General news about the Strong Cities Network, including updates to our members, website news, events and more.
During this year’s UN General Assembly, a huge focus was placed on the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2016 with the convening of the SDG Summit to review the roadmap to 2030. In our main article, Head of Strong Cities Network, Rebecca Skellett, asks whether SDGs and PVE are working towards the same goal?
Right-wing extremist groups and ideologies are rising across the global north. Climbing hate crime statistics highlight the increased violence and harassment which minority communities are under, whilst recent terror attacks in New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom throw this threat into the fore. However, the question remains, how should local authorities…
Read more »
SCN Coordinator Marta Lopes speaking at the PRoTECT Seminar in Brasov, Romania Author: Marta Lopes Coordinator, SCN The SCN has launched a new project to develop a “Post-Incident Response Toolkit” which will provide key guidance and insight to both city leaders and practitioners on best practice responses following a terrorist attack or suspected terrorist attack….
Read more »
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…
Read more »
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…
Read more »
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…
Read more »
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…
Read more »
We are delighted to welcome two new managers to the Strong Cities Network team. Patricia Crosby and Simeon Dukic joined last month and will be leading the SCN’s work in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and the Western Balkans and Central Asia, respectively. Together they bring a tremendous amount of regional expertise and insight that…
Read more »
On behalf of the Strong Cities Network team, we wish to express our sincerest condolences to those whose lives were taken during the Christchurch attack and all those affected by it. This unspeakably cruel act of violence and hate is beyond comprehension and we are at loss for words. We mourn in unison with the…
Read more »
Lebanon has the led the way in the MENA region, having been one of the first countries to establish a national PVE unit, which developed a national strategy aimed at the prevention of violent extremism (PVE) across the country. The strategy’s nine pillars include crucial strategic topics such as good governance, dialogue and economic development….
Read more »
