IMPACT Europe news digest [#13]

Welcome to the thirteenth instalment of the IMPACT Europe news digest. Through this series, the IMPACT Europe team will endeavour to present you with a selection of news, commentaries, journals articles and web materials relating to research and policy developments touching on the subject matters underpinning IMPACT Europe’s project’s mission. To receive the latest updates on IMPACT Europe’s research, dissemination and outreach activities you can follow our Twitter account (@impacteurope) or sign up to our quarterly newsletter through our homepage.

 

NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

 

EU policy update

European Commission

On 21 December 2016 the European Commission adopted a set of proposals to strengthen the EU’s response to terrorist financing. The proposed measures are designed to build a more comprehensive and effective legal framework to counter the financing of terrorism and organised crime. The measures include: (i) a new Directive to criminalise money laundering; (ii) tighter controls on large cash flows; and (iii) regulation on criminal asset freezing and confiscation orders. The proposals were presented alongside the third Progress Report on the Security Union, and represent what was identified by the Commission in April 2016 as a priority step towards completing an efficient and sustainable EU Security Union [source]. Building on the recommendations set out in an evaluation of the Schengen Information System (SIS), in December 2016 the Commission also proposed technical and operational changes that would extend the scope of the SIS and that are expected to improve its effectiveness and efficiency in the area of border management and security [source].

 

Digital Citizens: Countering Extremism Online

Demos

In this report, Demos applies the concept of digital citizenship to CVE work, asserting the fundamental importance of promoting digital citizenship skills among young people as a tool to strengthen societal resilience to violent extremism and radicalisation online. The report begins with a discussion of how the development of students’ critical thinking, media literacy and understanding of online rights and responsibilities can contribute to CVE objectives, especially in the context of the UK’s Prevent duty. The authors of the report, Louis Reynolds and Ralph Scott, review existing evidence on what works in digital citizenship programmes. They highlight the relative lack of holistic resources for schools seeking to build young people’s resilience to violent extremism and radicalisation through the development of their digital citizenship skills. The paper then describes a school-based intervention designed and delivered by Demos in partnership with Bold Creative, and presents the findings from an impact and process evaluation of the intervention, which was piloted in four secondary schools in England in 2016.  The paper concludes with a discussion of the learning that the Demos/Bold Creative intervention and evaluation offers to the CVE community and educators, and outlines next steps with respect to future school-based CVE intervention design and delivery. It is expected that, once revised for greater accessibility and usability, the Demos/Bold Creative intervention resources will be made freely available online.

Link: [link]

 

UNODC Handbook on the Management of Violent Extremist Prisoners and the Prevention of Radicalization to Violence in Prisons

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

The UNODC has developed a handbook providing practical guidance on addressing the threat of radicalisation in prisons, for use by stakeholders operating at different levels. The handbook may be used by prison staff and management as a reference document or as a basis for developing suitable staff training interventions; equally, it may help guide thinking among policymakers, legislators and non-governmental organisations involved in the reform of criminal justice systems. The handbook offers specific guidance focussed on three areas of prison management: (i) the management of violent extremist prisoners (already radicalised individuals); (ii) the prevention of radicalisation in prisons (among individuals vulnerable to radicalisation but not yet themselves radicalised); and (iii) on interventions designed to disengage violent extremist prisoners and to facilitate their reintegration into mainstream society upon release. The information provided in this handbook is tailored to the context of adult prison populations, and aims to promote the adoption of international standards and good practice.

Link: [link]

 

Developing a local prevent framework and guiding principles

Radicalisation Awareness Network Centre of Excellence (RAN CoE)

This RAN CoE policy paper sets out a framework for the development of a strategy or action plan for the prevention of violent extremism and radicalisation at the local level. The paper presents a review of known good practices that draws on the practical experiences and expertise of local municipal coordinators and frontline practitioners from across more than twenty cities in Europe. Through this review, the paper aims to provide a synthesis of the challenges and guiding principles that should be considered in the design and implementation of local prevention work. In particular, the paper outlines different components that have been identified as important in the prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism among individuals and at-risk groups. The paper also emphasises the roles to be played by different actors who may be mobilised as part of multi-agency co-creation of and cooperation in local PVE strategy and delivery.

Link: [link]

 

UPCOMING EVENTS AND CONFERENCES

  • Counter-Terrorism Conference 2017: Stopping the evolving threat
    University of Salford
    9 March 2017, Salford, UK
    [Link]

 

  • Building resilience to Radicalisation and Violent Extremism II
    Strong cities Network Global Summit 2017
    17-19 May 2017, Aarhus, Denmark
    [Link]

 

[Image shared by Janne Hellsten via Flickr; CC BY 2.0]