“Youth radicalisation and the associated use of violence have become a growing issue of concern in Europe and its neighbouring regions. There has been a notable increase in hate speech, incidence of hate crimes and attacks on migrants and refugees, propaganda and violent xenophobia, as well as a rise in religious and political extremism and in terrorist attacks in Europe and its neighbouring regions. All of these emerging concerns have highlighted the need to work with young people in order to identify and address the root causes of extremism and prevent their radicalisation, as well as strengthen young people’s resilience, prevent marginalisation, promote equality, emphasise alternatives and reinforce the cohesion of communities in which they live.” (Youth Work Against Violent Radicalisation, 2017 – Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth). The publication underlined the limited impact of youth work within the wider social, political and economic context, the lack of in-depth understanding of the phenomena of violent radicalisation, and the need for further training and networking as well as the necessity of devising new approaches to working on the topic.

ENGINE’s aim was to explorethe potential of Non Formal Education combined with Forum Theatre and Critical Thinking Methodology as a new pedagogical instrument aimed at preventing radicalisation among youth.

Results:

– Research Report “Educational challenges and best practices to prevent radicalisation among youth” which is constituted by a) national and international existent best practices regarding Forum Theatre and Media Literacy and Digital Storytelling methodologies b) datas gathered from national focus group sessions with target group and stakeholders. The Report was made widely visible on project Web Platform and partners’ Websites as well as promoted on multiple levels through offline and online means.

– “Youth Work preventing radicalisation among young people” Educational format based on a brand new joint educational approach of Forum Theatre, Media Literacy and Digital Storytelling methodologies conceived as a term of reference for stakeholder institutions and NGOs to put in place a specific educational offer aimed at training youth workers and operators working with the youth target. The partners created a draft methodology of training using the results of the Report “Educational challenges and best practices to prevent radicalisation among youth” and their previous experience and expertise with the abovementioned methodologies.

– One International Piloting Joint Staff successfully implemented with the involvement of youth workers/Trainers from partner organizations.The Joint Staff served as a testing of the Training Format. Participants to the training were invited to submit their feedback for further improvement and finalisation of the Format. Outcome of the Joint staff was the draft of the Toolkit ““Educational Pathway to Prevent Youth Radicalisation”.

– One International Piloting Blended Mobility of Young People successfully implemented with the involvement of young people from partner countries. The BMYP serves as a testing of the Toolkit “Educational Pathway to Prevent Youth Radicalisation” which was finalised by the consortium after receiving participants feedback.

– Local Activities implemented in each partner country with the involvement of local and migrant youths. During the local activities young people who participated in the BMYP was replicate the learnt workshops acting as New GenerAction Ambassadors.

– Local Seminars implemented in each partner country (1 per partner country) with  the involvement of 10 youth workers/trainer from other youth associations, NGOs and institutions that were trained on how to sucessfully exploit project outputs in their activities targeted at young people.