Multi-Actor Frameworks

Cities are uniquely equipped to identify, react and build community resilience to prevent hate, extremism and radicalisation from taking root in their communities. To do so effectively, cities must tap into their local resources, experience and trusted relationships to mobilise a multi-sectoral, whole-of-society response that matches the complex and multi-dimensional processes of hate, extremism and radicalisation.

Why Multi-Actor?

A multi-actor framework or model for preventing and addressing hate, extremism and radicalisation coordinates the efforts of varied local agencies and actors, leveraging diverse disciplines to best understand and mitigate individual- and communal-level vulnerabilities. It reflects the complexity of extremism which can affect anyone as there is no single pathway into or out of extremism. To account for this, multi-actor frameworks not only facilitate a platform for coordination and communication between relevant stakeholders, but can also build collaboration between potentially siloed or isolated services.

Multi-actor frameworks can be organised in a number of ways, but should include a wide range of actors who can help serve prevention strategies and engage potentially vulnerable individuals, including local government, social workers, educators, law enforcement and community leaders.

City Good Practice

Municipality of Kumanovo

In North Macedonia, Strong Cities supported Kumanovo to operationalise a multi-actor framework, referred in the country’s National CVE Strategy as the Community Action Team (CAT). Kumanovo’s CAT was launched in 2019 and includes local government representatives, educators and social workers who meet monthly to discuss pertinent issues and ongoing activities in the city to prevent and address violent extremism.

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Multi-Actor Good Practices

The power of multi-actor frameworks stems in part from their proximity to, and immersion in, the day-to-day issues and challenges prevalent in their communities. This results in a deep and nuanced understanding of the individual and structural factors that might lead to violence motivated by hate or extremism. While multi-stakeholder models must be tailored to every city and account for the individual needs, institutions and relations present in each community, there are good practices cities should consider when pursuing a multi-stakeholder framework for local prevention.

In a briefing paper on Why Local Networks are Key to Preventing Extremism and Hate, Strong Cities has identified ten good practices from our work supporting the development of Local Prevention Networks in multiple contexts ranging from Kumanovo, North Macedonia, to Tripoli, Lebanon.

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North AMerica Pilot Programme

Developing Multi-Actor Frameworks in Small and Mid-Sized Cities in the United States

The Strong Cities Network, in partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital, the University of Illinois Chicago and the Prevention Practitioners Network, along with inputs from a dynamic, multi-disciplinary group of subject matter experts (SMEs), will pilot a model for the development of local multi-actor prevention frameworks in several small and mid-sized cities across the United States, including: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Ohio; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Overland Park, Kansas; and Stamford, Connecticut.

This fills a gap in existing support for local prevention efforts, which often overlooks the role of cities, particularly smaller ones. To do so, Strong Cities will:

1. Engage with the local government to build a local multi-disciplinary leadership group in each city (chaired by a representative of the local government);

2. Build the capacities of each group to understand and navigate the hate and extremism landscape and the multitude of existing prevention resources, and

3. Work with each group to develop and deliver a local prevention framework that draws from existing, global, city-led efforts to address hate and extremism while being contextualised to the needs of actors in their specific communities.

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City Good Practice

LPNs in Lebanon & Jordan

Strong Cities supported the development and launch of multi-actor frameworks – Local Prevention Networks (LPN) – in six cities in Lebanon (Tripoli, Saida and Majdal Anjarand) and Jordan (Karak, Zarqa and Irbid). The LPNs brought together local practitioners, youth workers, faith leaders, NGO representatives, government officials, teachers, social workers, and community police officers, with a focal point based in each municipality. The LPNs are locally owned platforms which enable a more focused approach to the coordination of prevention activities.

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