CommUnity Project Final Conference – Building bridges to prevent radicalisation among young people
Date: September 9, 2021
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Venue: UC Leuven-Limburg, Campus Proximus, Geldenaaksebaan 335, 3001 Heverlee
The attacks in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid, Manchester, Barcelona, London, Nice, Istanbul, Copenhagen and in many other places in and outside Europe all shocked us into questioning why young people conclude that the radical path is the only option for their future.
Through testimonials of former radicalized activists, theoretical frameworks such as self-radicalisation, dialogue for peace, radicalization of women and toxic masculinity, workshops, presentations of models developed in the CommUnity project through design thinking on arts-based community building, we discover which pillars and patterns in our society can prevent radicalisation. The conference concludes with a panel discussion to critically reflect on current efforts to prevent radicalisation and its pitfalls, as well as to deepen and collect ideas and recommendations on transforming ourselves and society to include all citizens in our future community.
Register here : https://forms.gle/yXwepfwFsEMedKi7A
Speakers Bio:
Patricia Huion is UCLL manager of the European university alliance E3UDRES2, the European, engaged, entrepreneurial university as driver for smart and sustainable regions. She is an innovator who co-pioneered second chance education, co-created the first trans-European master degree C-md and co-created one of 41 European university allainces. She writes papers and is passionate about creating engaging and inclusive learning environments, new understandings of and solutions to the ‘pains’ of society. She is a very intense listener and observer, feeling and intuiting new pathways into what is not there yet. She prefers working on the thresholds where knowledge communities may meet, loves to ‘possibilise’ through unorthodox links and enjoys tinkering with storyworlds. Writing stories, papers and European projects are her favourite activities. Some examples are Guerrilla Literacy Learners (http://www.pleasemakemistakes.eu), Learning2LearnByTe2 (http://l2lbyte2.weebly.com),Liminality& Educational Entrepreneurship (https://l33n.eu), Fresh Start https://www.freshstartlim.com/about. EMERgenCeS (http://erasmus-emergences.eu/), E3UDRES2 https://www.eudres.eu.
Dr. Ferhat Goktepe is a Researcher and Associate Professor and received his PhD in Educational Leadership and Administration from Spalding University. His areas of expertise are criminal justice, counterterrorism, radicalism and violent extremism and education. For over two decades, he has worked in the Counter-Terrorism Department in Turkey. He also worked for the United Nations in the Regional Crime Squad, Serious Crimes Investigation in the Kosovo mission.
Ina ter Avest is an em. professor of Religious Education. Her research focuses on the development of religious identity (of individuals, teams and organisations) in plural contexts, with an emphasis nowadays on Islam as a minority religion in a Christian (secular) society.
Jean-Yves Camus is a political scientist, associate researcher at IRIS, specialist in nationalism and extremism in Europe, and in particular an expert on the extreme right. He is currently co-director of the Observatory of Political Radicalities of the Jean Jaurès Foundation and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR) in London.
David Vallat is a former jihadist and anti-radicalisation activist. Converted to Islam in his youth, he became radicalised during the Bosnian war. He then joined training camps in Afghanistan. Back in France, he set up a terrorist cell with the support of the Algerian GIA. Today, he has repented and is a militant against radicalisation.
Ömer Faruk Gürlesin is an experienced researcher in sociology and psychology of religion. In 2006, he obtained a degree in philosophy and theology. He recently completed his PhD on the socio-cultural aspects of Turkish Islam in the Netherlands at the Centre for the Study of Religion, Leiden University. He is currently undertaking a research project for a long-term career in the socio-psychological approach to religious education.
Pavel Smulski represents Mitra France NGO. He holds Master’s degree in Culture and Communication from Université de Nice. He began his career as EVS (European Voluntary Service) youth worker in Brazil in 2010. Since 2015, with Mitra France he works as media literacy trainer throughout Europe and around the world. His main topics of interest are media and digital literacy, multimedia and art history.
Raffaella Biagioli is Professor of General and Social Pedagogy in the Department of Education Sciences and Psychology at the University of Florence and President of the Master’s Degree Course in Primary Education Sciences. Author of numerous monographs, articles and essays. Her research interests mainly concern: intercultural education and the inclusion of young people with non-Italian citizenship, unaccompanied foreign minors, teachers and headmasters training, the role of schools from an intercultural perspective, the pedagogical meanings of self-writing, educator training and educational career guidance.
Elizabeth Guerin is a PhD in Telematics and Information Society. She is a linguistic expert and Language Educator in the Department of Education Sciences and Psychology at the University of Florence.
Valentina Guerrini is a PhD in Education and currently a Research fellow at the Department of Education Sciences and Psychology at the University of Florence. She is the author of numerous essays and articles in pedagogical journals in the field. Her research interests are focused on the theme of education to differences (gender, ethnic, cultural), on the prevention of gender stereotypes in training and employment, on teacher training and on the prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism among young people.
Maria Grazia Proli is a Junior Researcher in the Department of Education Sciences and Psychology at the University of Florence. Her areas of expertise include multimedia and e-learning. She is currently collaborating to the research program “Organization and construction of multimedia materials for teaching in secondary schools. Tutoring and management of training activities in e-learning mode for the inclusion of migrant children in Italy and Europe”. Her research interests are focused on interculture, teacher education, distance learning, media pedagogy.
Handan Sayer, UCLL Project Researcher, Senior gender equality expert with over 10 years’ experience of working in various EU funded projects and within the environment of international and regional organizations such as UN, EU, Council of Europe and Organization of Islamic Cooperation. She holds an MA degree on International Conflict and Security with International Human Rights Law. She gives workshops on meaningful interactions and vignettes method.
Hakan Aycicek, Researcher at UCLL, Secretary General of EPN, co-writer and implementer of European funded projects. Psychologist, focusing on self-adaptation process of immigrants and refugees into host countries. Trainer for career development of refugees and immigrants. Lecturer on Psychology of Immigrants and Refugees from the TCN. He studied Guidance and Psychological Counselling and Educational Psychology. As a psychotherapist, he provides sessions regarding coping strategies for stress, anxiety, and depression.
Raquel Pinto-Bello Gomez, UCLL Researcher, studied psychology at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, specialising in work and social psychology, and specialised in early childhood education at the Universität Bremen. She is currently involved in several EU-funded projects focusing on migration as a project manager and researcher.
Eva Cijs is a master graduate in human rights, migration and integration studies. She is a Communication and Programme manager at the Intercultural Dialogue Platform and an Intercultural Trainer. She develops and gives trainings on cultural intelligence (CQ), integration/inclusion, sociology of language and self-development.
Radu Toderita is a graduate of literature and linguistics at the Romanian Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca. He is also a member of the Intercultural Dialogue Platform’s Youth Advisory Board and advices and guides the organisation in regards to youth issues. He is interested in human rights, gender and LGBTIQ issues, equality and intercultural dialogue. Radu will explore the scope of literature as a tool to better know ourselves and the people around us through the process of reading.
Ludmila Malai is the general Project Manager of the CommUnity project. She holds a master’s degree in Security studies and Diplomacy and a specialized master’s degree in International Law. She has extensive experience in writing and/or coordinating European Projects on topics such as Radicalisation, Migration, Women Empowerment, Racism and Islamophobia. She develops and gives trainings on cultural awareness, emotional intelligence, identity-building and intercultural dialogue.
Silvestar Petrov, is a holder of Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies and a Master’s degree in the field of Philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Croatia. He is a youth worker, trainer and project manager employed on a permanent contract. He is supporting development of youth work in rural regions of Croatia.
His main interest is an interdisciplinary approach to non-formal education and youth work field, moreover, development of environmental awareness and creativity through games, visual art, theatre and music.
Oguz Han Rahimi is a social entrepreneur and social initiator. He is currently active in various projects in the Netherlands. These projects focus on various themes, but specialise in the participation of migrants and refugees in Dutch society. His active projects include: a) Iftar en Kerst VerbindT, which organises street activities, promoting social cohesion between Muslims and non-Muslims; b) IkDOEMee: a social and political activation programme for Muslims; c) Platform We’RHERE (We Are Highly Educated Refugee Employee), which organises and facilitates the participation of highly-educated refugees in the labour market. In addition to his project management skills, he is himself actively involved in politics and social issues.
Mišel Androić has a master’s degree in philosophy specialized in philosophy of war and non-violent methods of conflict resolution. He has experience in working with youth and youth workers on topics such as human rights, deradicalization of youth, prevention of radicalization and violent extremism through youth work. He lectured on public forums speaking on Islamic philosophy and security aspects of jihad. He assisted in preparing and organizing the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union as a delegate for the working party on fundamental rights and movement of people (FREMP) in the Council of the European Union. He was providing support to the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice.
Pilar Arnáez is an activity coordinator and intercultural mediator in the non-profit organisation Arco Forum, Spain.
Within the organisation, she is currently involved in several projects co-funded by the European Commission, focusing on the prevention of youth radicalisation and the inclusion of migrants in host communities. She designs, organises and carries out events related to intercultural dialogue.
