Project: Evaluation and Mentoring of the Multi-Agency approach to violent radicalisation in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

2020-02-01 – 2022-04-30

Abstract

As stated by the RAN policy paper 2018 multi-agency structures and working processes are crucial for early and effective identification of individuals at-risk, improved information-sharing, joint decision-making and coordinated action. Multi-agency working (MAW) breaks down historical silos between agencies and leads in different cities to cooperation, instead of fragmentation of services. Although practitioners and academics endorse the added value of MAW, they also pinpoint on some prerequisites of building an effective collaboration (building trust, awareness, ethical and legislative guidance, etc.). Two main challenges for MAW have been indicated, namely (1) the lack of established policies and procedures for MAW in counterterrorism and thorough evaluation research of the MAW approach and (2) the barriers of information sharing. To tackle these challenges, the EMMA (Evaluation and Mentoring of the Multi-agency approach to violent radicalisation in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany) project offer (1) an evaluation of the multi-agency approach and (2) mentoring of peer-to-peer assessment and exchange of best practices with the development of training sessions and a digital learning platform for local MAW officials