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

Last updated:

28/10/2025

Publication Date:

27/10/2025

Content Type:

Tools & Guides

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Chapter 4: Building the Foundation: Targeted Violence Prevention Training Learning Modules

Before a city begins the process of designing and implementing its LPF, local leaders, partners and stakeholders must share a common understanding of the challenges, concepts, and opportunities that inform hate and targeted violence prevention work. To support this, Strong Cities developed a series of foundational learning modules, which it delivered early in the pilot process.

These Training and Learning Modules equip stakeholders with the conceptual grounding, practical tools and shared language needed to begin LPF development. They should be delivered to participating cities at the outset of the pilot and are typically attended by representatives from local government, community-based organisations, schools, health and mental health services, law enforcement and other trusted actors.

The modules draw on Strong Cities’ experience working with cities around the world and reflect lessons from both the international prevention field and the targeted violence prevention ecosystem in the United States. Future implementers of this pilot — whether Strong Cities staff or other organisations — should plan to include these trainings (or updated equivalents) as part of their early-stage engagement with local partners.

The following is the full overview of the Strong Cities Training Modules as delivered during the pilot programme. These modules are intended to be adapted and reused by any future implementer seeking to build foundational knowledge among city stakeholders at the outset of their LPF process.

Modules Overview
Module 1: Community Cohesion & Safety Briefing	This training serves to raise the awareness of the LLG on hate and targeted violence prevention. Key components to cover in this module first include an overview of the current hate and targeted violence landscape: • Targeted violence (e.g., political violence, mass shootings) • Terrorism and violent extremism (domestic and international) • Racist hate (anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-AAPI) • Gender-based hate (incels, anti-LGBTQ hate, etc.) • Islamophobia / antisemitism • Threats to local officials/elections • Online dimension Second, the module introduces the public health approach to prevention, including a discussion of risk and protective factors, and programmes related to primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.
Module 2: Multi-Actor Coordination	This training focuses on strengthening coordination and collaboration between stakeholders and programmes working to prevent hate and targeted violence and other threats to social cohesion. It draws on the stakeholder directory developed by each city and introduces practical structures and processes for enabling a more networked, cohesive local prevention ecosystem. Key components to cover in this module include: • Building a coordination platform or mechanism, including discussion of which stakeholders should be involved and who should lead • Clarifying roles and responsibilities, including each member’s value-add based on their background, affiliation, area of expertise and knowledge of specific threats • Establishing lines of communication for regular information-sharing • Developing protocols — formal or informal — to ensure clear expectations, especially as new members join • Coordinating activities and avoiding duplication by aligning initiatives working towards shared outcomes • Identifying potential risks or unintended consequences of engagement and introducing risk mitigation practices • Building trust-based relationships, particularly between civil society actors and law enforcement • Engaging professionals who may be hesitant to participate due to fear, stigma or limited prior exposure to prevention work (e.g., teachers, social workers, or mental health practitioners)
Module 3: Community Engagement Models	This training is designed to help LLGs improve and sustain engagement between local government, law enforcement, and the broader community, with a particular emphasis on youth, refugee, migrant communities, and other historically marginalised groups. The module explores a range of engagement models that cities can adapt and implement based on their local context. Key components to cover in this module include: • Overview of different models of community engagement, including partnerships, citizen councils (such as youth councils), town hall meetings, mayoral engagement, faith leader engagement, digital outreach and police-community forums • Strategies for building trust and avoiding stigmatising language or approaches • Good practices for inclusive communication and ensuring that all communities feel welcomed in the city’s prevention efforts • Case studies and lessons learned from successful city-led engagement with young people and communities more broadly.
Module 4: City-Led Primary Prevention	This training is designed to help LLGs increase city-led support for evidence-based primary prevention programmes. It guides participants through the steps required to support local resilience-building efforts, from setting strategic priorities to identifying, funding and evaluating appropriate community-based programmes. Key components to cover in this module include: • Implementing prevention through community action, such as programmes for caregivers, educators, faith leaders, youth, and community activists, with an emphasis on digital literacy and awareness of harmful behaviours • Reviewing various types of relevant programmes, including civic engagement initiatives, youth resilience efforts, media literacy campaigns, and training or awareness-raising workshops • Using strategic communications and public messaging as part of a broader prevention effort • Drawing on lessons from Strong Cities’ 10-step roadmap for operationalising city-led support for primary prevention, based on practices across Europe and North America
Module 5: Secondary Prevention – Referral Mechanisms, Behavioural Threat Assessment and Management, and Ongoing Psychosocial Support	This training supports the development of a structured, multi-actor process for identifying individuals who may be at risk of engaging in violence, making appropriate referrals, assessing risk, and ensuring access to psychosocial and other supports to prevent escalation. Key components to cover in this module include: • Raising awareness about bystander intervention and building capacity to recognise and respond to concerning behaviours • Clarifying what types of behaviour or circumstances should prompt a referral and why • Outlining procedures for making a referral, including available online or offline mechanisms, local tiplines, and helplines • Reviewing and screening referrals to determine where they should be directed, and under what conditions • Establishing clear principles and processes for documenting and managing referrals • Exploring models for case management, including information-sharing protocols and multidisciplinary teams such as community action teams • Discussing management and resolution options, including intake, risk assessment, intervention planning, and provision of wrap-around services or aftercare • Emphasising the importance of smooth transitions between identification, referral, threat assessment and support services • Leveraging resources developed by the Prevention Practitioners Network, including directories of licensed clinical professionals and practical guidance for building local capacity This module is designed to help cities establish or strengthen their referral and support systems as part of a comprehensive local prevention strategy.