Working Groups

Please click the below links to your relevant working group pages.

Working Group 1: counter-narratives and local communications

Working Group 2: refugees and internal displacement

Working Group 3: public-private partnerships

About the SCN Working Groups

The Strong Cities Network launched three members’ working groups in May 2016, with specific remits on key areas of local CVE development. Each working group was chaired by an SCN member city, with day-to-day management and research overseen by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

SCN working groups were designed to be collaborative forums for research and best practice sharing between member cities and ran for two years. The final output of the SCN working groups were the position papers, which have been amended to include additional case studies and link to current SCN delivery.

Working Group 1: Counter-Narratives & Local Communications

Chair: H.E. Hassan Ali Joho, Governor of Mombasa, Kenya

Members: Antwerp (Belgium); Augsburg (Germany); Bordeaux (France); Buenos Aires (Argentina); Cali (Colombia); Cuenca (Ecuador); Dakar (Senegal); Dresden (Germany); Helsinki (Finland); Kolofata (Cameroon); Kristiansand (Norway); Los Angeles (USA); Malé (Maldives); Malmö (Sweden); Meri/ Diamare (Cameroon); Mombasa (Kenya); Montreuil (France); Novi Pazar (Serbia); Palermo (Italy); Prishtina (Kosovo); Rotterdam (Netherlands); Sarcelles (France); Vilvoorde (Belgium), Yaoundé II (Cameroon).

Working group 1: position paper

Working Group 2: Refugees & Internal Displacement

Chair: Jørgen Kristiansen, Deputy Mayor of Kristiansand, Norway

Members: Antwerp (Belgium); Augsburg (Germany); Cali (Colombia); Cuenca (Ecuador); Gjilan (Kosovo); Helsinki (Finland); Kristiansand (Norway); Los Angeles (USA); Malé (Maldives); Medellín (Colombia); Palermo (Italy); Peshawar (Pakistan); Sarcelles (France).

Working group 2: position paper

Working Group 3: Public-Private Partnerships

Chair: Mark Duckworth, Chief Resilience Officer, Victoria, Australia

Members: Augsburg (Germany); Aurora (USA); Bordeaux (France); Buenos Aires (Argentina); Cali (Colombia); Dakar (Senegal); Dhaka South (Bangladesh); Gjilan (Kosovo); Helsinki (Finland); Los Angeles (USA); Malé (Maldives); Montreuil (France); Narayanganj (Bangladesh); Palermo (Italy); Pignon (Haiti); Prishtina (Kosovo); Sarcelles (France); Victoria (Australia); Vilvoorde (Belgium); Vushtrri (Kosovo); Yaoundé II (Cameroon).

Working group 3: position paper

What we do

We partner with city officials to establish local risk assessments and design action plans and programmatic responses. From de-radicalisation programming to youth engagement strategies, we ensure that local responses address local needs.

Working from the ground up, we establish local coordination bodies that unite city halls, civil society educators, public health bodies, the private sector and faith leaders to identify and address community tensions. We base our success on harnessing existing and credible institutions, from social services to traditional civic infrastructure.

We galvanise mayors, city officials, local services, communities and youth, training them to play active roles in diagnosing and responding to local risk factors, creating an international repository of best practice approaches.

We help members access the latest research and best practice from across the network through our SCN Online Hub, which features stories, interviews, guides and training modules for teachers, city officials and civil society. Our SCN Hate and Extremism Mapper provides members with data, building digital observatories that correlate online risks with offline behaviour.

We act as a bridge, creating stronger working relationships between local and national governments. We also provide civil society with the knowledge, skills and resources to foster meaningful partnerships with officials in city halls.