Project to help prevent extremism

Dr George Kassimeris plans to lead a workshop-based visit to Barcelona for professionals involved in training on different aspects of counter-terrorism and violent extremism prevention.

He plans to link with Spain to take advantage of the country’s long standing experience in dealing with terrorism and extremism.

Participants will include contacts from emergency services, prisons, local authorities, colleges, universities and media organisations, drawn from regions in the UK with current violent extremism problems.

They will attend a week-long series of seminars under the theme of Preventing Violent Extremism: Lessons, Realities, Ways Forward. These will be held at the CIDOB Foundation in Barcelona, a world-renowned centre for the study of understanding terrorism and political extremism.

 Dr Kassimeris, a Senior Research Fellow in Conflict and Terrorism, said: “The choice of a Spanish partner for this project is critical. Barcelona has dealt with numerous terrorist incidents and the city’s responses have demonstrated that effective work in preventing violent extremism and counter-terrorism needs to involve partnerships across different sectors.”

He said he was delighted to receive a grant worth 57,700 Euro grant from the Leonardo da Vinci programme, an EU initiative to support education and training, to enable the project to go ahead.

Workshops will examine national training systems, enhancement of vocational skills and innovative practice, as well as research development.

The rationale behind the project is that it will lead to the development of new expertise which participants can apply to their area of work back in the UK, sharing of good practice, development of frameworks for crisis planning and the establishment of a broader

Dr Kassimeris said: “The participants need opportunities to engage with European experts in the field and to better understand the approaches and policies in order to enhance their own effectiveness.

“In addition, learning in a comparative environment will broaden their knowledge base and widen their transferrable skills beyond their normal specialist focus.”

Further information

Notes to editors

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

For more information please contact Emma Kilvert in the Media Relations Office on 01902 322003