The SHRINEs project (GA n. 101100431), funded by the European Internal Security Fund with €1.5M, was launched in February 2023 and will last two years.

Public spaces continue to represent high-risk areas in the context of criminal activities, terrorist attacks as well as natural disasters and unintended events. The SHRINEs project aims at enhancing the safety and security of places of worship. The main objective is to create an interfaith network aimed at raising awareness among the leaders of different religions about the risks and threats facing the sites that they manage, and informing them about the technologies that can address such risks. Networking and awareness raising – the main activities in the SHRINEs framework – will be enhanced through close cooperation with technology engineers in workshops and webinars. Law enforcement and public authorities will also be involved in order to assess risk factors, better understand threat perceptions, and exchange on capabilities and potential cooperation in protecting places of worship. Discussions among religious communities, technology developers, and public institutions will allow for the identification of specific case studies of places of worship where technologies could be applied. They will also help to better specify the ethical and legal framework within which this protection should take place.

SHRINEs is coordinated by the SAFE Foundation, based in Soave (Italy), and consists of ten partners. The project involves stakeholders with various backgrounds such as public and private entities, academic institutions, law enforcement agencies, and religious groups with a view to contributing to the identification of innovative technological solutions and effective mitigation measures.