The contexte

Many European cities are confronted to various forms of violence that can be associated with different types of radicality. It is these extremisms that the RAD2CITIZEN project aims to prevent by establishing a partnership, led by Toulouse Métropole, with the city of Malaga and CIFAL Malaga (Spain), the University of Applied Social Sciences of Salzburg (Austria) and the KEMEA Institute (Greece).

Violent acts are more and more visible, they give rise to incomprehension, fuel the feeling of insecurity among citizens and contribute to a loss of confidence in the authorities and in public policy actors. 

At European and metropolitan level, preventing such violences is a challenge. RAD2CITIZEN contributes to meet this challenge through a better understanding of these phenomena and the co-production of prevention tools intended to promote access to rights and citizenship. 

The challenges of the project 

The challenges of the project are based on the following points:

1. Apprehending violent extremisms at the Toulouse Métropole scale.
2. Take into account the coexistence of different extremisms in the territories concerned.
3. Co-produce shared and assessable actions to promote social cohesion and access to rights to citizens in the territory.

Objectives 

Over a period of two years, the project is intended to: 

• coordinating actors both locally and at European level
• compiling and analysing data
• building a common culture
• developing synergies between actions in order to harmonise the public response

In the long term, the ambition of the RAD2CITIZEN project is to enable local authorities to acquire strategic coordination and analysis processes, as well as practical tools for social intervention in order to implement participative, concerted and efficient public policies. These elements will then be transferable to other European authorities who will be invited to learn about the analysis methodology and the training courses developed.

Expected results 

• Establishment of a Extremism Observation and Support Unit 
• Development of tools to prevent extremisms in the field of Specialised Prevention
• Development of action plans and training to steer the management of migratory flows and associated identity conflicts

Partners

Toulouse Métropole : coordinator
Toulouse Métropole is a public institution of inter-cities cooperation in France, bringing together 37 municipalities, including the City of Toulouse (4th French city), around a common planning and development project. Toulouse Métropole has a number of missions, including solidarity, which includes juvenile delinquency prevention, youth prevention and access to rights.

KEMEA : Kentro Meleton Asfaleilas
The Center for Security Studies (KEMEA) is a scientific, consulting and research entity aiming at conducting theoretical and applied research and providing services on security at both national and international level. KEMEA is based in Athens and, according to its institutional framework, is the Hellenic Ministry΄s of Interior ″think-tank″ on internal security and anti-crime policy. Established by the Law 3387/2005 and supervised by the Alternate Minister of Citizens Protection. A main objective of KEMEA is to bring together all national Law Enforcement Agencies and security and civil protection practitioners from different governmental levels.    

Ayuntamiento de  Malaga
The City Council of Malaga ( Ayuntamiento) is the public  body charged with the municipal government and administration. The Plenary of the City Council is formed 31 elected municipal councilors, headed by the Mayor. Citizen Participation, Migration, External Action, Development, Cooperation, Transparency and Good Governance Department has a key role among with other 7 government areas of the City Council. It is a member of the Strong Cities Network (SCN) and the European Forum for Urban Security.

Fachhochschule Salzburg
The Salzburg University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1995. It has around 500 lecturers and researchers and over 2000 students. The Research Group on Social Innovation of the Department of Social Work brings together social scientists, political scientists, social workers, pedagogues etc. It has carried out a high number of research projects from the local to the regional, national and European level. Main fields of research are social and political inclusion, democracy, empowerment, citizenship education, participation, social cohesion, public health and futures research. 

CIFAL Malaga
The Association CIFAL Málaga was established in March 2019, as a non-governmental non-profit entity. It supports the activities of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); CIFAL Málaga aims to provide opportunities for training and exchange of good practices, tools and strategies between local and regional authorities, international organisations, private sector and civil society; and to support local actors, improving their decision-making processes by increasing their leadership in their implementation of innovative solutions at the local level, so that all this has an impact on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030.
 

Calendar

Duration of the project: 01/01/2020 – 30/09/2022

Funds

This project is funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund – Police. The total budget is 999 814,92 €. The European Union subvention is 899 833,43 €. 

Events

• Toulouse Métropole organised two days of exchanges and visits on 5th  and 6th July 2021. 

The aim was to bring together the European project's partners, the European Commission and institutional and associative players (local, national and European) associated with or interested in the project.

The onsite visits were followed by a conference and round tables.
Topics : Perspectives on violent extremism prevention strategies and professional insights on support of violent radicalisms situations in the presence of French and European speakers. 

Download the detailed programme of the conference
Download the synthesis of the conference and round tables

This project was funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund - Police under grant agreement No 871092.