A Toolkit for Cities: Building a Multi-Actor Local Prevention Framework

Executive Summary

This toolkit provides a step-by-step guide for developing and implementing a Local Prevention Framework (LPF), which is a city-led strategy to prevent all forms of hate, extremism and targeted violence, that is grounded in public health principles. It is based on lessons learned from a Strong Cities pilot programme in five small and mid-sized US cities delivered from October 2023 to July 2025 and is designed to provide guidance for local governments and their leaders interested in advancing local prevention efforts.

The process begins by identifying the local actors, organisations and services that may play a role in prevention (including those whose primary focus is on a single form of hate (e.g., anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or anti-Black, anti-LGBTQI+ or anti-AAPI hate) or targeted violence (e.g., political or ideologically motivated) and creating a directory to serve as a reference. After identifying local stakeholders, cities determine which stakeholders would best constitute a Local Leadership Group (LLG) – a diverse, multidisciplinary working group of both governmental and community and other non-governmental stakeholders that can lead in the development and then implementation of the framework. While the experiences of those who have survived acts of terror, hate, or violent extremism are deeply personal and context-specific, research has uncovered common layers of trauma and stages of grief among survivors and witnesses. These span from physical and medical effects to intrusive, long-term psychological trauma.

The LLG should then take part in a series of foundational learning modules that introduce key concepts in hate and targeted violence prevention, establish a shared vocabulary and orient local stakeholders to the broader landscape of available tools and frameworks.  

The LLG should then run a transparent, inclusive process that gathers local data from a diversity of sources and inputs from communities across the city to identify relevant threats, underlying drivers of harm and existing policies, programmes, organisations, structures and other assets. The results of this Needs and Vulnerabilities Assessment (NVA) can then inform the LLG’s efforts to develop an LPF so that it responds, first and foremost, to the concerns and priorities of local communities. The LPF should articulate clear objectives, identify specific prevention activities and connect available resources to desired outcomes.

Following the LLG’s endorsement of the LPF, and as the focus shifts to implementation, the LLG can transition to a city prevention team or network responsible for coordinating delivery, monitoring progress and supporting long-term sustainability. Rather than creating a new office or body, however, an existing one can be leveraged or otherwise relied on.

The final sections of the toolkit focus on implementation, monitoring and evaluation and principles for success. These include taking a human-centred and trauma-informed approach, protecting civil rights and liberties, fostering cross-sector collaboration and building community trust. Each section offers practical guidance, templates and examples that help cities tailor their approach to local conditions while staying aligned with the core components of the framework.

Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD)

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) worked with mayors and government partners to launch Strong Cities at a meeting during the opening of the UN General Assembly in 2015. Since then, ISD has expanded and supported Strong Cities membership and has delivered its programmes. ISD continues to host the Management Unit and contributes its research and expertise to meet the policy and practice needs of cities and local governments around the world. 

Introduction

Piloting Local Prevention Frameworks in US Cities

In October 2023, Strong Cities launched a pilot initiative to support small and mid-sized cities across the United States in developing local strategies to prevent hate, extremism and targeted violence that respond to the threats most salient to local communities and are informed by their concerns and priorities. The programme addresses a critical gap: while cities and communities often bear the brunt of hate-fuelled incidents and targeted violence, local governments frequently lack the dedicated resources and guidance needed to lead coordinated prevention efforts – especially in smaller municipalities with limited capacity.

The pilot was designed to change that. Strong Cities, in partnership with experienced prevention practitioners at Boston Children’s Hospital, the University of Illinois Chicago and the Prevention Practitioners Network — and informed by good practices and lessons learned from across its global network of more than 280 cities and input from a dynamic network of subject matter experts — set out to test a scalable, locally driven model for building and operationalising multi-actor prevention frameworks. Over the course of the pilot, Strong Cities worked closely with a geographically and demographically diverse group of five cities across the country:

• Albuquerque (New Mexico)
• Athens (Ohio)
• Chattanooga (Tennessee)
• Overland Park (Kansas)
• Stamford (Connecticut)

Working closely with the Strong Cities team, each local government formed an LLG, chaired by a local government representative, to serve as the engine for prevention planning. Through a structured process of training, partner engagement, needs and vulnerabilities assessment and strategy development, these groups created tailored LPFs rooted in the specific challenges, assets and opportunities of their communities.

The initiative was designed around three core objectives:

• Build multidisciplinary leadership groups in each city, rooted in local government but inclusive of community-based actors.
• Equip those groups with the tools and knowledge to understand local dynamics of hate, targeted violence and polarisation – and to navigate the existing landscape of prevention resources.
• Support the development of sustainable, locally adapted prevention strategies, drawing from models, lessons learned and challenges from cities across the Strong Cities Network and beyond while remaining grounded in local needs and realities.

This work recognises the untapped potential of local governments — especially smaller ones — to lead inclusive, community-based efforts to prevent hate and targeted violence and build resilience and social cohesion. It is participatory by design: frameworks are built not around abstract models or perceived threats, but through genuine engagement with the community and alignment with real conditions on the ground.

Ultimately, the pilot sought to demonstrate a model that can be tailored to different contexts and that can be scaled across the United States. With lessons drawn from city practices around the globe, localised through city leadership and coordinated with national partners like the National League of Cities, this approach offers a new path forward for cities striving to counter hate, prevent targeted violence and strengthen social cohesion at home without having to rely on federal grants or other support from Washington.

This toolkit draws on the experiences, lessons and tools developed with and by the five participating cities. Designed for use by city governments, community partners and future implementers of the Strong Cities model, the toolkit offers a step-by-step guide to replicating and adapting this approach in other local contexts.