Month: March 2025

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News Projects VIRTUOUS en

VIRTUOUS: A New Project to Strengthen the Security of Places of Worship in Europe

José Mª G. Riera (FUNDEA) during the kick-off meeting

The launch of VIRTUOUS, a European project financed by the European Fund for Internal Security in which the Euro-Arab Foundation participates as a partner, took place in Limoges (France) on 19 March. During the event, José Mª González Riera, deputy director of the Euro-Arab Foundation’s Research and International Projects Department, outlined the Foundation’s essential role in the project: analysing past terrorist attacks, identifying threat trends, assessing the security of religious sites, and training religious leaders and security experts. In addition, the Foundation will lead the production of microlearning materials for religious communities.

The central objective is to strengthen cooperation and response to threats to places of worship through collaboration between religious communities, authorities and security forces.

Safer and more resilient environments for religious communities

VIRTUOUS proposes an innovative and multi-faceted approach, establishing an unprecedented collaboration between religious communities, authorities, security forces and security service providers. By integrating cutting-edge technologies, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), the project aims to accurately identify vulnerabilities and improve understanding of potential threats. This effort represents a crucial step towards creating a safer and more resilient environment for religious communities in Europe, based on innovation, cooperation and a strong commitment to the values of the European Union.

The VIRTUOUS project is strategically aligned with key EU documents, including the EU Counter-Terrorism Agenda and the EU Security Union Strategy. By prioritising the physical protection of places of worship and fostering inter-religious dialogue, VIRTUOUS contributes directly to the EU’s objectives of ensuring security and promoting inclusiveness in European societies. In addition, the project emphasises the fight against hatred in all its forms, in line with the Joint Communication ‘No place for hatred: a Europe united against hate’, reinforcing its role in upholding fundamental rights and values.

Key Objectives:

  • In-depth understanding: analyse trends and recurring patterns of terrorist attacks against places of worship in Europe.
  • Identification of vulnerabilities: Use innovative technologies to assess and mitigate risks in these spaces.
  • Awareness and preparedness: Develop recommendations, training programmes and strengthen cooperation between stakeholders.
  • Broadening the scope: Extend protection to educational institutions and community gathering spaces associated with religious denominations.
  • Interfaith dialogue: Foster cooperation, communication and dialogue to strengthen the resilience of religious communities.
Categories
data quality en News Projects

Presentation of the results of the Needs Assessment of the DATA EQUALITY project

On 28 March, the First Policy Event of the European DATA EQUALITY project to prevent and combat intersectional data discrimination was held in an online format. This activity aimed to present the most relevant insights from the Needs Assessment activities, as well as to discuss possible solutions based on the Technical Roadmap elaborated on the evaluation of existing AI solutions for predictive justice and for pre-existing OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) platforms to be free of bias in collecting and processing data.

The meeting was attended by researchers from the Euro-Arab Foundation, Rascha Albaba Acosta, Jose Luis Salido Medina and Paula Cano Cruz. The latter was in charge of presenting the results of the Needs Assessment, a task led by the Foundation, which aims to illustrate the roadmap and innovative ideas for data collection and elaboration through AI-based tools, involving stakeholders such as Judicial Authorities, LEAs (Law Enforcement Agencies), technology companies, research centres and representatives of CSOs (Civil Society Organisations).

The results of the Needs Assessment, gathered through desk research activities, a survey and semi-structured interviews, have highlighted the gap in both the public and private sectors in the collection, management and analysis of discrimination data, including the lack of knowledge on the general issue of data-based discrimination.

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News Projects Rebel EN

Jury Selects Finalists for its Redesigning Belonging (ReBel) Project

On March 19th, the Rebel Jury convened at WDCD’s headquarters in Amsterdam and selected 11 finalists from 56 applications received during an open call that invited designers, students, creative makers, thinkers, and innovators to contribute to the ReBel project’s goal: developing innovative integration models and solutions for diverse EU contexts.

An international jury of over 21 experts in service design, social anthropology, migration, and other fields, including the Euro-Arab Foundation as a project partner, selected the finalists from several EU countries. The winning projects will be chosen through a public vote on March 26th.

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EN Hatedemics News Projects

We participated in the International Conference ‘Artificial Intelligence against Hate and Disinformation’

Last Thursday, March 13th, the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies participated in the international conference ‘Artificial Intelligence against Hate and Disinformation’ in Brussels, organized by ALDA (European Association for Local Democracy) and the Hatedemics’ Consortium.

The conference featured the presentation of initial findings from the Hatedemics project, which is developing advanced tools to detect, analyze, and counter harmful narratives, including racism, xenophobia, conspiracy theories, and intolerant discourse.

Lucía García del Moral, a researcher and international project manager at the Foundation, presented the methodological approach for the effective implementation of the Hatedemics Advanced Platform. She emphasized the importance of actively engaging NGOs, CSOs, fact-checkers, journalists, and young activists in the daily use of this tool to effectively combat hate and disinformation.

About the Hatedemics Project:

Following the conference, the Hatedemics project consortium held an internal meeting. HATEDEMICS, funded by the European Commission, aims to combat online hate speech and disinformation. The Euro-Arab Foundation leads the research component of the consortium.

The project’s primary goal is to empower NGOs, civil society organizations, media professionals, public authorities, and young activists to address these issues, with a focus on their impact on vulnerable groups. HATEDEMICS addresses the interconnected nature of hate speech and misinformation in the digital sphere.

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EUKH EN News

The Euro-Arab Foundation & the European Knowledge Hub Train Local Actors in Strategic Communications for the Prevention of Radicalisation

Last week Malaga hosted a training course on Strategic Communication in which around 40 local actors from the European Union participated.
The main objective of this training was to deepen the role of this communication in mitigating radicalisation processes and extremist dynamics, while promoting the resilience of vulnerable communities.

For Javier Ruipérez, director of StratComms (Strategic Communications) at the European Knowledge Hub for Prevention of Radicalisation, “strategic communication plays an essential role in developing effective policies and actions aimed at preventing radicalisation that can lead to violent extremist actions, regardless of ideology”.

According to this expert, the radicalisation of narratives is “a phenomenon that is increasingly tending to polarise our societies in Europe, to normalise extremist narratives in political discourse, in the media or through the viralisation of content – often false and manipulated – on social networks”. Ruipérez is Director of Research and Projects at the Euro-Arab Foundation, one of the entities that make up the European Knowledge Hub, the European Union’s new knowledge centre for the prevention of violent extremism, and organiser of this event.

Javier Ruipérez in one of the sessions of the EUKH course in Malaga. About the EUKH

In the course held in Malaga on 6th and 7th March, participants from different European countries were trained by leading experts on the crucial role of strategic communication in building community resilience and the use of narratives for positive change.

During this training they worked on identifying specific audiences within the community and tailoring messages for each group, developing practical skills in creating personalised messages that address local concerns and counter extremist narratives. In addition, techniques have been explored to engage local and community stakeholders, building trust and cohesion. Tools and strategies have also been applied in simulated cases aimed at communicating effectively in crisis situations, maintaining public trust and controlling narratives.

About the EUKH

The European Knowledge Hub for Prevention of Radicalisation, established in the EU Counter-Terrorism Agenda 2020, acts as a meeting point for practitioners, policymakers and researchers engaged in the prevention of radicalisation in Europe and priority countries.

The Euro-Arab Foundation, based in Granada-Spain, leads the Strategic Communication (StratComms) line, implementing various activities such as thematic panels that function as forums for experts to facilitate debate and knowledge consolidation; workshops and ad hoc events to help respond to new challenges; study visits to the Middle East; research and preparation of reports and analyses for member states, among other activities.

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News

Euro-Arab Researchers Analyze Syria’s Democratic Transition at Madrid Seminar

On March 6th, researchers Jusaima Moaid-azm Peregrina and Rascha Albaba Acosta participated in a seminar titled “Syria’s Path to Democracy: Domestic Challenges and Regional Implications.” Organized by IE University in Madrid for master’s students, the event aimed to analyze and foster debate on the impact of current changes in Syria, its democratic trajectory, and its future. An expert from Universidad Complutense de Madrid also contributed to the seminar.

Moaid-azm’s presentation focused on the Syrian regime’s trajectory, examining its authoritarian foundations, the factors leading to the conflict, and various conflict resolution initiatives. It explored the key dynamics contributing to the potential fall of the Assad regime, providing an overview of its rise, consolidation, and potential collapse.

Albaba addressed the future and reintegration of Syrian refugees in a post-conflict era, examining their return prospects, conditions needed to prevent re-traumatization, their legal rights during return (protected by international law), and the role of international frameworks and a future Syrian government in ensuring safe and dignified return.

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News Projects victory

Seminar ‘Women and Restorative Justice. Reparation from a Gender Perspective’.

This seminar is part of the European VicTory project whose work focuses on understanding and tackling (violent) extremism and hatred in a holistic, victim-centred way, seeking to ensure that victims’ rights are respected and secondary victimisation is avoided.

Funded by the European Commission’s E-Justice, the project identifies existing legislation, protocols, practices and initiatives around victim support in Europe, with the aim of examining their effectiveness and challenges, especially whether there are those tailored to victims of incidents related to hate and violent extremism, taking into account the perspective of victims, as well as examining other initiatives focused on supporting different types of victims, which can be transferable and adaptable.

VicTory also promotes and guides the implementation of restorative practices, with the aim of raising awareness and empowering practitioners, communities and victims themselves to successfully engage in them, thereby improving victims’ access to justice and key support.