The last panel of the conference on security policy and security research with 4 experts with a great background in security research: Guillermo González, Karen L. Hough, Maite Boyero and Dr Pantelis Velanas.
The MEDEA project has organised the conference “EU Borders Security: Acting Ahead across Research, Practice, and Policy” on 27-28 September at the ISDEFE headquarters in Madrid. The conference is attended by experts from within and outside the consortium and is aimed at professionals involved in security.
Over two days, the conference will address the complexity of the European Union’s internal and external borders, which must allow for the efficient movement of people and goods while continuously filtering threats and ensuring security. The EU’s responsibility must evolve to adapt to the constantly changing geopolitical environment and threat landscape, and this requires promoting a constant exchange between cutting-edge research and innovation, strategy and policy planning, implementation on the ground, and engagement at regional, national and EU level.
The conference develops different sessions focusing on topics such as hybrid threats and border management; evolving interoperability challenges; and the key role of practitioners in security research. As part of the conference, a guided tour of CECORVIGMAR, the Guardia Civil’s Maritime Coastal and Border Surveillance Coordination Centre, is planned.
On the second day, Thursday 28th, Euro-Arab researcher Karen Hough will address the session on the common path between security policy and research. This session will discuss the ongoing challenge of aligning policy planning with research work which, in addition to considering the realities on the ground, needs to anticipate emerging trends and project action into the future. Also participating in this forum on behalf of the Euro-Arab Foundation will be Jose María González Riera, Deputy Director of the Euro-Arab Foundation’s Department of Research and Projects.
Expert round table at the second session of the MEDEA conference dedicated to the evolving challenges of interoperability.
MEDEA Project
MEDEA aims to develop a regional network of security practitioners and actors in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region by forming a critical mass of security and humanitarian experts and actors to cooperate with multidisciplinary entities from other countries and to present their needs as inputs to the Mediterranean and Black Sea Security Research and Innovation Programme.
This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon H2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The consortium is led by the KEMEA Centre for Security Studies in Greece and consists of 19 partners from different European countries. More information about the project on its website: https://medea-project.eu/
The project “STAND-UP: Standing up against hate in the EU” held on 26 September at the headquarters of the Euro-Arab Foundation in Granada a specialised training for professionals on hate crimes and hate speech, with the participation of experts from different fields in four thematic blocks: “The phenomenon of hate and under-reporting: a victim-centred approach”; “Narratives of hate in digital contexts”; “Alternative narratives from civil society”; and “Tools for social transformation”.
The course was attended by professionals from the fields of education and social work, psychology, community mediation, research and the National Police Force, and with the participation of different entities such as CEAR, Save The Children, CEPAIM Foundation, Asociación Marroquí and Granada Acoge, among many others.
The director of the Euro-Arab Foundation’s European Projects, Javier Ruipérez Canales, welcomed the participants and opened the training, which began with a presentation by the director of the Instituto Confucio of the University of Granada, Isabel María Balsas Ureña, and her co-director, Bu Shan, on the role of the Institute and the activities they carry out to raise awareness of Chinese culture in society.
The researcher and project technician of the Euro-Arab Foundation, Lucía G. del Moral, was in charge of moderating the day, giving way to the first block on the phenomenon of hatred and under-reporting with a victim-centred approach, and to the first speaker, Ismael Cortés, Member of Congress in the 14th legislature, and his conference on access to justice and the different initiatives to tackle hate crimes from a multi-stakeholder and multi-level approach.
She was followed by María Pina and Marina Dólera from Columbares with the presentation of the project “Está en tu mano” (It’s in your hand) and a wealth of data and analysis to understand in depth the current situation regarding hate crimes. The third presentation of the block was given by Bárbara Pérez Serrano, health psychologist, expert in gender violence and coordinator of FUNCOP (Foundation for the Training and Practice of Psychology), who explained the group psychological care services for women victims of gender violence that exist in Andalusia, and how the processes of reporting and the causes of under-reporting are.
Agenda of the closed event for STAND-UP professionals
The theme of the second block was the narratives of hate in digital contexts. Carmen Aguilera Carnenero, PhD from the University of Granada, shared her analysis of the power of dissemination of Islamophobic hate speech through memes. Next, researchers from the Euro-Arab Foundation José Luis Salido and Lucía G. del Moral explained the monitoring of hate they carried out in the framework of the STAND-UP project on the extreme right on 20-N and Islamophobia in social networks during the World Cup in Qatar.
The third block dealt with the alternative narratives proposed by civil society. Vanesa Martín, head of projects and new narratives at Fundación Por Causa, explained how they generate new narrative frameworks on migrations that connect with audiences and change public debate. Javier Vaquero, artist and LGTBI+ activist, presented ‘La Intersección’, a research and digital strategy team dedicated to creating collective narratives and tools to stop hate on social networks.
The last block was dedicated to tools for social transformation. Óscar Negredo, coordinator of the Community Mediation service of the Llobregat City Council of Hospitalet, where they apply multi-agency strategies for the prevention of violent extremism, creating spaces to promote understanding between groups and communities, took part in it. The National Police Inspector and Delegate for Citizen Participation of the Granada Provincial Police Station, María José Ramírez Campos, also spoke, explaining the promotion and awareness-raising work carried out by this specialised unit to prevent hate crimes. The last presentation was given by Jero Varas, project technician of the Melilla Acoge Association, on the project ‘OWO: Defending the space of coexistence’ focused on the prevention of attitudes and behaviours that encourage hate speech and hate crimes.
El investigador Daniel F. Pérez y Sani M. Ladan, autor de ‘La Luna está en Duala’.
The day ended with the presentation of the book ‘The Moon is in Douala: And my destiny in knowledge’, in the form of a dialogue between its authorSani M. Ladan and Daniel F. Pérez, researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation. During the conversation, they highlighted the prejudices and ignorance of European society about migratory phenomena, the lack of human quality that can be found in reception centres, the importance of having racialised references, the lack of protection of migrant children who are often used as a political tool, and the pan-African identity, among other interesting reflections.
This training takes place within the European STAND-UP project, the main objective of which is to improve inter-agency cooperation in the fight against hate crime through the design, development and implementation of a new inter-agency model led by public authorities.
STAND-UP project is co-funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Justice and Consumers. More information on the STAND-UP website and its activities on LinkedIn.
The conference “EU Borders Security: Acting Ahead across Research, Practice, and Policy” will be held on 27th and 28th September in Madrid (Spain) in the framework of the MEDEA project. This two-day event aims to point out the current challenges and necessities in this relevant subject that requires constant exchange among edge research and innovation, strategy, policy planning and implementation on the ground, involving stakeholders at regional, national, and EU level.
This activity is addresed to the professionals and all the security-related actors. The conference is structured with the following focus sessions:
Hybrid Threats & Border management,
Evolving interoperability Challenges,
Practitioners’ Key Role in Security Research
Looking Forward: A common path between Security Policy and Security Research
What is more, a guided visit to the CECORVIGMAR, Spanish Guardia Civil Coordination Centre for Maritime Surveillance of Coasts and Borders, is also scheduled to take place in the context of the conference.
If you are interested in this subject and want to attend the event, register here. You can find all the information and details on the MEDEA project’s website.
This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon H2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Programme. The consortium is led by the Center for Security Studies KEMEA from Greece and formed by 19 partners from different european countries, including the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies from Spain.
Intervention by Josep García Coll at the Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, EUROCRIM
In a panel held this morning dedicated to the MIRAD project, Josep García Coll, researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation, and Mariyan Sabev and Darina Sarafova, from the Centre for the Study of Democracy, presented a paper on ‘Assessine risk of violent extremism in prison and probation contexts’, focusing on the development of risk assessment tools, specifically for violent radicalisation of the extreme right and jihadist radicalisation.
The presentation outlined the main elements and risk indicators to be taken into account when carrying out risk assessments of people convicted of violent extremism offences. The development of these tools is motivated by the needs of professionals working on the front line with people deprived of liberty or who are moving towards probation or parole. The differentiation in the tools used according to the ideologies mentioned will improve the design and implementation of existing rehabilitation and reintegration programmes and thus achieve better results in the disengagement and reintegration into society of these persons.
Regarding right-wing extremism, research shows that the main risk factors include social marginalisation, perceived threats to traditional values, belief in conspiracy theories, anti-immigrant sentiment, political and social polarisation, economic insecurity, and exposure to extremist networks.
With respect to jihadist violent extremism, recent literature shows that the main risk factors are related to feelings of community grievances, complete distrust of the government and institutions, perceived ingroup superiority and other psycho-social factors like narcissism, sensation-seeking, cognitive closure or social alienation, amongst others.
The other two presentations held at EUROCRIM focused on ‘Training prison, probation and community staff on radicalisation and violent extremism: Results from a cross-sectoral and mixed-method training initiative‘ by IPS (Innovative Prison Systems) and on ‘Interinstitutional collaboration towards successful disengagement and social reintegration of violent and terrorist offenders‘ developed by the Centre for the Study of Democracy.
The MIRAD project (Multi-ideological Radicalisation Assessment towards Disengagement) is funded by the European Commission’s Internal Security Fund. The consortium is coordinated by the Emerging Security and Defence Team of the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts in France (le cnam) and includes partners from Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, France, Greece and Belgium, as well as the Euro-Arab Foundation in Spain.
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