Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PAVE (Preventing and Addressing Violent Extremism through Community Resilience in the Balkans and MENA)
Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2023-04-30
In the light of an increase in radicalism and violent extremism in Europe and worldwide, there is a growing need for a common political strategy and effective prevention measures. It seems especially relevant to look into the local, regional and national contexts and transnational dynamics of violent extremism in the European neighbourhood and to draw concrete lessons for the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy and the expanding scope of its external engagement. The EU research project PAVE (Preventing and Addressing Violent Extremism through Community Resilience in the Western Balkans and the MENA) aimed to tackle the global issue of violent extremism by examining its root causes and driving factors. Based on a comparative assessment of local communities with features of vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism across seven case study countries, the 13 international partner institutions have developed and disseminated concrete policy recommendations to inform citizens and stakeholders within and beyond the regions under study. They also developed innovative training tools and a risk/resilience toolkit to support agents of community resilience and to foster multi-stakeholder cooperation.
Despite the challenging circumstances posed by the covid-19 pandemic, which caused some readjustments to the methodology and timeline of field research, the project successfully achieved all its objectives.
Thanks to a careful conceptualisation and design of field research in year 1, and combination of case studies conducted in selected communities in 7 countries (and selected diasporas in the EU), the consortium produced country reports, regional working papers, and cross-regional synthesis papers, along the four thematic clusters of PAVE: the prevention of cumulative extremisms, interactions between state and religious institutions, interactions between offline and online (de)radicalisation, and transnational dynamics to/from the EU.
In WP6, WP7 and WP8, policy-relevant outputs and products were design and disseminated, including seven country-focused policy briefs, two thematic policy briefs on transnational dynamics and multi-stakeholder cooperation, a risk/resilience map and toolkit, and seven training modules accompanied by video interviews. The training modules have been piloted in three countries and online, and are available online in English and Arabic for use by P/CVE trainers and peacebuilding practitioners.
In the seven countries of investigation, stakeholder committees were formed with the aim of informing the research to ensure its relevance for policy and practice, reviewing the preliminary findings and refining the policy recommendations. These committees included diverse stakeholders from the municipalities selected for fieldwork, as well as representatives from national institutions.
The findings on community vulnerability and resilience were disseminated through various channels, including videos and animated clips posted on the project website, a regular newsletter, promotional messages on social media, and project events such as policy roundtables in nine countries, and a final conference addressing EU institutions and experts based in Brussels. Partners also presented project results at various external conferences, and cooperated with sister projects and other EU initiatives to cross-fertilise research outcomes and policy uptake. Finally, some of the findings have been already published in scientific peer-reviewed publications, while other publications will be released in 2023 and 2024, including in a Routledge edited book and a joint special issue of a journal with the sister projects PREVEX and CONNEKT.
Thanks to a careful conceptualisation and design of field research in year 1, and combination of case studies conducted in selected communities in 7 countries (and selected diasporas in the EU), the consortium produced country reports, regional working papers, and cross-regional synthesis papers, along the four thematic clusters of PAVE: the prevention of cumulative extremisms, interactions between state and religious institutions, interactions between offline and online (de)radicalisation, and transnational dynamics to/from the EU.
In WP6, WP7 and WP8, policy-relevant outputs and products were design and disseminated, including seven country-focused policy briefs, two thematic policy briefs on transnational dynamics and multi-stakeholder cooperation, a risk/resilience map and toolkit, and seven training modules accompanied by video interviews. The training modules have been piloted in three countries and online, and are available online in English and Arabic for use by P/CVE trainers and peacebuilding practitioners.
In the seven countries of investigation, stakeholder committees were formed with the aim of informing the research to ensure its relevance for policy and practice, reviewing the preliminary findings and refining the policy recommendations. These committees included diverse stakeholders from the municipalities selected for fieldwork, as well as representatives from national institutions.
The findings on community vulnerability and resilience were disseminated through various channels, including videos and animated clips posted on the project website, a regular newsletter, promotional messages on social media, and project events such as policy roundtables in nine countries, and a final conference addressing EU institutions and experts based in Brussels. Partners also presented project results at various external conferences, and cooperated with sister projects and other EU initiatives to cross-fertilise research outcomes and policy uptake. Finally, some of the findings have been already published in scientific peer-reviewed publications, while other publications will be released in 2023 and 2024, including in a Routledge edited book and a joint special issue of a journal with the sister projects PREVEX and CONNEKT.
While the phenomenon of violent extremism has received increased attention from the research community within and beyond the EU, preventive strategies have been neglected as an object of study. When it comes to examining the various ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors of radicalisation and violent extremism, scholars have predominantly adopted a macro-level perspective (e.g. structural drivers) or a micro-level perspective (e.g. profiling radicalised individuals). There is, however, a significant knowledge gap regarding the impact of socio-political interactions at the meso-level, which PAVE has addressed.
Through the three-year research project, the PAVE consortium has explored ethno-political, sectarian and religiously-inspired manifestations of radicalisation and violent extremism. PAVE’s cross-country comparisons within and between the Western Balkans and the MENA revealed common trends as well as context specificities. While religion remains an important identity marker, and a mobilisation factor for violent extremist groups in all countries under study, P/CVE programs insufficiently address other manifestations of violent extremism, such as sectarian politics in Lebanon and Iraq, and far-right or ethno-political groups in the Western Balkans (e.g. football hooligans, foreign fighters in Ukraine). The driving factors of vulnerability within local communities were found to be remarkably similar across the cases and regions, such as unresolved legacies of violence and war, an unregulated online media environment, social and geographic disparity/inequality, dysfunctional power-sharing system, a lack of quality/inclusive education impeding crucial thinking, and mistrusted religious institutions.
PAVE research also uncovered a number of common factors of social resilience against the drivers and manifestations of violent extremism. Especially, in both regions under study, the project identified various agents of resilience, vested with influence and legitimacy, and situated at the intersection between the state, formal and informal religious institutions, and civil society – including traditional and social media. Other common factors of resilience include sustained inter-sector and inter-faith collaboration at the national and local (municipal) levels, initiatives for media literacy as well as civic and religious education, conflict-sensitive and gender-inclusive programming.
The PAVE research has been impactful thanks to the participatory approach of the project (i.e. collaboration and partnership with research and practice-oriented organisations in most countries under study), the wide dissemination of findings and recommendations in multiple languages, the development of hands-on policy tools, guidelines and training material, and the organisation of numerous dissemination events in the EU and in neighbourhood countries. This approach has supported mutual learning and policy uptake of the results among various stakeholders, including community leaders (such as religious leaders, mayors, educators, media outlets, civil society organisations, women and youth), policy-makers and the wider public in the EU, MENA and Western Balkans.
Through the three-year research project, the PAVE consortium has explored ethno-political, sectarian and religiously-inspired manifestations of radicalisation and violent extremism. PAVE’s cross-country comparisons within and between the Western Balkans and the MENA revealed common trends as well as context specificities. While religion remains an important identity marker, and a mobilisation factor for violent extremist groups in all countries under study, P/CVE programs insufficiently address other manifestations of violent extremism, such as sectarian politics in Lebanon and Iraq, and far-right or ethno-political groups in the Western Balkans (e.g. football hooligans, foreign fighters in Ukraine). The driving factors of vulnerability within local communities were found to be remarkably similar across the cases and regions, such as unresolved legacies of violence and war, an unregulated online media environment, social and geographic disparity/inequality, dysfunctional power-sharing system, a lack of quality/inclusive education impeding crucial thinking, and mistrusted religious institutions.
PAVE research also uncovered a number of common factors of social resilience against the drivers and manifestations of violent extremism. Especially, in both regions under study, the project identified various agents of resilience, vested with influence and legitimacy, and situated at the intersection between the state, formal and informal religious institutions, and civil society – including traditional and social media. Other common factors of resilience include sustained inter-sector and inter-faith collaboration at the national and local (municipal) levels, initiatives for media literacy as well as civic and religious education, conflict-sensitive and gender-inclusive programming.
The PAVE research has been impactful thanks to the participatory approach of the project (i.e. collaboration and partnership with research and practice-oriented organisations in most countries under study), the wide dissemination of findings and recommendations in multiple languages, the development of hands-on policy tools, guidelines and training material, and the organisation of numerous dissemination events in the EU and in neighbourhood countries. This approach has supported mutual learning and policy uptake of the results among various stakeholders, including community leaders (such as religious leaders, mayors, educators, media outlets, civil society organisations, women and youth), policy-makers and the wider public in the EU, MENA and Western Balkans.