CommUnity : Build Communities - Create Peace

ended

The CommUnity project aims to prevent the radicalisation of the youth by enhancing community engagement and strengthening social cohesion. The project’s approach is based on multicultural and multi-faith dialogue, trust building, cultural and artistic expression. Throughout the project, a particular attention is given to involve Muslim communities. Indeed, considering that over 90% of victims of violent extremism involve Muslims, a successful PVE or CVE strategy must include Muslim-based communities and/or Muslim leaders. The CommUnity proposes multiple actions that are focusing on reaching out to youth through face-to-face campaigns but also through informal actors such as fathers or mothers. Therefore, our targeted audiences are young people, mothers/women and fathers/men. The CommUnity project includes 5 coordinated campaigns and 1 festival: Cine CommUnity, Women’s CommUnity, Men’s CommUnity, Harmony CommUnity, Youth Creative CommUnity and Youth Creative Festival: Peaceful Together. A minimum of 290 events will be performed throughout the project. The artistic/cultural events proposed during the campaigns are organised as part of the ongoing research that will be carried out throughout the entire project. Thus, the CommUnity project will allow the development, testing and implementation of new tools and methodologies that can contribute to preventing radicalisation. Precisely, a creative approach will be tested by organising and implementing various artistic and cultural activities involving youth and informal actors from Muslim based communities. Our strategy is ambitious and innovatory in the sense that we aim to transform vulnerable audiences into our most efficient allies in preventing radicalisation. Accordingly, an essential part of our approach is focusing on empowering young people, women and girls. The CommUnity project has a total of 11 participants from 7 European countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Croatia.