RAN Y&E Education and Youth Work: Working with Community Figures both Inside and Outside Schools, online meeting 05-06 October 2021

The involvement and the support of communities are fundamental in the prevention of radicalisation. In addition to schools and youth work organisations, young people are also exposed to various other influential environments like their family or religious community. These environments can serve as both protective factors (in their search for identity) or as risk factors (in proclaiming problematic narratives).

What’s more, key figures in these environments might be able to reach young people more effectively than teachers or social workers because of their function as role models. At RAN Youth & Education, we try to emphasise the importance of collaboration within the pedagogical environment in order to create a positive and inclusive community around young people. Therefore, we also want to explore the role and value of these community figures within such collaborative structures.

During this RAN Y&E Working Group meeting, we invited practitioners from youth work, schools, and community representatives to share their experiences and expertise regarding this topic.

The meeting included three break-out sessions in which participants discussed specific questions related to the topic. On the first day, participants explored the relevance of working together with community figures in the prevention of violent extremism (PVE) and formulated various challenges they encounter. Solutions to these challenges were formulated on the second day. This paper will present these topics in the same order: first, the value of collaboration, followed by the challenges and solutions.