Capacity-building in youth work in dealing with new forms of extremism through innovative online tools

There were three main objectives in the project: 1) Develop and put at the disposal of youth workers innovative digital educational resources to understand and prevent violent extremism and radic...

There were three main objectives in the project: 1) Develop and put at the disposal of youth workers innovative digital educational resources to understand and prevent violent extremism and radicalization. This involves creating an innovative digital toolbox directly relevant to everyday youth work to be placed online and containing: a) a constantly updatable, accessible and ready-to-use extremism online repository (open educational resources and analyses) with the most recent and evidence-based information about extremist scenes in Austria and Germany (in particular in Baden Württemberg, with a population comparable to Austria), and b) an online repository of ready-to-use innovative educational and digital tools for youth work which were developed specifically for the purpose of extremism prevention in youth work – including pedagogical material; 2) train youth workers in a number of specific training workshops in the practical use of these resources; and 3) evaluate the tools and the trainings and produce a report on best practices and best transferability options.

1) Management and dissemination - General project management and implementation - Implementation of a kick-off meeting (online) - Conducting monthly online meetings - Organise one multiplier event (streamed live online, recording available on YouTube) - General dissemination of project information (based on a Communication & Dissemination Plan) 2) Creating two innovative digital toolboxes - Creating a digital extremism repository (theoretical focus): www.extremismus.info - Creating a practical digital tools repository (practical focus): www.beratungsstelleextremismus.at/datenbank 3) Conducting a training event and drafting an evaluation report - Implementing an in-person training for youth workers in Bregenz (incl. a follow-up review meeting online) - Completing an evaluation of the training and the produced online repositories For more details on implemented activities refer to the annexed "CAYET - Final Report".

The project created a digital extremism repository containing open educational resources and analyses with the most recent and evidence-based information about extremism in Austria and Germany. This covers basic concepts, Islamist extremism, right-wing extremism, conspiracy theories, conspiracy mechanisms, and online radicalisation. The repository consists of over 200 articles, more than 30 audio-visual footage as well as 19 infographics. Accompanying this, a practical toolbox was developed simultaneously, creating an online repository of ready-to-use innovative digital tools for youth work with PVE games, handbooks and guidelines. A two-day in-person training on the "Prevention of (right-wing) extremism in youth work” was also held a the youth centre in Bregenz (Austria), presenting the scientific and the practical repository to youth workers and testing practical materials for their applicability. Finally, a (digital) train-the-trainer handbook in German was developed, containing information on both repositories, a guide in the form of a flow chart, and practical examples from youth work on how the repositories can help in dealing with youth radicalisation and extremism.