Innovative Method and Procedure to Assess Counter-violent-radicalisation Techniques in Europe

IMPACT Europe is a project funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme aiming to fill the gap in knowledge and understanding of ‘what works’ in tackling violent radicalisation. Running from January 2014 to June 2017, this work will be the result of extensive, multidisciplinary, and end-user focused research and development by some of the most renowned research institutes in Europe and beyond.

The project will answer three questions to fill gaps in our knowledge that are currently limiting the effectiveness of counter-violent-radicalisation work:

  1. How effective are various programmes at tackling violent radicalisation?
  2. What is best practice in tackling violent radicalisation?
  3. How does this inform our knowledge and understanding of violent radicalisation?

The outcome of IMPACT Europe will improve and empower counter-violent-radicalisation policies and interventions across Europe.

The project website is at http://impacteurope.eu
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Pilot

Senior research fellow

Aim

IMPACT Europe will develop an evaluation toolkit to help professionals in the public and voluntary sectors design and implement an evaluation of their programmes tackling violent radicalisation, whether policies or interventions. The toolkit will also help professionals go beyond the evaluation of a single project by integrating best practice into the design and implementation of future programmes.

This evaluation toolkit will be composed of four elements:

  1. A standardised methodology, to provide professionals with a tool to conduct robust evaluations;
  2. An evaluation results database, to allow professionals to analyse these results over time, identify best practice and develop a more informed understanding of violent radicalisation;
  3. A training course (including a train-the-trainer component), to build professionals’ capacity to design, carry out and learn from appropriate evaluations;
  4. A training manual, to provide easy reference for professionals applying the toolkit.

Timeline

The project ran from January 2014 to June 2017.

Process

Partners

IMPACT Europe Consortium consists of 12 partners drawn from across Europe and beyond, specialising in academic and applied research, evaluation, community engagement, policing, commercial software and communications. Further information on each partner and their role in the project is provided at the links below.

  • Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS)
  • Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek (TNO)
  • Studio CEVAS
  • RAND Europe
  • ITTI
  • University of Milan Bicocca (UNIMIB)
  • Hogeschool Utrecht (HU)
  • Verwey-Jonker Instituut (VJI)
  • Intelligence in Science (ISC)
  • International Security and Counter-Terrorism Academy (ISCA)
  • Nationale Politie (NP)
  • Radical Middle Way (RMW)

Two additional partners in the form of other end-user organisations may be recruited during the project.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 312235