The project aims to design and disseminate an online campaign including deradicalization and prevention online resources (mainly online counter-narratives, such as the stories of formers); videos produced by vulnerable youth (alternative narratives) and a video game structured along binary decisions leading to radicalization or maintaining resilience (both). The action focuses on frames and individual roles and decisions in a sophisticated and modular way by: de-constructing extremist frames and challenging extremist roles in achieving these in videos of formers; illustrating the consequences of extremist choices and the possibilities of alternatives in the video game; producing actual alternative frames, alternative solutions to everyday and socio-political problems and alternative roles in vulnerable youth videos. The outcomes of the action are: bringing about behavior change dissuading target audience from promoting terrorism and violent extremism and/ or using violence; growing civic engagement and take active stance in democratic processes by target audiences; halting radicalisation and recruitment processes; enhancing (digital) resilience and critical thinking of the target audience against terrorist and extremist propaganda on-and offline. The beneficiaries are vulnerable individuals and on the brink of radicalization: short term immediate contact with the online products through the screenings and the interviews; medium term as audience of the full scale online campaign, and radicalized individuals in offline deradicalization work, CSOs and institutions in the field in Europe. Long term beneficiaries are additionally the broader population interested in credible and authentic sources of information. The action will contribute in the long term to deradicalisation and preventing radicalization, by: empowering young alternative voices and creating a domino effect; lay bare and combat by showing the consequences of, and offer alternative narratives. 

The project was funded by the European Commission - Internal Security Fund Police. 

 

Project Partners

• Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip)
• Ministry of the Interior/ Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism
• Bloodirony Games
• Centre of competence for Open Youth Work in Austria (bOJA)
• Neustart - Austrian Probation Service
• DERAD Netzwerk sozialer Zusammenhalt, Praevention und Dialog

Project Period

November 2018 to December 2020

Project Manager

Veronika Hofinger

Project Team

Rebecca Walter

Felix Lippe

Philipp Pflegerl