On April 16, the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies in partnership with Enhancing Faith Institutions , organised a training workshop for religious leaders on preventive security and incident management. This activity was part of the EU-funded project PARTESS-COM, which involves the Euro-Arab Foundation, eighteen European research organisations, as well as security agencies and religious communities from 12 countries.
The workshop brought together worship leaders, law enforcement, local authorities and security experts through local trainings for multi faith religious leaders, simulation exercises and collaboration across Europe. The program aimed to cover potential security breaches, but also to provide pragmatic tools to ensure places of worship protection. It offered concrete examples on the detection of security breaches and pointed out their prevalent effects on the religious communities, and how to report to police stations as well as estimated time responses by authorities.
Besides, the ‘Faith Guardian’ mobile app was introduced, a PARTESS-COM platform that allows for secure incident reporting and direct connection with security experts across the EU. Along this tool, the workshop highlighted Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), a strategy that focuses on how the design of public spaces can naturally deter incidents and enhance safety through thoughtful urban planning rather than relying solely on high-cost surveillance or excessive public spending.
To combat growing cyber threats against religious communities, PARTESS-COM builds multi-faith solidarity through institutional cooperation across Spain. The project advocates for a holistic security model involving physical, procedural, and regulatory safeguards. Success relies on the active collaboration of leadership, staff, and the congregation to ensure these protections are effectively managed and maintained.
