The connection between the field of education and youth work is invaluable. Children thrive better in a cohesive pedagogical and educational climate. Teachers and youth workers play a big role in this environment, and collaborate with all kinds of people and organisations in neighbourhoods that play a role in the upbringing of youth. No uniformity, but a coherent pedagogical approach aimed at strengthening democratic citizenship among young people.
Schools have the objective to provide a safe and respectful environment for their students and function as a lab for democracy. One of their central roles is to ensure all students experience democracy and therefore understand democratic and social values to form their identity and prepare them for adulthood and a fully-fledged citizenship. Schools offer a safe environment where emotions and opinions can be dealt with, but they are also a place where extreme opinions can be shared and expressed/voiced. This can be disrupting or even threatening and, at times, very challenging for professionals.
Similarly, youth workers are in regular contact with youth in the streets, at youth centres or online. They know what young people struggle with, and like teachers, they play a role in facilitating discussions on controversial topics in a productive and meaningful manner. They also support youth in building life skills, develop healthy relationships, build resilience, develop critical thinking skills and guide them in making the right decisions. Youth workers form the connection between school and life outside of school.
The working group is set up to connect these professions and their experiences, which combined, can play an invaluable role in the prevention of extremism and radicalisation. It will focus on the need to better equip teachers and youth workers to support them in their role in preventing radicalisation and on strengthening the cooperation between the two sectors. The aim is to raise awareness of the topic as well as empower and build capacities for teachers and youth workers to address radicalisation. This working group will also give young people the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with these first-line practitioners.
Videos
Radicalisation makes victims of the most vulnerable, and there are few more vulnerable than young children. Those with limited parental guidance, suffering from discrimination or exclusion, with mental health issues – sometimes linked to trauma – or victims of abuse are the most vulnerable of all.
Children taken to Syria or Iraq by their parents and now returning to Europe, and non-European children forcibly displaced by Daesh and arriving in Europe, are likely to have many of these problems. They may have also witnessed atrocities, lost family, perhaps seen their parents imprisoned, and gone through the trauma of resettlement. Building up their resilience gives these children a chance.
RAN brought together policy-makers and practitioners in Warsaw on 4 July 2018 to find solutions to these challenges.
When tackling radicalisation and extremism, first-line practitioners sometimes need to have very difficult conversations.
- What should you say in a challenging situation?
- What should you not say?
- Which techniques may help? What do practitioners from the RAN network recommend?
Webinar
The aim of this webinar was to equip participants with tools and methods to deal with polarising narratives among children and teenagers they work with.
Papers
After RAN activities and Working Group meetings, an ex-post paper highlights lessons learned, insights and follow-up initiatives.
- RAN Y&E Artistic methods in prevention work, Stockholm 22-23 November 2022
- RAN Thematic event: Current challenges and solutions related to working with youth on P/CVE, Vienna 22 September 2022
- RAN Y&E Gender-specific approaches in PVE, Lisbon 31 May – 01 June 2022
- Manual for Designing Secondary Level Interventions for At-Risk Youths in an Open Setting, April 2022
- RAN Y&E Integrating the online dimension into offline pedagogical practices, online meeting 08-09 March 2022 (also available in French and German)
- Manifesto for Education 2nd Edition, 2021
- RAN Y&E Inclusion through sports, online meeting 30 November – 01 December 2021 (also available in French and German)
- RAN Y&E Education and Youth Work: Working with Community Figures both Inside and Outside Schools, online meeting 05-06 October 2021
- RAN Activities on Youth Work and Education, May 2021 (also available in French and German)
- RAN Y&E Education and youth work: towards an effective collaboration, online meeting 08-09 April 2021 (also available in French and German)
- RAN Y&E Youth isolation – How to get them out of it? Online meeting, 26-27 November 2020 (also available in French and German)
- Short Handbook conclusions paper COVID-19 Narratives that Polarise
- RAN Y&E and RAN LOCAL Dealing with the Co-existence of Formal and Non-formal Education, online meeting 04-05 November 2020 (also available in French and German)
- RAN Y&E Conclusions Transgenerational Transmission of Extremist Ideologies, online meeting 04-05 June 2020 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU meeting on dealing with religion-inspired extremist ideologies in school, Antwerp 14-15 November 2019 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU Safeguarding troubled refugee children in the classroom, Zagreb 03-04 October 2019 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU Academy Far-right extremism in the classroom, Berlin, 13-14 June 2019 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU Different ways governments can support schools and teachers in preventing/countering violent extremism, 06 May 2019 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU Making a difference: the dissemination and implementation of RAN EDU lessons for PVE-E, Dublin 21-22 February 2019 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU The role of primary education in preventing radicalisation: a realistic and optimistic perspective, Lisbon 15-16 November 2018 (also available in French and German)
- Transforming schools into labs for democracy, A companion to preventing violent radicalisation through education, 2018 (also available in French)
- RAN Policy & Practice Event, Building resilience among young children raised in extremist environments – specifically child returnees, Warsaw 04 July 2018
- RAN RVT & RAN EDU Building resilience in the classroom using testimonials from victims and formers, Madrid 24-25 May 2018
- RAN EDU Free speech, extremism and the prevention of radicalisation in higher education, Manchester 08-09 February 2018 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU Dealing with fake news, conspiracy theories and propaganda in the classroom, Budapest 29-30 November 2017 (also available in French and German)
- RAN EDU Drop-outs and going back to school, Paris 28-29 September 2017
- RAN EDU and RAN POL meeting on Polarisation Management, Stockholm 10-11 May 2017
- RAN EDU Guide on training programmes ‘Effective and confident teachers and other school staff’, Helsinki 01-02 March 2017 (also available in: Albanian | Macedonian | Serbian.)
- RAN EDU The school needs partners, Madrid 01 December 2016
- RAN Involving young people - Main lessons learned, Vienna, 01-02 June 2016
- RAN EDU School leaders and prevention of radicalisation, Antwerp, 19-20 April 2016
- RAN EDU Empowering and supporting teachers, Gothenborg 24-25 February 2016
- Manifesto for Education – Empowering Educators and Schools, 2016
- RAN Education kick-off meeting, 25-26 November 2015
Contact

Working Group leaders:
- Jean-Philippe Fons, France
- Dennis de Vries, Netherlands
For the Working Group contact points, please see the contacts page