CONtexts of extremism iN mEna and balKan socieTies

Project Information

CONNEKT

Grant agreement ID: 870772

DOI

10.3030/870772

Project closed

EC signature date 13 November 2019

Start date 1 February 2020

End date 31 January 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Europe In A Changing World - Inclusive, Innovative And Reflective Societies

Total cost

€ 2 933 802,50

EU contribution

€ 2 933 802,50

Coordinated by

INSTITUTO EUROPEO DEL MEDITERRANEO
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - CONNEKT (CONtexts of extremism iN mEna and balKan socieTies)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

What drives youth to violent extremism? How can they turn from being “the problem” into “the key” for a solution?

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.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the 1st reporting period, CONNEKT has accomplished its objective of mapping past and current country strategies and approaches towards radicalisation and violent extremism in Europe, the MENA region and the Balkans. The work carried out has also allowed to identify existing frameworks and policies at state and local level to prevent radicalisation and VE in the eight target countries. After setting the academic backbone for the research with the Analytical conceptual framework paper, the Country reports on national approaches to extremism offered an overview of past and current approaches developed by domestic and foreign governmental and NGOs. Then, the Paper on regional approaches to radicalisation in MENA and the Balkans and the Cross-regional perspectives in MENA, the Balkans and the EU completed the analysis by drawing a cross regional comparison, with particular attention to impacts on the EU. Furthermore, the CONNEKT Seminar gathered multiple stakeholders, offering them the occasion to obtain a more insightful knowledge on radicalisation and VE. To disseminate the Seminar insights in a more accessible format, a series of interviews conducted with experts attending the seminar have been shared in the project’s social media accounts. The Consortium also produced a presentation video with an innovative approach to reach wide audiences while targeting youth. This initiative is in line with the project’s aim to allow youths to be a strong voice not only as subject of study but also as stakeholder in the response.

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.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Overall, the project has already had an impact by improving knowledge on VE among relevant actors in P/CVE in the MENA region, the Balkans and the EU, notably through the organisation of an Academic Seminar. Moreover, the continuous flux of information with the sister H2020 projects PAVE and PREVEX has created synergies among the projects, translating nto three joint activities in 2022, in Paris and Brussels (European Parliament and European Peacebuilding Liaison Office). The Research Symposium in Paris presented the research findings of the projects and the Science-to-Policy event at the European Parliament was an opportunity to discuss the projects results with EU policy officers. The publication of the Policy Paper and Policy Brief on Countering and Preventing Macro-Level Drivers of Radicalisation and VE in MENA and Balkans has provided recommendations for both national stakeholders and for the EU, contributing to increase expertise on PVE in target countries and among EU policymakers.

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 brought 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.

Kick off Meeting of CONNEKT took place in Barcelona in February 2020