Above: Head of SCN, Rebecca Skellett, spoke at length on the importance of local leadership. As part of our partnership with the UN Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (UN-CTED), the Head of the Strong Cities Network, Rebecca Skellett had the opportunity to present at the open briefing on the protection of ‘soft’ targets through local engagement…
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In December 2017, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and SCN member, introduced a City Hall-wide Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Programme to run throughout 2018. The programme appointed six specialist advisers to provide independent expertise and feedback, among which was the Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s own CEO Sasha Havlicek. Having undergone a stringent, ground-up review…
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Patricia Crosby, SCN Regional Manager, and Tim Hulse, M&E Coordinator, reflect on a recent workshop held by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health exploring how to apply public health methodology to the evaluation of CVE programmes and makes the case for improving our focus on this important, but often under-looked, aspect of successful local…
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A U.S. delegation from Anaheim and San Diego visited the site of a 2004 terrorist attack in Cologne, which targeted the city’s Turkish community. (State Department photo) SCN Members from Southern California pair with counterparts from North Rhine-Westphalia to explore ways to counter terrorist radicalization and recruitment through the U.S. Department of State’s City Pair…
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Above: the Lebanese focal points with Prevent officers in Leicester On 24 and 25 June, the Strong Cities Network (SCN) organised a study trip for its municipal focal points from Lebanon with the support of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our focal points from the cities of Saida, Tripoli and Majdal Anjar travelled to…
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Above: Mayors at the launch of Strong Cities Network with Sasha Havlicek at the United Nations in New York 2015 While nation states have dominated the international stage for centuries, cities are now becoming increasingly important entities. For the first time in history, more people are living in cities today than in rural areas with…
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Above: the launch of the Tripoli Youth Office in Lebanon The past two months have been a busy period for the Young Cities team, delivering activities in collaboration with SCN members in Kenya, Lebanon and Senegal. Young Cities is SCN’s flagship youth engagement, capacity-building, advocacy and policy programme that supports the development of local youth-led…
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Marijeta Mojašević is a Youth Advisor for the Municipality of Berane, a town in the north of Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, the region was rocked by armed conflict throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Montenegro gained independence in 2006, and while the country has remained peaceful, the aftermath of the Balkan…
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We are delighted to announce the launch of a multi-million Euro fund for civil society organisations from across Europe to aid the Strong City Network’s (SCN) aim to counter hate and extremism, and support local-level innovation to build social cohesion and resilience in our communities. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), where the SCN is…
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Every year, the Strong Cities Network (SCN) in Lebanon organises a showcasing event during the month of Ramadan. The event is an opportunity for the three Local Prevention Networks (LPN) of Saida, Majdal Anjar and Tripoli to come together and reflect on their Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) work and achievements under the SCN programme…
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Facilitate systematic sharing of knowledge, expertise and lessons learned on building social cohesion and community resilience to prevent violent extremism across cities on an international basis, through both regional workshops and international conferences.
Raise awareness of existing policy, programming, and practice through a dynamic and searchable ‘Online Information Hub’, providing an extensive library of existing local approaches and responses to prevent violent extremism.
Directly support cities to develop strategic frameworks and capabilities to build resilience that safeguard the rights of their local communities, including through capacity building seminars and interactive training modules on themes of mutual interest.
Directly seed the development of new and innovative projects through ‘Local Innovation Grants’, providing support for cities on innovative project development and support for the transfer of promising projects that could be adapted across different locations.
Directly support cities to develop strategic frameworks and capabilities to build resilience that safeguard the rights of their local communities, including through capacity building seminars and interactive training modules on themes of mutual interest.
Provide a global platform to enable cities to jointly voice their needs and those of their communities, to inform national and international decision-making on preventing the spread and growth of violent extremism.
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