On the 27th November, the CONNEKT project shared with external actors, experts, community-led practitioners and policy-makers concerns regarding the gaps in researching radicalisation and violent extremism.
It was on the occasion of the CONNEKT seminar “Researching on radicalisation and violent extremism in times of Covid-19” that took place under Chatham House rule. Over 60 participants attended an event where the theoretical and conceptual framework of the project was discussed and three parallel sessions examined how to research from a macro, meso and micro perspective on seven potential drivers of radicalisation and violent extremism in the eight MENA and Balkan countries analysed in the project, while a fourth one was dedicated to prevention from a local view. In fact, the project sees the local setting as the main scenario for the development of prevention initiatives, since social life is articulated in the community context, and it is where these interventions materialise, involving institutions and social groups.
The event also addressed in a final policy roundtable with the participation of policy-makers how the CONNEKT project can serve better the European Union’s challenges concerning Prevention and Countering Violent Extremism.
The seminar was the opportunity to gather experiences and insights very useful to raise the proper questions that need to conduct the upcoming CONNEKT research, taking into account what is already know, what is new or unexpected, and what are the main gaps, concerns and needs. Some relevant questions raised during the meeting were, for example, if the relevance of macro-level drivers of radicalisation are to be enhanced by the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic, or if communities are better placed in tackling the grievances that may give rise to radicalisation.
