Violent radicalisation among young people has become a growing issue of concern in Europe and its neighbouring regions.
Youth work has a very important role to play in the prevention of violent radicalisation, supporting and empowering young people to deal with challenges they face and strengthening their resilience.
Youth workers work on the development of:
- young people’s life skills,
- critical thinking,
- inter-cultural competences, active citizenship, promotion of diversity, and common values of freedom and tolerance through non-formal and informal learning.
Organized by SALTO Youth in collaboration with Erasmus+ Youth in Action programme’s national agencies and the EU-CoE partnership, the international conference Youth Work Against Violent Radicalisation took place in Malta between the 28th and 30th November. The event gathered more than 100 participants from Europe and the neighbourhood.
The conference represented for its participants a precious opportunity to explore together the role of youth work in preventing the radicalisation leading to violence phenomenon among youth, and to fruitfully exchange experiences and practices.
The first day was dedicated to the definition of terms relevant to the study of the radicalisation phenomenon and to the presentation of the results of the research previously carried out by Miguel Angel Garcia Lopez and Lana Pasic on the role of youth work in its prevention.
During the second day, participants had the chance to deepen their insights on themes such as:
- the individual and collective components of the radicalisation process,
- risk and protection factors,
- the role of education preventing the phenomenon.
Moreover, thanks to dedicated workshops, some participants had the opportunity to enrich the exchange by sharing some related good practices.
On the last day of the conference, the focus was set on follow-up opportunities and possibilities within Erasmus+, ENI and other programmes, and on the sharing of new project ideas among participants, with a view to possible future cooperation.
Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo “Danilo Dolci” is working successfully in preventing radicalism through two projects:
This experience enriched us with new stimuli, ideas, knowledge, in order to deepen and improve cooperation on a European and Euro-Mediterranean level on the prevention of youth radicalisation leading to violence.
For further information about the conference, visit salto-youth.net.