Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CONNEKT (CONtexts of extremism iN mEna and balKan socieTies)
Período documentado: 2021-04-01 hasta 2022-08-31
CONNEKT (Contexts of Violent Extremism in MENA and Balkan Societies) is a research and action project which analyses seven potential radicalisation factors among youth aged between 12 and 30: religion, digitalisation, economic deprivation, territorial inequalities, transnational dynamics, socio-political demands, and educational, cultural and leisure opportunities and evaluates them on three levels: transnational/state (macro), community (meso) and individual (micro). Its aim is to establish a multi-dimensional map of drivers of radicalisation and violent extremism among youth in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bulgaria, and to identify the interplay among them. Based on the empirical research findings, the project will engage in its second phase into de research of prevention measures, involving directly youth and women, in order to create tools and strategies for the prevention of violent extremism from a social and community perspective both for the regions under study and the European Union.
CONNEKT will allow youths to be a strong voice not only as a subject of study but also as stakeholders in the response. The fieldwork research and dynamics explored will shed light on the specific challenges affecting them and by engaging them in the discussion, design and implementation processes, their views and knowledge will contribute to the quality and appropriation of results.
Under the coordination of the European Institute of the Mediterranean, (IEMed), the project gathers a multidisciplinary Consortium including 14 partners (academic institutions, think-tanks and civil society organisations) from 12 countries in the MENA region, the Balkans and the EU, which ensures an interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach.
During the 2nd reporting period, the objective of mapping country strategies and approaches towards radicalisation and VE has been strengthened with the publication of the Country papers on macro-level drivers, which examine the perception of state institutions regarding the seven pre-identified drivers of radicalisation. In addition, the Report on macro-level drivers of radicalisation in MENA and Balkans offers a cross regional overview of the institutional approach across the regions under study. After achieving an in-depth understanding of the institutional response, the research on the community level conducted in the first phase of WP5 has contributed to drawing a comprehensive picture of radicalisation drivers among youth in the countries under study, while enabling their inclusion in the research process. The case-study reports also contributed to achieve CONNEKT’s objective of establishing a cartography of conducive collective contexts of radicalisation and VE involving diverse stakeholders by featuring focus group discussions with youth and community-level stakeholders. The Stakeholder’s Workshop organised for the selection of case-studies, which gathered Consortium members, external practitioners and stakeholders, also contributed to this objective. The completion of the first stage of WP5 research has identified the gaps between macro and meso stakeholders in the perception of the drivers, which provides valuable information on the relevance of macro policies regarding community-level perceptions and expectations. Furthermore, the publication of the Policy Paper and Policy Brief on Countering and Preventing Macro-Level Drivers of Radicalisation and VE in MENA and Balkans, based on the country reports on macro-drivers of radicalisation and VE, aims to achieve CONNEKT’s objective of transferring results and recommendations to multi-level policy-makers in target countries and to the EU.
Furthermore, the project has contributed to an increased awareness on PVE among public opinions in EU, MENA and Balkan regions, through communication and dissemination activities implemented by the Coordinator (including website, press releases, newsletters, etc)), as well as communication efforts of the Consortium at the local level, which also contribute to the appropriation of the project’s results among local stakeholders. Equally important is the impact of project’s results on promoting contrasted and broad-based awareness on the phenomenon among public opinions, highlighting the importance of prevention. The project results have been brough to the mass media by different consortium members, in the form of press articles, TV appearances or radio interventions. In this vein, JFRC has started an audio-visual project featuring young people with the aim of engaging young local audiences.
Lastly, the research at the meso-level has improved synergies among stakeholders and the complementarity of actions by involving youth and local actors.