spreading FRE ideology and recruiting new followers. The most common, and most difficult to counter, however, is online recruitment. The internet has enabled the coming together of many different strands of FRE.
• FRE groups can create alliances with hooligans and in certain cases with religious groups or motor gangs.

The lessons learned during RAN working group meetings are shared in ex post papers. Papers are published on the RAN website, usually about a month after the meeting.