International Conference „Radicalization of Youth: Causes and Prevention“ | Conference – Symposium - Forum
12-14 March 2019 | Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Rising sympathy of young people towards radical groups as well as obtrusive presence of intolerance in digital space becomes more and more disturbing especially in the context of current political discourse on migration, social rights or gender equality. At the same time we are witnessing that the values of human rights, tolerance and democracy are being challenged not only by young people but across our societies and even by public representatives and authorities.
Youth work is often challenged by the requirement to act preventively against the phenomenon and tries to find out what the key factors are and what the response should be. Public institutions on national, European and Global level have devoted their energy and resources into research of the causes of radicalization, preventive programmes, policy strategies and capacity building programmes for practitioners in youth work and education to prevent youngsters from being reached by violent extremist, paramilitary or terrorist groups.
It is understandable that for such a complex phenomenon we cannot expect a single theory on what the causes and key factors are or how should we approach it. Organisers of the conference believe that there is already a huge experience to be shared by various stakeholders which needs to be reflected, evaluated or even confronted and questioned in open discussion. The conference aims to offer the platform to bring together diverse perspectives, opportunity to share the experience and search for further answers on how we could empower young people through youth work.
This project is financed by the Erasmus+: Youth in Action Programme.